Lbs Charges

[Wet Banana]

I'm at uni at though mo, so have my bike tucked away in my house. The only tools I have here are a 4mm & 5mm allen key and a puncture repair set (but I don't have a pump ).

Anyway, my bb and ti'burn bashring are both a little loose. I have the tools to do these at home, but even if I did bring them here it would require a lot of effort doing it in my house, as fixing my bike usually requires a rubber hammer, vice and blow torch. Ok, yeah I could probably bodge both things with a hammer and screw driver but I'd rather do it propperly with loctite etc

So, once a week I ride my other get-about-bmx past a local "Raleigh" bike shop, today I went in there and enquired about taking my cranks off, tightening my isis bb and tightening my bashring.

I aproached the counter to be greeted by a short arogant fat bloke with two wandering eyes... After explaining what a bashring was, I enquired as to whether they actually had a Middleburn lockring tool... So after explaining what that was to him, I asked how much it would all cost. Expecting about a tenner, he told me "YEAH WE CAN DO THAT 50 POUND PLUS VAT".

Err, am I missing something here? 50 quid for a ten min job, I don't think so mate.

I'm guessing as it's actually a "Raleigh" shop (even though the sign in the window says they service and repair all makes), they have a minimum workshop charge? So if I wanted one wheel bolt tightening, they would charge me 50 quid?

What happened to the borrowing tools from lbs' too? It's all a health and safety nightmare.

So yeah, just a possible pointless rant. I just couldn't belive they want that much

[Dan6061]

Just take it in and say 'Can I just borrow some tools quickly so I can sort this out?'

If they're nice enough, they'll lend you the tools for free. We used to in Halfords anyway, saved us doing it.

£50 though! I bet he didn't have a clue what you were on about, so he just made up a figure to make you go away.

[Joe Aston]

i work in a Raleigh shop and our minimum work shop rate is 5 quid was it a cycle life store ? Sounds like a classic case of cant be bothered which is strange because we make loads in our workshop doing repairs.

Does sound mighty pricey

joe

[Bionic Balls]

my nearest bike shop charges 50p to pump up A tyre...that's one tyre.

what a bunch of c**ts! the other shop on high street ken are cool though...

[sexymike]

i have had this debate with loads of people, customers, Cycle training staff and other shop work mates.

Generally, the bike trade dont charge enough, Take BMW, they charge around £100 a hour, thats a lot of money, service your M3 and thats a few hundred quid. With the right Qualifications ANY good shop shouldnt be charging pennies, aroudn £40-50/hour is a good price. A Full service (takes around 3hours) should cost between £120 and £150, a lot of money but it Should be done.

£50 to do a lockring is rediculous, they are having a giraffe but by the time the cranks been removed (£8-10) and tightend up (£8-10) its about right, 20-30 mins if all clened and greased properly, Sure we could all do its in a couple of minutes but you are paying for their time, use of tool and a guarantee that if it does go tits up, they will pay.

The reality is we charge only £20 for a standard service (30-45 mins) and only £50 (at the minute) for a full service, that way under charging. The reason? other shops dont charge 'proper' prices either, we are cheaper but we ll charge too less for it. Its a business not a hobby.

we Would probably charge £10 for that lockring 'repair' to be honest, if it was added to a service and that price would come down.

good luck with it i say.

[N.Wood]

We charge £120 for a full service and £55 for a drivetrain/general check over service.

[dave85]

As skilled as repairing bikes is, in the grand scheme of things it's little more than bolting stuff together. I know there are overheads and expenses to cover, but it's hardly surprising that bike shops get a slagging when they suggest a tenner for five minutes work.

[sexymike]

As skilled as repairing bikes is, in the grand scheme of things it's little more than bolting stuff together. I know there are overheads and expenses to cover, but it's hardly surprising that bike shops get a slagging when they suggest a tenner for five minutes work.

to be honest, a BMW is just bolting things together, they even have compuers to help them,

Pay good money, get good quality.

pay peanuts, get monkeys and all that.

[dave85]

BMW is a bad example, you could print those initials on bog roll and flog it for 20 quid a sheet. Labour might be 150 quid an hour in one of their garages, but the mechanics are on a tenth of that, hence why I see it as pretty shoddy.

What I mean to say is, can you justify with clear conscience charging a tenner for a few minutes work, with bugger all wear on the tools, not a lot to go wrong and no consumable items bar the grease?

[Krisboats]

i have had this debate with loads of people, customers, Cycle training staff and other shop work mates.

Generally, the bike trade dont charge enough, Take BMW, they charge around £100 a hour, thats a lot of money, service your M3 and thats a few hundred quid. With the right Qualifications ANY good shop shouldnt be charging pennies, aroudn £40-50/hour is a good price. A Full service (takes around 3hours) should cost between £120 and £150, a lot of money but it Should be done.

£50 to do a lockring is rediculous, they are having a giraffe but by the time the cranks been removed (£8-10) and tightend up (£8-10) its about right, 20-30 mins if all clened and greased properly, Sure we could all do its in a couple of minutes but you are paying for their time, use of tool and a guarantee that if it does go tits up, they will pay.

The reality is we charge only £20 for a standard service (30-45 mins) and only £50 (at the minute) for a full service, that way under charging. The reason? other shops dont charge 'proper' prices either, we are cheaper but we ll charge too less for it. Its a business not a hobby.

we Would probably charge £10 for that lockring 'repair' to be honest, if it was added to a service and that price would come down.

good luck with it i say.

8-10 minutes to get a crankarm off? What kind of mechanic are you? 8-10 minutes to tighten it? , you gonna spin the lockring round with your tongue or something?

On a brum ride me and kennard switched crankarms on our burns, whole job was done in ten minutes or so and that involved removing them, cleaning the splines, greasing them, taking the lockring and pedals off, cleaning threads again, attaching the bash and arms then attaching the peddles. Admittedly kennard was slower but he's only small () and i did such a good job i've not had to take the arms off again yet.

BMW is a completely different example, like edd said, they're worth far more than the bikes are, theres generally more things in a car to fix/fiddle with and theres a chance it can kill/severely injure a fair few people if its not done right, unlike a bike where the chances of anyone being killed are minimal (being realistic).

[Lawnmowerman]

where I used to work it was £25 for a full service and I used to completely strip the bikes and build them back up. We'd make the money up on parts like pads, chain, bearings and cables etc.

[sexymike]

8-10 minutes to get a crankarm off? What kind of mechanic are you? 8-10 minutes to tighten it? , you gonna spin the lockring round with your tongue or something?

WHat torque settings did you tighten the arms to, will the 5er you want us to charge cover a mechanic making a balls of a £150 chainset?

where I used to work it was £25 for a full service and I used to completely strip the bikes and build them back up. We'd make the money up on parts like pads, chain, bearings and cables etc.

thats seriously low, from what i can gather (from around 20 sops all over the country, £80 is the going rate.

[DrEvil270183]

£20 for a basic (getting the gears and brakes working well, checking over bike but charging extra if anything is needed.)

£35 for standard (as above but cones/headset tightened, bb checked and replaced if needed without extra charge, drivetrain removed, cleaned and lubed etc.)

£85 deluxe (full strip down, clean everything and then rebuild as it was a new bike.)

these prices are pretty cheap compared to other shops in our area. i've seen deluxes at £120 which seems more reasonable.

[James Quigley]

I can't really comment on my LBS as I've been good friends wwith the guys who run it for a good 5 years and so never really pay for anything but parts, then again I never use them for servicing, just general ''give me you pump and an 8mm for 2 mins''.

I think there prices for joe public are about average: Just under £100 for a ultra mega service suprise

[Krisboats]

WHat torque settings did you tighten the arms to, will the 5er you want us to charge cover a mechanic making a balls of a £150 chainset?

I used the good old get an allen key and spin it with your hand then finish it off with some mighty shoving torque. Its not a case of including coverage incase it happens its something that doesn't really need to be reflected in the price. If your changing someones inner tube and the mechanic snaps the axle trying to get the wheel out it should be replaced because he broke it, irreflective of the price of the maintenance. It might only be £5-10 to fit a new inner tube but if he knocks the bike stand over it hits a table and a workbench falls on the bike bending the frame, it needs to be replaced free of charge because it was his mistake that caused it. Obviously knocking over a bike stand and a workbench on top isn't something that happens frequently but the point is still valid.

[MadManMike]

Plus you shouldn't pay for someone elses potential mistake.

"Yeah, tube is £4, fitting is a fiver but I'm gonna stick on another £45 incase I damage your rim fitting it."

[Tomm]

BMW is a bad example, you could print those initials on bog roll and flog it for 20 quid a sheet.

A mate told me (so don't know how true it is) that BMW charge £88/hour labour, whilst Rover charge over £100/hour. So it's hardly a premium garage thing, it's just standard.

Local bike shops are expensive. My mate told me he'd just paid £55 for a new BB+fitting (on an £80 bike, mind ) - I thought he'd been totally ripped off. Until I tried to get my BB out of my road bike. It was stuck in and required all kinds of penetrating lube and brute force to get it out. It took me at least a couple of hours.

I suppose a full strip down/service on a 3 month old nice bike would be pretty easy. But on a 4 year old rusted piece of junk it would be a lot harder and they've gotta cover for that. £80 isn't really that unreasonable for a full service - especially if your bike's worth a lot. My car isn't worth as much as my bike and for some reason that costs more than £80 for a service

[DrEvil270183]

A mate told me (so don't know how true it is) that BMW charge £88/hour labour, whilst Rover charge over £100/hour. So it's hardly a premium garage thing, it's just standard.

Local bike shops are expensive. My mate told me he'd just paid £55 for a new BB+fitting (on an £80 bike, mind ) - I thought he'd been totally ripped off. Until I tried to get my BB out of my road bike. It was stuck in and required all kinds of penetrating lube and brute force to get it out. It took me at least a couple of hours.

I suppose a full strip down/service on a 3 month old nice bike would be pretty easy. But on a 4 year old rusted piece of junk it would be a lot harder and they've gotta cover for that. £80 isn't really that unreasonable for a full service - especially if your bike's worth a lot. My car isn't worth as much as my bike and for some reason that costs more than £80 for a service

i like your thinking. thats how we do it, inner tube replacement for us is £2.95 for the tube, £2.05 labour bringing it to £5 in total.

we charge £18 for bb fitting as it could take up to an hour, or it could take 5 mins. you never know. plus i lost count of customers bringing bikes it with bbs threaded or tightened instead of loosened.

People who know little bits about fixing bikes seem to think that everyone will know basics. i teach a maintainance class and meet people how cant remove their rear wheel, but cycle 50miles a day..

end of the day you pay for mechanical skills, tools needed, time taken.

going back to original post though, i do believe that guy didnt have a clue what you were talking about and quoted for something else.

Tim