Unhappy with local bike shop matainence work.

[compo]

I still use my LBS for wheel truing though as that to me really is witchcraft!

My sentiment exactly

 

[HLaB]

I had a bike shop transfer my old parts to a new frame (warranty replacement) as it was sourced through them and I felt it was a bit unfair to have them handle the replacement but loose out on the refit. I also put the Bianchi in to a lbs to get the crank changed to a compact for the Alps and I never had campag tools. Apart from that I've do practically everything my self as I want the bike to be there next morning, whereas with a lbs it seems to be a week at least.

 

[MontyVeda]

In my experience, LBS stands for Loads of Bull Sh1t... i went in to one for some headset bearings, but they told me "you can't buy just the bearings" and proceeded to try to sell me an entire headset, the cheapest being £22 (this was early 1990s)... went to halfords and bought a little bag of headset bearings for 60p. No wonder Cycle 2000 closed down within a year or so of opening.

 

[Beebo]

Some shops are better than others.
I had a great experience in Evans, Fenchurch Street, yesterday.
I removed the spring from my rear deraileur and couldnt get it back on properly so I took it into Evans and they fixed it for free in 10 minutes.
They know me and know I spend lots of money in there, so they were happy to help.

 

[young Ed]

@roundisland maybe you could name and shame this particular LBS for the rest of us to blacklist and not get another bad experience and unhappy CC member?
never used a LBS my self as i have only ever had cheap sh**e bikes for commuting only until about 6-9 months ago and my logic is if i have the internet, a dad who has built a house, barn and rebuilt lots of motor bikes and cars surely i can fix a simple bicycle!

and £40 doesn't sound unreasonable for the mentioned work if it was carried out and to a high and proper standard but £40 for doing jack all sounds a complete rip off!
Cheers Ed

 

[roundisland]

@roundisland maybe you could name and shame this particular LBS for the rest of us to blacklist and not get another bad experience and unhappy CC member?
never used a LBS my self as i have only ever had cheap sh**e bikes for commuting only until about 6-9 months ago and my logic is if i have the internet, a dad who has built a house, barn and rebuilt lots of motor bikes and cars surely i can fix a simple bicycle!

and £40 doesn't sound unreasonable for the mentioned work if it was carried out and to a high and proper standard but £40 for doing jack all sounds a complete rip off!
Cheers Ed

Ed im reluctant to name them publicly, I stand by my criticism but I dont know how they perform as a whole maybe It was just a one off bad experience.
What I would say is anyone looking for bike maintenance to be carried out in Worcester and is concered pm me and I will share with you the name of the company.
I agree I think £40.00 would have been reasonable if the work had been completed successfully.

 

[AndyRM]

Ed im reluctant to name them publicly, I stand by my criticism but I dont know how they perform as a whole maybe It was just a one off bad experience.
What I would say is anyone looking for bike maintenance to be carried out in Worcester and is concered pm me and I will share with you the name of the company.
I agree I think £40.00 would have been reasonable if the work had been completed successfully.

That's far too reasonable of you, Internet rules dictate that you name the shop so we can raze it to the ground with the owners and employees inside.

 

[migrantwing]

I've never used an LBS in my life, apart from when I was younger to buy a new tyre or cables etc. All maintenance and repairs are done by myself. I find in this day and age that most people are out for a quick buck and a lot of employees, whatever the subject company, are low paid and either work too many hours or hours that don't make up a decent wage. (I have been a 'victim' of both in the last three jobs I've had.) There are also a lot of 'bogus' companies that employ friends and family to work with them. Most, not all, but most cycle technicians/mechanics are on minimum wage, even if they have a Cytech/NVQ qualification. (Something else I've had dealings with.) So, on the whole, what reassurance can we as customers expect or receive?

As you mentioned, @roundisland you Google'd a problem and rectified it yourself. As others have mentioned here, that's the best way. Along with Google, Youtube and help from people on here you should find almost any aspect of maintenance possible, that's what I've done over the past few years

 

[migrantwing]

I still use my LBS for wheel truing though as that to me really is witchcraft! Or read the @mickle THREAD on the subject and give a go

@smokeysmoo I'm just waiting on a spoke key to be delivered (probably Wednesday next week) and will be giving it a go. I'll let you know how I get on

 

[smokeysmoo]

@smokeysmoo I'm just waiting on a spoke key to be delivered (probably Wednesday next week) and will be giving it a go. I'll let you know how I get on

I'd be as well with one of these

 

[Ed no-more-lemons]

Witchcraft is best left to the amateur in my experience, as the owner and likely enthusiast is far more likely to take thier time and do the job properly.
As when an LBS retensioned my spokes in one brutal miscalculated motion and then tried to sell me a new wheel.
Result ended up temporarily reinforcing all tensions and got the thing as straight as I could for the commute and gained the confidence to true my own wheels since.

 

[doog]

My local LBS havent seen a penny from me.

Ive rang them on three occasions over the last few years simply asking for gear services having changed the hardware myself and wanting to save some time. On the last occasion they told me to do it myself...bunch of winkers. What they dont like is people who have changed cranks / cassettes and chains...and simply want a tune up..probably not profitable enough.

 

[migrantwing]

My local LBS havent seen a penny from me.

Ive rang them on three occasions over the last few years simply asking for gear services having changed the hardware myself and wanting to save some time. On the last occasion they told me to do it myself...bunch of winkers. What they dont like is people who have changed cranks / cassettes and chains...and simply want a tune up..probably not profitable enough.

I think that's the problem with a lot of places, doog, the profit margin. The majority of maintenance tasks on a bike are fairly straightforward besides certain things like replacing broken spokes and wheel truing for instance, as smokey fondly mentions Some fixes are down to an art, more so than just a simple tweak or full replacement. How do you price up a job that is beneficial to you, as a shop owner, and to your customer? I've seen numerous posts on here, and other forums, of the cost of a full cable installation and indexing costing £40-50! Personally, I think that's disgusting. It shouldn't take more than an hour to install new cables. The cost of a good kit (Jagwire/Shimano) is around £20-25. I can't justify someone charging £20 or more to fit the things...but, people will pay it if they don't know what they're doing and/or are willing to spend the money. Some people don't have the specific tools to do specific jobs, so the charge at the LBS will come from that. A simple tweak to index gears, assuming that there are no problems with bent derailleur hangers or worn cogs etc, is a 10 minute job. How do you charge for that? I wouldn't, but if I was a shop owner, I'd have to charge something. Most LBS will do things for you if you make a purchase in their shop e.g. you don't know how to tape bars but, if you purchase the bar tape from them, they'll do it free of charge or for a small fee of a few pounds. Supply and demand.

I like the idea they have in America in the form of bike co-op's. You take your bike, pay a small fee and use the shops tools and get some assistance in the task at hand.

 

[Cyclopathic]

Hi, disappointed in my local LBS . Took my bike in to have gears adjusted, when I went to pick the bike up they said they were unable to fix the problem, then said it was an incompatible rear mech. Which I know it untrue. I mentioned the problem could be with the barend shifter and could they look at that. Unfortunately that seemed to annoy them and totally dismissed my suggestion. On returning home I Google the problem and sorted within 15 mins. I also asked them to tighten up the rear wheel as there was a little bit of lateral play it's still as bad as before. I called and asked if they had managed to look at the wheel they said yes, they had striped it down re - greased and tightend up. Should I still be experiencing lateral play now? The front wheel had a slight buckle it's better but I can still see a slight wobble. Should slight buckles be removed completely from a wheel or us that not possible? Thanks total charge £40.00 am I being unreasonable?

Thanks

I think I'd be asking for an itemised bill and for them to explain exactly where my money was going. If people don't like being bike mechanics to the extent that they are just not bothered then they should do something else.

 

[Cyclopathic]

My local LBS havent seen a penny from me.

Ive rang them on three occasions over the last few years simply asking for gear services having changed the hardware myself and wanting to save some time. On the last occasion they told me to do it myself...bunch of winkers. What they dont like is people who have changed cranks / cassettes and chains...and simply want a tune up..probably not profitable enough.

I do not understand this attitude. What is the point of turning down work and alienating customers? I'm a bike mechanic and I'm fine with checking something over for some one and will also fit parts that they have brought to me from elsewhere as long as the are the right parts, obviously. The way I see it is that firstly it's work and that is what I do. Secondly I'd hope that in the future that they will remember me when they need something doing and come back because they know that I'll be helpful.
It is not as profitable to simply fit a part rather than supply it as well but in the long run I think it works out better.