orangeology

any bike shops that i can drop a used hub & rim for having a wheel built at reasonable cost—labor + spokes etc—in NYC vicinity? the only shop i know one in Gowanus who became an ordinary upselling bike shop IMO (as a few other C&V friendly bike shops in the city). none in Hoboken area. maybe Jersey City? looking to build to matching wheel that i could source the parts.

i cleaned up my shop getting rid o' most o' tools in the spring, first of all #irony . i know there might be folks here on the forum for such task, but don't want to deal with round trip shipping cost & hassle, basically. tying to find one i can drive or public transport.

Charles Wahl

I regularly patronized Chelsea Bikes on 26th btw 6th & 7th when I worked a block away. Since then, the building in which they were renting (or perhaps the one next door) was in danger of falling down, so they had to move out, and Rafael Vazquez moved everything to his second location, on 32nd Street in Union City NJ, not very far at all from the Lincoln Tunnel. I'm not sure that the 26th St shop hasn't reopened, because their website still lists it as a location -- so depending on what's more convenient, give them a call -- 646 230 7715 (currently listed; Manhattan number was 212 727 7278). Going to the NJ shop by public transit: on the Hudson ferries is not convenient, but it's the 1st or 2nd stop on a couple bus routes out of Port Authority (Kennedy Blvd?), if you brave that. I've had them true a few wheels that I laced, and they did an excellent job; in fact all the specialist bike work they've ever done for me (strip-and-repaints including decals and clear coat, frame repairs and alignments mostly) was top-shelf. I wouldn't hesitate to bring them other projects in the future, but the trip across the Hudson has me screwing up my courage to tension up a single-speed wheelset I've had laced for awhile (have a Minoura stand). If you see Victor (Galvan) there -- hard to mistake him because he's so tall -- send my regards. Rafael is only a bit harder to pick out, he's the boss, and exudes ownership and certitude; but he certainly knows his stuff, and has been very helpful to me.

orangeology

Charles Wahl thank you soo much! i remember good ol' Chelsea Bikes from like grad school time. Union City 32nd St is actually perfect, i'm in Hoboken close to the the viaduct. excited!

orangeology

Charles Wahl
paid a visit to Chelsea Bike today, just to see what the place look like. in the quite busy part of Union City, the shop seemed full of customers hence lots of work. people came and go while i stayed like for a few mins. good to see a local bike shop doing well, indeed. Rafael's still the owner—he wasn't there but i remember him from back in the days, Victor don't work there any more. Jose is a new guy (not talkative, but seems he knows what he's doing) + Mingo looks like Jose's assistance. nice guys. quoted for a few wheel jobs etc, labor charge was quite expensive but i also haven't been to a bike shop for looooong time, so can't be objective. good to know an old school bike shop is nearby. thought i'd update ya

ascherer 

I wonder if Larry's Freewheeling would take that kind of work on. The mechanics are good guys.

noglider 

@orangeology, email me at tom@noglider.com. I might could help.

orangeology

thanks very much folks. i'm building it myself now. opened up some free time and decided to take it myself like old time after all. haven't done it for awhile, was just looking to see if there's an 'easy' way with low cost around it. may sounding funny, i'm trying my best NOT TO FALL into the fun of bike building again... and it's not easy lol.

what i've realized is. 1. local old school bike shops are way more scarce than before 2. and cost hiring a bike shop is no more low both in materials & labors. not that i want to 'steal' any, just adjusting myself into the reality.

Charles Wahl

Chelsea Bikes used to charge me $50 if I remember correctly, to true up a wheel that I had laced, to a new rim, new spokes. I thought that was fair, and never have had a problem with one they did for me. I'm sorry to hear Victor is no longer with them.

orangeology

that's what i thought. was looking for something around $50. quote was $75 for the wheel i had just built with new hub, spokes & rim. i mean it could be fair, but thought i'd hassle my time a bit more. for $75 you can buy three 1L bottles of Benchmark Bourbon. finding a matching rim/hub costed already twice the budget. i mean, my hassle now is no tools around. i've removed repair stand, truing stand etc just leaving some essential hand tools home.

greg3rd48 

So you have built the wheel up and all you need is a final dish and trueing? I know places that can and will do it. Also, reach out to noglider .

ascherer 

Good outcome!

orangeology

thanks for the note. i've just finished truing late last night, using the fork upside down + sharpie taped up. wheel's good, just overall spoke tension is not where i'd like to be. it's OK being 36h rim/hub, and not that i'm gonna compete in a criterium. gonna give a half more turns later tonight, but i'm set for now i think.

it was tedious but actually fun like good ol' time. will PM ya for the 'place' for future reference.

pcb 

My seat-of-the-pants agrees that around $50 is what I'd expect/hope for final true/tension, and $75 feels a little high. But it is covid times, most local shops are way backlogged with repairs, yet haven't been able to easily get new inventory to sell new bikes---and their fixed costs aren't dropping. I can understand labor prices increasing.

Between labor cost and turnaround delays, it's a great time to do your own wrenching.

Just an illustrative tangent re: supply---I've been cruising my LBS for empty bike/frame/wheel boxes for at least a month now. Boxes go out Tue night, for Wed morning pickup. In pre-covid days I'd pop in with some beer in hand, go out back and snag the better boxes before they went out to the curb, and before excess garbage and lunch leftovers got dumped inside. Once in a while I'd swing by on recycle night to grab a few boxes, and there were always a few. They don't mind me scavenging on recycle night, as long as I don't leave a mess behind.

I'm staying outta their way now, and have just been cruising by on recycle night. 5-6 weeks now, in a row, not a single box at the curb. Checked out back, no boxes out back. They do not have room inside to warehouse empty boxes.

Last night, the entire length of the sidewalk in front of the store was crammed end-to-end with boxes. It was box nirvana. They must have _finally_ gotten a shipment in, and moved 40-50 bikes through. I made two trips, and would have gone a third time, but my garage now is full o' boxes.

pcb 

As a child of the '60s/'70s, also have to say that bourbon will get through times of no wheel better than wheel will get you through times of no bourbon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by orangeology View Post
[snip]
...for $75 you can buy three 1L bottles of Benchmark Bourbon.

orangeology

i hear ya. i mean—for their defense—they quoted $75 with possibility of re-lacing in case. i maybe looked like a total amateur for them i guess? lol. not that i felt getting ripped of or any, understandable considering 'everything'. funny thing's that, tho, hear that bikes are 'booming' again in the pandemic especially around the city. ppl with more time to ride + fear for public transportation etc etc. 2 on high notes—while everything else's downers—i hear are 1. bike 2. pet adoption rate, in this pandemic.

all in all. it's alright. having fun lacing spokes, truing etc etc. have kinda forgotten how fun it was for long time. oh bike building too. thanks to pandemic.

noglider 

@orangeology, do you think you might like to get involved with the bike coop? They can always use help, and it's basically charity work, getting people rolling or helping them fix their bikes.

orangeology

great idea, sir. was looking for one, but none in my area—Hoboken/JC vicinity—the one linked about is in Brooklyn?