davethelefty

Not sure if this is the correct sub-forum but I'll start here...

Among the road bikes I'm looking at as my next bike is the Canyon Endurace. I know these bikes are shipped directly to the buyer, and you have to assemble it and fit it yourself. No worries about that part of it.

What I'm curious about is the ongoing maintenance, repair, and upgrades that an owner might not feel comfortable doing him/herself. I know that Canyons are basically Asian carbon frames and standard, off-the-shelf components such as Shimano 105 groups.

Does anyone have any experience with taking a Canyon (or other direct to consumer bike) to a LBS for repair? Just curious how prevalent the "you didn't buy it here, we won't fix it" attitude is. Or suppose you really needed a good fitter to fine tune your setup -- would a bike store that sells Trek, for example, not be willing to fit you on your Canyon? I understand there would be a fee -- don't expect this to be a free service...

Any other general feedback you have about Canyon bikes would also be welcome!!

AnkleWork

I've never seen a bike shop refuse money for normal kinds of work.

Bill Kapaun

Depends on the shop, which person, work load....
Many won't work on X-Mart bikes simply because the repair bill is going to be a good portion of the retail price of the bike.
$30-60/hr. on a $50 bike. Nobody is going to be happy and some of these, you simply can't get them to shift right etc.

You should have a "fixable" bike, so your odds are going to be better.
Pick the slow season and they'll be much more accommodating.

mrblue

Logically, if a bike shop wants to remain in business and you are willing to pay the price they are asking for their services there should be no issues. Particularly in the current internet based economy where a lot of brick and mortar bike shops are experiencing declining sales, you'd be surprised how the smart ones are adopting a more customer-service-centric attitude. Then again, a$$h@l3$ seems to be everywhere these days so you never can tell what'll happen until you walk in the door.

Personally, I prefer working on my own bikes. It's not that I don't have good bike shops where I live, it's simply a matter of: If someone is going to screw up my bike, it's going to be me. Over the years I've taken my bikes to too many "professional mechanics" who turned out to be nothing more than high school kids with a wrench and mallet.

Aside from that I'm impatient, and I can typically turnaround the repair on my own bike faster than a bike shop.

texbiker

Just two weeks ago I took my Canyon Endurace CF SLX to the LBS in my area. The person there went gaga over the bike and a few days later I picked it up with a new cassette, new chain, bottom bracket redone and other bearings checked. They had no problem taking my check for $192.

davethelefty

A friend of mine is a mechanic at a big bike shop in the Baltimore area. He does get to work on high end bike assembly and customization, but he says that the bulk of his work is repairing cr@p bikes from Walmart.

Andrew R Stewart 

We have a few customers for whom we service their Canyons. We have no problem doing the work. As with any bike brand that we don't sell any if there's any brand specific parts needs the completion might be delayed or the customer asked to supply the part. Repairs can sometimes be a tad more then usual if a single part only available from the brand has to carry all the shipping costs. Andy

Amt0571

There are bikeshops in Spain that refuse to repair Btwin bikes sold at Decathlon stores.

I personally own 2 btwins and couldn't care less as nobody except me is going to touch my bikes. I'm still looking for a mechanic that I consider good enough. Most don't go above mediocre.

I learned a lot of time ago that it was better if I did my own wrenching. It's not that difficult. After all, it's just a bike and most things a relatively simple.

Iride01 

Most of the other excellent and a few not so excellent bicycles are too.

jadocs

That strikes me as a super cheap price for all of that. What kind of chain, cassette, and BB did you get?

texbiker

The cassette was Ultegra 8000 11x25, I supplied the KMC chain, the BB I am not sure.

100bikes

The issue I see would be asking the LBS to handle warranty work, authorized by Canyon( or any other B to C direct vendor)
and to submit a bill to Canyon ( or other) for payment.
This would be especially distasteful if there are replacement parts involved.
Dealer has hard cash out while waiting for reimbursement.
Dealer has to pay his mechanics labor on a timely schedule as well.

The online vendor can also dispute the $$ charged for any or all repairs - either parts or labor.

Unless the dealer has a relationship with an online vendor or brand - you are the customer and your bike is the patient.
Don't expect the dealer to bend over backwards to solve your issue if you didn't buy the product from them.
Expect them to provide a professional service at a market rate and not allow you to take your bike before the bill is paid.
- Even with a voucher of some type.

Especially in the heart of the cycling season in your area.

The world of warranty is difficult enough for dealer and the brands they carry/support.

2old

As many of the responses above, I build and mostly maintain my bikes, but my LBS is very happy to take my money for any repair/assembly work that I'm too lazy to do or don't want to perform for another reason.

Andrew R Stewart 

While the OP's question was more about general and ongoing maintenance with possible upgrades, "I'm curious about is the ongoing maintenance, repair, and upgrades", the above is a good comment to have one's eyes open to. Just about every brand's warranty I've read (yes, I have spent the time to do so more then a few times over the years) has some sort of restriction to only authorized dealers doing any warranty work. Many warranties also have any work done by an unauthorized dealer being a reason to remove the brand from warranty obligations. (This clause is often not followed in real life although I have seen it used). Also any warranty work is usually limited to product only, no labor or shipping costs are covered.

As the long distance bike selling has gotten more and more popular I've found it interesting how the various players are dealing with this after purchase stuff. Some brands have tried to establish a network of "authorized service centers". Some brands have been more agreeable to the realities of this network not being available to a customer and will work with a LBS. Some brands don't bother with any after the sale stuff. I've seen a few situations like this and the sellers have usually been overseas and don't make contact info easy or even able.

So buying a complex machine with safety critical systems (brakes, tires, structure...) needs to be viewed as a crap shoot. Is the cost savings seen at the time of purchase worth the possible down the road costs that won't be covered by the typical customer/LBS relationship? I suspect many will say yes it is worth it, until they are the customer with a problem. Then their expectations will undergo a major reevaluation Andy

I wonder how many here have read their bike's warranty? How many bike were bought without the warranty package (owner's manual, warranty statement, product registration card) being presented to the buyer?

surak

If you have Velofix in your area, that would be an option since they partner with Canyon to assemble and disassemble (for returns) Canyon bikes, so they would definitely have no issue working on Canyon bikes.