Billydog

Is it worth taking your bike in to a shop to get tuned?
And what is a good price for a good tune and what does it involve?

veganbikes

You should tune up your bike at least once a year or more if you are riding a lot. Keeping your bike in good condition and having a professional check it over is a good thing. You may not notice an issue or look for it. In terms of pricing it can vary all over the world. Typically it should involve cleaning the frame (not for dirt but to look for cracks), adjusting derailleurs, brakes, truing wheels and generally looking over the bike and tightening bolts. Usually it will include the labor for replacing pads, cables and housing and potentially more but not always. It depends on the shop but finding a good shop you can trust is always a good thing.

If you see a shop offering a "safety check over" that is a good sign they need to revise their service offerings or they aren't doing right by you. We had it on our service menu for a bit and finally removed it, a safety checkover is a tune up and if it is not a tune up you probably aren't making the bike safe. Trying to skirt around certain things or skip them entirely doesn't help you or your bike.

If you take your bike to the shop they can give you an estimate and in the case of my shop we did it like a automotive repair center and took a deposit and if you got the work done it goes towards the work and if not we get paid for our time which could be quite a bit of work sourcing parts.

In terms of parts to replace, always replace bar tape and I recommend doing it yearly and since you are underneath replace cables and housing. You may need to replace chain and cassette and brake pads (and maybe shoes) and possibly other stuff depending on how much wear and tear you have put on your bike. If it has been a while, replacing bearings and overhauling things might be a good thing and that can add to cost. If you keep up with replacing certain parts everything will last longer.

However if you are good at wrenching and have the tools and the know-how you can do it yourself. However I find it is nice to have another set of eyes on it because like I said you can miss something or not notice it.

KerryIrons

If you know how to tune it yourself, it makes little sense to take it to a shop. If you have no idea how to keep it running well and it is giving you trouble, then a shop or a knowledgeable friend are your only options. The price varies totally depending on what is done. If it's just to tweak the derailleurs and the brakes, then the cost will be lower than if you're talking about truing wheels, adjusting hubs, headset, BB, etc. The range of what constitutes a tune-up varies widely.

pdlamb

How long and how far have your ridden the bike? Have you done any maintenance on it? Are there any problems you're having with the bike?

A good tune-up is going to cost you. In my neck of the woods one starts close to $100 and goes up, depending on what's covered. New parts cost extra.

If you're not having any problems, I'd measure the chain with a metal ruler. If 12 complete links measures more than 12 1/16", you need another chain. Needing a new chain or problems are good reasons to take the bike into the shop. Otherwise, pump your tires, lube the chain, and skip the shop for now. This is getting into peak shop season when everybody who doesn't ride all year pulls their bike out of the garage and wants to make sure it's ready to go. In a couple months the crush will be off, and you can ride your bike every day for those two months, instead of leaving it sitting in the shop for 2-3 weeks.

Iride01 

If your bike has multiple speeds and it doesn't shift to every one of the gear combinations with little delay, then you should take it in for that "tune up". Doesn't matter how much time has lapsed.

If this is a bike that you bought new from a local shop, then you should take it back at the time they may have suggested to you after you bought it. Sometimes this is a month, sometimes thee months, sometimes a year. It's not just because they want to get you back in the shop to buy something, it's because sometimes new bikes need adjusting once the newness wears off.

Spokes on your wheels are also something that should be looked at least once after that newness wears off. Sometimes with the mass-produced machine built wheels and even hastily built by people, wheels develop loose spokes that can at their worst taco or fold up on you while riding and cause a bad spill.

Prices vary from location to location. Usually for a new bike you bought from the shop it's free. But even for a bike you bought elsewhere, unless cables and other new stuff is needed, it usually isn't much. You can ask them. They'll be glad to tell you. And if you don't like it, you don't have to give them your bike.

mstateglfr 

Every shop I have been to has multiple levels of service. Pick the one you need. $80-300 is a general price range, depending on whats needed.
As for if it is worth the time and cost- nobody here will know. If your bike doesnt work, then yes its worth the time and cost...assuming your bike when new is worth more than the repair. If you can do the repairs, then no it isnt worth taking your bike to a shop, unless you dont have the time to repair.

I mean, this is pretty basic cost-benefit stuff.

Billydog

Thanks for all the wonderful great info guys.

Koyote

If you have to ask the question, then yeah - you should take it to a shop. Tell them how much you ride, and in what sorts of conditions, and follow their recommendations.

(The whole idea of a "tuneup" for a bike is a bit weird, though. On a car, in the old days, it actually made sense: at certain intervals, a motor needed new points, plugs, and to have the timing checked. But on a bike, there isn't really a collection of maintenance items that all need to be done at even approximately the same intervals.)

shelbyfv

I think this is a vintage bike, several threads in C&V. It may need more attention to bearings than a modern bike but cabling and adjustment should be straight forward.

urbanknight

I used to be a bike shop mechanic, and I thought the “tune-up” was BS. We examined and adjusted cables, brake pads, tires, bearings, and fasteners. If anything needed to be replaced, that was extra. I think the shop charged something like $60 (1990’s dollars) for the service, which was pretty much 15 minutes of labor.

Like you said, bikes are fairly simple machines and the parts don’t really need any kind of scheduled maintenance. If something isn’t working properly, adjust it. If something is worn, replace it. The only exception nowadays would maybe be brake fluid, which I have no experience with but have heard conflicting opinions bout how often to change (if ever).

That being said, anyone who doesn’t want to bother to keep tabs on their brake pads, rotors, cables, fasteners, bearings, etc. should bring it to someone to be inspected regularly. Also, many shops sell bikes with free maintenance for a period of time, so it costs nothing to bring it in for that.

Maelochs

I recommend learning how to adjust derailleurs and brakes. There are dozens of videos online (I start with Park Tools and then look for others with slightly different points of view) and these are the main "tune-up" issues. Cables will stretch after some amount of riding, so even if everything was perfectly adjusted when you bought the bike it might not be a while later.

Also cables will need to be replaced periodically. This is generally simple even with internal cable-routing, and worth learning to do. The cost savings will be significant over the life of the bike.

Depending on whether you have disc or rim brakes, cable- or hydraulic, changing pads can be a little more involved. Probably nothing any determined individual couldn't learn in an afternoon. if you have rim brakes or cable-actuated discs, changing pads is pretty straightforward.

Personally I do a "shake-and-bounce" test before each ride. I bounce each end of the bike a little to see if anything rattles, I push against each brake to see if the brakes grab. If I haven't ridden that bike in a while, or haven't done a more comprehensive check, I pick up the front end, brace the wheel, and see if the bars move, I grab a crank and shake it to see if it wiggles .... shake the wheels side to side, pick up each and and spin the wheels and see if they spin and don't wobble ..... I don't often find problems this way, but i do find problems .... I have found loose cranks, a loose headset .... untrue wheels .... stuff doesn't go wrong often but when it does it is better to find it in my garage than on the road.

VegasTriker

Points, plugs, and have the timing checked? Hey Koyote you are revealing your age. Newer cars don't have points and the timing is controlled by the computer. The last one I had that had a distributor and points was a 1974 VW Rabbit. At least it was fuel injected.

I agree that it is asking to have your wallet emptied by dropping a bike off and asking for a "tune-up". I only found out after the fact but a kid in my scout troop did that with a low end bike and got a bill for around $100. There wasn't anything the bike shop did that I couldn't have done for the kid for free. I was glad to see that shop is no longer in business. I'd never set foot in it.

It's worth buying a basic set of tools and learning to do most of your wrenching at home. Something like this that has most of the tool I acquired over the years will get you started $28 https://www.ebay.com/itm/134539375002. I still let the bike shop do things such as true a wheel because I don't own (or need) a truing stand.

There are numerous sites that will show you how to do repairs and maintenance. The best tutorials are at the Park Tool Company website and at the late Sheldonbrown.com site. Parts are usually cheaper online and you can find parts few bike shops will stock.

dedhed

https://www.benscycle.com/shop-labor

​​​​​​https://www.wheelandsprocket.com/abo...nance-pg66.htm

urbanknight

OK I want to know what is an “overhaul”?

zandoval 

No!

But I like tuning my own bike and I sorely miss tuning my own cars, to a point that is...

Point being I really don't miss that timing light... and those points pliers... and don't forget your feeler gauge... and... Rats... Running too rich where is my idle... Ha

Also: Is there such a thing as a youtube mechanic... Yep!

dedhed

Scroll down for descriptions

urbanknight

Ah, I didn’t scroll down far enough. So it looks like the extra $265 includes about $100 worth of cables/pads and $20 worth of labor to install bar tape... which is on top of paying $65 more for a few dollops of grease and a bike wash. I will say the basic tune seems a little more thorough than it was where I worked. Truing wheels was extra.

Gresp15C

It's really a toss-up, as it depends a lot on what kind of riding you do, and how capable / interested you are in doing your own maintenance.

My family's fleet of bikes is maintained at home. We don't do any scheduled maintenance. Instead, we keep an eye on things and maintain as needed. If a bike is out of commission for a few days while waiting for parts, we ride another bike. That's pretty rare, since it's usually possible to keep riding the bike while waiting for parts, if you don't let things get out of hand. I'm not saying everybody has to live this way, but at least it gives me a good perspective on what can actually wear out on a bike.

I'm skeptical of any parts needing to be replaced on a yearly basis under casual use. You can see when brake pads are worn out. And tires. Maybe after a few sets of tires and brake pads, it might be time to at least re-lubricate the cables.

If the shop tune-up gives you "peace of mind," then go for it. If the bike is stored outdoors, it will need more frequent maintenance. Also, having the wheels trued early in the life of the bike will make them last longer if they're brought up to proper tension. I have friends who won't touch anything on their bikes. Fine. I won't offer to help them, because I've found that if they believe in their hearts that a bike is too complicated for a layperson to fix, they'll never trust my work.

veganbikes

A proper overhaul is basically taking a whole bike apart and putting it back together with new bearings and fresh grease, new cables, housing, chain, cassette, brake pads, rotors all of that sort of stuff and just going through everything and making sure it is as good as it can be. A tune up and drivetrain clean plus a lot of extra labor and parts leading to something rather big. Nothing the average person would do yearly but something to do every so often depending on how much you ride. It is overall a positive thing and a good way to just make sure everything is in proper shape and ready to continue for a long time. Every shop and every mechanic might be a little different but it should be a highly involved process and really go through everything, especially like a full suspension bike it is a good thing as there are a lot of little bearings and bushing and things that need regular maintenance that may not always get it. But even a a fully rigid road bike it is still helpful and a good way to make sure everything is in tip-top shape and nothing is seized or damaged.

urbanknight

Makes sense, but I think Maelochs 's "shake and bounce" method better.

veganbikes

I think that is more for checking a bike before you ride it not actually tuning it but just making sure it is rideable. A good thing to do on less ridden bikes but yeah keep your bikes tuned up and overhauled as needed. They will thank you and you will thank you

SurferRosa

Wait, the $425 "overhaul" doesn't include a hub overhaul? Nor the rear derailleur? Nor the pedals?

I feel bad for folks that can't turn a nut on a threaded bolt.

veganbikes

Well sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don't

Pratt

Whether you do it yourself, or hire it done, don't tune it to G sharp,.
That's the same as A flat.

Billydog

I just bought a pair of continental GP 5000 for $100