Halfords or local bike shop?

[shippers]

It's like everything else in the world- there are good guys and bad guys.

My local Halfords is OK as long as you avoid the weekend monkeys. I have a branch of Evans a few miles away and they've always been excellent, and the couple of times I've been to EBC in Leeds they've been good too.

 

[Cedric]

Am I hearing this wrong, £260 for changing your brake pads and lubing your brakes????? That's 100% bollocks mate, sounds more like a £25 job to me.

My mate just replaced his brake cables at a place called "The Bike Station", it's a place where you pay a fiver for a workspace and tools and free, on the spot, expert advice. This is a far more difficult job than yours is. My mate's a great guy, but a total spaz mechanically, but he did a grand job.

I have to ask, what the freak price is your bike to warrant a £260 repair? You could buy a new revolution hybrid for that price

 

[Norm]

Well, I took it to my LBS for a service and he said it's very old, and not safe to ride (it's around 15 years old), and told me I need to get nearly everything replaced (wheels, cassette, chainset, derailleur etc etc). Cost £260. Is he ripping me off? I'm in South Manchester btw.

I took my old Peugeot to a lbs three or so years ago to have it serviced and I got told much the same thing - basically my bike was scrap. I knew he was talking b*****ks and walked out.

Three years later it's had nothing major replaced and it's still going strong and is used regularly. No chain slippage or anything. I think it's had the axles repacked and new cables since then.

Yeah, I had an LBS try that one on my with my old Viking.

I changed LBS and the Viking and I have been happy ever since.

Am I hearing this wrong, £260 for changing your brake pads and lubing your brakes????? That's 100% bollocks mate, sounds more like a £25 job to me.

Yes, you are reading that wrong. The £260 discussion was "to get nearly everything replaced (wheels, cassette, chainset, derailleur etc etc)."

The brake job was "only" £140.

 

[Cedric]

The brake job was "only" £140

Oops, but bl00dy he11, £140 for changeing your brake pads?

I'd put my bike on Gumtree "Great bike, might need new brake pads £90", and take my £230 and buy six Raleigh vintage racers, keep the one that rides best and practice stripping the others. Eventually you could build at least three great bikes and also learn how to fix your own bl00dy bikes.

 

[Debian]

Oops, but bl00dy he11, £140 for changeing your brake pads?

I'd put my bike on Gumtree "Great bike, might need new brake pads £90", and take my £230 and buy six Raleigh vintage racers, keep the one that rides best and practice stripping the others. Eventually you could build at least three great bikes and also learn how to fix your own bl00dy bikes.

Oh I'm quite capable of changing my brake pads old boy but I don't own the Juicy brake bleeding kit so my thinking was that if the lbs would do the whole job at a reasonable price then a) it saves my time and it saves me forking out £35 for the bleed kit. I was sort of thinking maybe £75 quid including parts which to me would have been worth it. But £140? Rip off.

Oh, and the bike is worth just tad more than £90

 

[Debian]

The brake job was "only" £140.

The more I think about this the more cross I become. I mean, my local car mechanic shop charges me less than that to replace the pads on my Landcruiser! The last time they changed my pads it was £80 labour + £50 for the pads.

 

[Cedric]

Sorry mate, I was flipping through threads and had you mistaken for a novice. Still, I think you have to look at repairs in terms of the total value of your bike, even if your bike is £1000ish, if your average repair is around 20% of your bikes value.....c'mon! Sounds like a sellers market to me.

 

[Debian]

Sorry mate, I was flipping through threads and had you mistaken for a novice. Still, I think you have to look at repairs in terms of the total value of your bike, even if your bike is £1000ish, if your average repair is around 20% of your bikes value.....c'mon! Sounds like a sellers market to me.

So what do you expect people to do then? Sell their bike every time a new set of pads is needed??

I repeat that I'm quite capable of doing most jobs on the bike, just like I'm quite capable of doing most repairs on my cars. Whether or not I choose to do them or whether my time is more valuable is my choice. I'm merely saying that, IMO, my lbs is trying to rip me off.

 

[Cedric]

So what do you expect people to do then? Sell their bike every time a new set of pads is needed??

I repeat that I'm quite capable of doing most jobs on the bike, just like I'm quite capable of doing most repairs on my cars. Whether or not I choose to do them or whether my time is more valuable is my choice. I'm merely saying that, IMO, my lbs is trying to rip me off

What's your problem? You don't need to repeat anything to me, I'm agreeing with you and expressing a general point about the cost of repairs relative to the cost of bikes, and yes, using hyperbole, I am kind of saying that if you have a more budget range bike, repairs in that price range would mean that actually buying a new bike might just be a better option. You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about your ability to do your own repairs. If you have thing about being mistaken for a beginner, I'd stop posting personal gripes in the beginners section mate. You should notice that I apologised for ruffling your feathers about this, and let me also apologise for assuming that you might have a bike that cost a normal price. I'm quite sure you are also great in the sack and can level tall buildings with laser beams from your eyes and you ride a gold plated bike with a mink saddle.

 

[Moodyman]

I don't own the Juicy brake bleeding kit

Debian, as this is a Halfords vs LBS thread, might I recommend Halfords on this one.

I like to do my own maintenance, but the cost of the bleed kit, plus the fact that you can't bleed on your own - you need a second pair of hands - I decided to pay Halfords £17.99 for their annual maintenance service which includes the bleed service.

They charge around £40 for the bleed service as a one-off charge.

In that £17.99 they will do the usual stuff like cables, wheel truing.

 

[Moodyman]

Cedric,

I don't think that Debian has a chip on his shoulder. He made a valid point. You can't sell your bike everytime a bit of maintenance is needed. Debian does a lot of commuting mileage and if he followed this philosophy he'd be buying a new bike every month.

Regarding the bit about repeating your statement, it's what most people do on forums to be clear about which post they're responding to.

 

[Cedric]

Well that's fine Moodyman, you're entitled to interpret his response as you see it. I disagree with you.

 

[Norm]

... and you ride a gold plated bike with a mink saddle.

I think he actually went for fox rather than mink, although I might be wrong.

 

[Debian]

What's your problem? You don't need to repeat anything to me, I'm agreeing with you and expressing a general point about the cost of repairs relative to the cost of bikes, and yes, using hyperbole, I am kind of saying that if you have a more budget range bike, repairs in that price range would mean that actually buying a new bike might just be a better option. You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about your ability to do your own repairs. If you have thing about being mistaken for a beginner, I'd stop posting personal gripes in the beginners section mate. You should notice that I apologised for ruffling your feathers about this, and let me also apologise for assuming that you might have a bike that cost a normal price. I'm quite sure you are also great in the sack and can level tall buildings with laser beams from your eyes and you ride a gold plated bike with a mink saddle.

lol, no, well maybe for the first one!

Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across like it did, tetchy day at work. Sorry again.

 

[Debian]

I don't own the Juicy brake bleeding kit

Debian, as this is a Halfords vs LBS thread, might I recommend Halfords on this one.

I like to do my own maintenance, but the cost of the bleed kit, plus the fact that you can't bleed on your own - you need a second pair of hands - I decided to pay Halfords £17.99 for their annual maintenance service which includes the bleed service.

They charge around £40 for the bleed service as a one-off charge.

In that £17.99 they will do the usual stuff like cables, wheel truing.

Interesting. Thanks for that.