how much for annual servicing ...

[mr Mag00]

...of a bike in LBS. total annual cost please.

based on 2 services

 

[buggi]

think my LBS charge about 20-30 quid, but if anything major needs replacing, the cost of that is added.

 

[TheDoctor]

My LBS charges £60 for a full 'going over' service.
That includes stuff like trueing the wheels if needed, lubing everything, re-indexing the gears - the lot.

 

[Norm]

My LBS has several options, from a basic £15 check over (for peeps who do most of their own maintenance but still want someone to say it's safe) to £50-odd for (and this was a bike picked up this afternoon whilst I was there) bikes which haven't been oiled in 12 months, have bent derailleurs, no brakes and Pringled wheels.

 

[rich p]

Why would you pay to have a bike serviced? It's not an internal combustion engine. Any mug can put new cables on, tweak the indexing, fit new brake blocks and the like. None of it's rocket science when you get down to it.

 

[Globalti]

Having bodged and fixed bikes since the age of about six I find it incomprehensible that anybody would want to trust their pride and joy and their own safety to a so-called professional but I guess I just have to accept that there are some people who either don't want to or haven't got it.

There's a passage in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance where the author describes taking a motorbike that's had a seizure and as a consequence has got piston slap to his local repair shop. The mechanic is listening to loud pop music and has a casual, don't care attitude. He listens to the engine and says "Yeah... Tappets" then proceeds to try to remove the tappet cover with the wrong spanner, damaging the cover in the process. Realises he's messed up so goes off to get a small chisel and a hammer to beat the cover round. Pirsig watches in horror as the guy takes a swing at the chisel, misses and hits the engine, chipping a cooling fin. He takes the bike away and decides he'd rather live with a sloppy piston than suffer further damage at the hands of this idiot.

I'm sure most bike shop mechanics are NOT like this but it illustrates the "don't care" attitude that you sometimes find in so-called professionals. I reckon car dealers are worse for this.

Anyway... "annual servicing"? A bike should be serviced according to the use it gets, not following a schedule. A mountain bike used in Lancashire grit will need a lot more servicing than a road bike used on dry roads only, the MTB will probably need some attention every couple of rides and more if the rider is mechanically un-sympathetic.

 

[RyanW]

I guess this is why you should "shop around" as it were, The guys at my LBS are always keen and eager, They will just as happily chat to you for an hour as sell you something. There answer to everything is always "Bring it in, we will have a look" Never had a problem that they have tried to upsell or anything like that, Chain broke, they replaced it for the cheapest one they had and fitted it for virtually nothing

 

[mr Mag00]

Thanks Buggi and Thedoctor. I was looking for a figure for an application form, ok, no need for the debate as to whether it needed doing or not, or any mug can do it. end of thread, thanks

 

[Mark_Robson]

Why would you pay to have a bike serviced? It's not an internal combustion engine. Any mug can put new cables on, tweak the indexing, fit new brake blocks and the like. None of it's rocket science when you get down to it.

+1 There's a wealth of information on tinternet to research before doing a job.

 

[Norm]

Thanks Buggi and Thedoctor.

Oh, I see, my answer was not good enough.

 

[Fnaar]

I've asked Mrs F about an annual servicing, but thankfully I don't to pay *



*she's going to see to my bottom bracket/let me scuff her pads/etc

 

[Hilldodger]

Why would you pay to have a bike serviced? It's not an internal combustion engine. Any mug can put new cables on, tweak the indexing, fit new brake blocks and the like. None of it's rocket science when you get down to it.

Most bike shops make a significant amount of their turnover from servicing and repairs.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Why would you pay to have a bike serviced? It's not an internal combustion engine. Any mug can put new cables on, tweak the indexing, fit new brake blocks and the like. None of it's rocket science when you get down to it.

Tell that to these old boys.

Is it me or does the one on the right look a bit like our dear leader GB?

 

[Fnaar]

What a wonderfully non-sexist household you must have fnaar! Once a year is more than enough as far as I'm concerned. Does she do it in the shed, or does she just put a tarpaulin on the carpet and just give it a seeing to in the living room?

No, she just takes it up the back passage and then gives it the once over

 

[Mark_Robson]

No, she just takes it up the back passage and then gives it the once over

Does she give your helmet a good polishing as well?