Evans 'Silver Service'- costly estimate, thoughts.

[HovR]

If you know any friendly cyclists perhaps you could ask them a favour (in return for a couple of pints, of course)? If you were anywhere near me I'd do it for the price of parts, which wouldn't be over £20 for new brake blocks and cables front and back.

 

[jefmcg]

Nothing too complex in there, this is the bike:

http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/giant/crs-3-2010

Jonathan at Richmond LCC will love that: my mezzo drives him crazy.

You should go there, it's brilliant. He just points you in the right direction, and is ready to lend a hand if you need it.

 

[thefollen]

If you know any friendly cyclists perhaps you could ask them a favour (in return for a couple of pints, of course)? If you were anywhere near me I'd do it for the price of parts, which wouldn't be over £20 for new brake blocks and cables front and back.

Ahh I lived in Cheltenham for my student years! Might see whether any of the London cycle people I know can divulge a tip or two. Pints can be very persuasive. Other than that, the Richmond LCC sounds pretty decent.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Carry on riding the bike as it is and Put the money towards a bike mechanics course. Once you've done the course, fix it yourself.

 

[addictfreak]

Most of the jobs you need to do on bikes are easy, it's just having the confidence to tackle them and a few basic tools.
If they gave you a list of faults, source the parts yourself (online is usually cheapest). In the meantime start looking at videos on youtube, you can pick up so much information.
The only thing I tend to struggle with is setting up gears, so I change the cables myself and then just pop into my LBS and the guy sets up the gears for a fiver.
Doing it yourself will save you a fortune.

 

[gaz]

Took my bike in there for a service recently and they tried to say my rear hub was knackered and the braking surface was worn away. It would need a new wheelset, cost £200. HAHA you're having a laugh right? that wheelset had done less than 2,000 miles, no need for a new one.

They replaced the drive chain, as I originally asked them too. But 200miles later and the chain had broken :/ a brand new chain and it broke in 200 miles, what a joke.

After that, I'll do my own work thanks.

 

[danjanoob]

I love how they said 'no' when you asked for only the brakes to be sorted. Do they realise it is your bike? It's not like it's a car and needs an MOT to go on the road. Do the bloody work you spanner monkeys and give me my bike back, (No offence to proper mechanics, i'm a techy myself).

 

[summerdays]

It is worth learning how to do some tasks on your bike yourself, though I will pay to get my LBS to do some jobs. However I think that it is worth bearing in mind that actually keeping a bike running over a number of years may well add up to the price of a new bike (partially depends on how much you upgrade when you replace worn out items, and how much you look after your bike doing maintenance) especially if you are paying labour costs on top.

 

[400bhp]

So I booked my commuter bike in for a service with Evans. It's a Hybrid that cost £325 a little over 3 years ago. Hoped they'd sort a few bits out and return it with the £60 charge (-- they are offering 20% off on this currently). The brakes were becoming slightly less responsive, was hoping it'd be a new set of pads and some adjustments.

Anyway, the workshop company Evans uses gave me a long list of all the things that 'need' replacing which in total comes to £195. Not certain whether it's worth this. A lot of it relates to the gears which currently (in my opinion) work fine. Asked them if they'll simply fix the brakes and leave the gears, they said no. Upon a little research, a second-hand good-working-order model of my bike goes for around £160.

Option A: Say no to the estimate, ask Evans to fix the brakes in store with a couple of tweaks to the gears without new parts..

Option B: Consider the bike a write-off, sell it for cheap (with a candid explanation of the things needing a fix) and use the £195 towards a new Hybrid.

Option C: Pay for the full fix.

What would you do?

Eh?

They outsource the mechanics side?



That's not good-is that for all branches?

 

[gaz]

Eh?

They outsource the mechanics side?



That's not good-is that for all branches?

In central london they have a main base of operations for mechanics. So all the services for the day get taken to one warehouse, I believe still owned and run by evans.

 

[MrJamie]

It looks like their 'silver service' is meant to take the bike apart, clean it and rebuild, wheel truing and gear/brake alignments (with new pads/cables as required), according to their youtube video. So I don't see how they can refuse to sell you exactly that which is what you've asked for.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuCNm_Doaa4


It would really help to know what parts Evans claim you need replacing. Im sure there was a thread on here not long ago about about Evans quoting bloated repair prices in order to talk people into just buying a new bike instead.

Do look into fixing some of the things yourself, not only is most of it ridiculously easy on newer bikes, but it means you're able to give your bike little tune ups whenever to keep everything running perfectly, especially if you have multiple bikes to keep getting overpriced services on

 

[400bhp]

In central london they have a main base of operations for mechanics. So all the services for the day get taken to one warehouse, I believe still owned and run by evans.

Ahhh, not the case in Manc. Own mechanics more trustworthy perhaps as I suspect they aren't working on commission.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Complete blooming rip-off.

As per the others, approach your local LBS to get a price, look at testing yourself on a mechanics/maintenance course and invest in a low rice bike dand and kit to get you started.
You'll save yourself a fortune, gain really good knowledge and the ability to set up, adjust and maintain your steed at a VERY affordable price.

Basic complete (I mean complete) Bell cable kit from Asda for £4!!! ( re-cabled my CB Urban 200 hybrid with this)
Basic brake blocks - £2.50
Oils and lubes about a tenner
Overall gain - priceless

 

[gaz]

Ahhh, not the case in Manc. Own mechanics more trustworthy perhaps as I suspect they aren't working on commission.

The stores still have their own mechanics. But they build new bikes for customers and do small services. Silver or above and it goes to the warehouse.

 

[davefb]

Took my bike in there for a service recently and they tried to say my rear hub was knackered and the braking surface was worn away. It would need a new wheelset, cost £200. HAHA you're having a laugh right? that wheelset had done less than 2,000 miles, no need for a new one.

They replaced the drive chain, as I originally asked them too. But 200miles later and the chain had broken :/ a brand new chain and it broke in 200 miles, what a joke.

After that, I'll do my own work thanks.

that'll be the rear hub causing the chain to wear out