eaglesandcycling

Where you all are, how long does this normally take? Some general service and to fix a few things. I dropped it off today, he said he hopes to get it to me by early next week. Cant stand this part of riding when I dont have a 2nd bike. Now no riding for days, especially in this summertime when the weather is more likely to be better. Ugggg

wheelsmcgee

I had to get some BB service recently and when I first called the shop, they were so backed up they told me to call them back in a week and a half. After that that, the work was done pretty quickly.

Even in “normal times” that’s probably not unreasonable...a lot of shops are essentially one-man operations. If there is a lot of customer traffic or new bike assembly going on, repairs are going to have to be done between customers. With COVID-19, bike sales have gone through the roof.

Koyote

OP needs a second bike, or better wrenching skills.

chas58

I never take my bike in in the summer time because of this phenomenon.
One good alternative - where i live there is a mobile service truck for Trek and Velofix. If your bike is rideable, at least you don't have to leave it at the shop for 2 weeks.

And yea - two bikes. ;-) I bought a single speed bike for commuting because I didn't like any breakdowns I had commuting to affect my time on my mountain bike

mstateglfr 

Back in June, a shop in my town was booked out 4 weeks.
Now?...no idea.
I dont use shops for maintenance so its sporadic that I would ever know the current wait times.

I did happen to go to a new shop yesterday that opened a couple months ago. 1 guy and he was wrenching at the time, but Im sure the wait time is a day or two at most.

Even in past years, spring and summer has made for wait times at popular shops near me. It ends up others want to ride and also dont know how to fix whats broken or dont have whats needed to fix whats broken. That creates delays.

tdilf

It's a Covid thing

Koyote

This is a big part of it, according to my friends in shops: health clubs closed down and such, so people dusted off their old bikes for some exercise, and those bikes need to be fixed up. Seems like it should be abating about now (five months into the pandemic), but then, this is peak riding season, so...

Elvo

Yup this is why you should always have a backup bike

grubetown

My preferred LBS makes appointments now, so you can usually have your bike back within a day or two depending on parts availability. As many have suggested, second bike or start wrenching yourself.

This is what happens sometimes when one tries their own wrenching!

chas58

A covid thing? How long is your typical backup in August in non Covid times?
Around here it is 1-2 weeks.

tdilf

I do almost all my own wrenching but i have heard around here something that takes a couple days will be now 1-2 weeks.

Toadmeister

COVID has been an excellent teacher of the finer bicycle mechanic arts.

srode1

Most shops around here are 7 days deep in backlogged work. Fortunately I have 4 bikes, tools and do pretty much all my own work.

dwmckee

Backlogs around here is about 5 - 7 days now. Was 2 weeks in early summer just about everywhere. Our shop also makes appointments and takes about 3 days after the appointment. We also offer a rush fee for 24 hour service for those in need and willing to pay extra to jump the queue. I think it is nice to have that option for folks that discover a problem the day before a vacation or a big ride, etc. Parts are a big problem however in some cases... 26 inch tubes were really scarce for a while but that is starting to ease up a bit...Certain Shimano parts were unobtainable for a while.

Random11

I wanted to take my bike in for a tune-up, partly because the chain needed replacing. They told me there was a 3-4 week backlog on tuneups, so I wanted to make an appointment so I wouldn't be without the bike. They weren't taking appointments, because they said too many people were making appointments and then not showing up for them. But I assured them I would show up, and truthfully told them that was my only bike, I ride it every day, and I didn't want to be without it for several weeks.So they then told me if I left it with them right then, they'd have it ready the next day, and they did.

I have no connections at the shop. They didn't know my name or recognize me, but I did buy the bike at that shop. I'm happy with the rapid service, which was much different from what they initially told me.

So, maybe the reason all of you have to wait so long for service is that they put me ahead of you in the queue.

mack_turtle

I have had someone else work on my bike once in my life: had a wheel built for a BMX bike when I was 15 years old. 100% of all service is done by me since then. no one touches my bike, including wheel builds and suspension service.

it helps that I worked in bike shops for several years so I learned a lot and collected tools for most jobs. i know someone in a shop who will let me borrow very specific tools like if I want to face the 44mm head tube on a steel frame. I still have a very modest budget for bike parts but I if I had to pay someone else to work on my bike, I could never afford cycling.

dur4ce

Recently had my (cf) steerer cut down. I'm usually a die hard diy-er - rather buy tools than pay for labor. But for this job, figured I'd trust the professionals. After being promised an overnight job, the next morning I got a call that did not start with "Your bike is ready to pickup." Turns out after marking the steerer, the tech cut it at another mark that happened to be on the steerer!

Long story short, the shop made it right, but an overnight job turned into a two week turn around as the owner made it right, sourced a new fork, and got it right the second time around.

Random11

I'm just the opposite. I'm relatively new to cycling, and an older rider. My thought with regard to my LBS is: I'll ride it; you maintain it. Maybe I'll get into maintenance a little more as time goes on, but at this point I'd rather spend the money to have someone else do the maintenance than spend the time to do it myself. I'm not thinking of this as a public service, but it's people like me who keep the local shops in business.

zen_

If you really want to support the LBS, be the cyclist who comes in for regular service during the slow season.

This has been my first year of serious gravel riding (200+ miles per week, 90%+ on gravel), and the miles take a toll on your equipment even when you stay on top of everything diligently. With one gravel bike (plus a hybrid that could gravel, but it's slow), I keep a spare everything, and do all my maintenance besides once off jobs like cutting a steerer tube.

MinnMan

I just brought two bikes in for servicing on 9/4 and was told they'll come back on 9/14 and 9/17. This would be norrmal in spring/summer and is a little long for the early fall, but it's not extraordinary.

As already said, this is one of the most important reasons to own more than one bike. And there are so many other reasons. OP, if you are serious about your biking habit and it makes you sad to be without your only bike for a week or two, you are WAY overdue for n+1

As per doing one's own wrenching vs. taking it to the shop, I know that many of you take pride in (and get pleasure from) doing your own. I do some basic and routine stuff, but for me, my bike habit already absorbs many hours/week, and I would have a hard time justifying taking that much more dealing with mechanicals. I can afford to pay people with better skills to do these things. It's not money versus skills, its' money versus time.

If I were retired, it would be different.

fooferdoggie 

I took my e bike in for a computer upgrade so I can get the wattage I put out. it was planned two weeks ahead and I would get it the same day till they had problems took them 3 hours to get the new wires ran. but then problems that they had to wait on the manufacturer to get help with. but they gave me a loaner. I thought about buying a non e commuter but I could not find one in stock.

Koyote

Funny that this thread is still going on...Even though the OP almost certainly has his/her bike back from the shop by now.

mack_turtle

I had someone build a wheel for me once, maybe in 1996. I was 15 years old at the time. Since then, no one has put a tool to any of my bikes. DIY or die!

Wilbur76

I had absolutely no knowledge about bike repair as I just started riding at the start of covid. I now have 2 vintage mountain bikes (Specialized Hardrock and GT Palomar) and a new Lynskey GR300 titanium gravel bike. I figured I should start doing some basic wrenching to sort out derailleur issues, fix flats, etc. After watching a few Calvin Jones from Park Tool videos and getting a decent repair stand from Amazon, I’m finding simple DIY bike repairs to be highly satisfying. Admittedly the parts expense is starting to rack up so the really difficult jobs that require expensive and task-specific hand tools (BB work), I bring in for service.

bonsai171

Over time, you may find that the tools you buy will work on multiple bikes. I bought a cassette tool for a new build thinking, "when will I ever use this again" and as it turns out, all 3 of my geared bikes use that tool. It's nice to take off the entire cassette, degrease it, and pop on a nice shiny cassette. Makes a difference in shifting and wear and tear. Same for a crankset puller. Can't tell you how many cranks I've pulled with that.

Dave