Bike Servicing Prices.

[cragster]

The bicycle tutor website looks good. I'll have a go at most mechanical jobs so maybe next time, wife and kids permitting I'll be able to do more of my own maintenance. I dropped the bike off this morning and the first thing they said was that my bike would probably need a new cassette! When I pointed out that the bike is only a year old, the bloke said that a cassette change was normal after this amount of time. He did though after a quick check, agree that it didn't need changing. Was he right about bike cassettes, or was it possibly a way of getting more cash out of the customer. i.e ME!!

 

[marinyork]

Nah just get on with it, its not that hard once you've started and you should have more patience and pride in your own bike to do that fine tuning.

You don't need much for cables either, a pair of cable cutters and an allen key (spanner if you have an old bike), you don't need to buy the most expensive (just not the cheapest) and once bought it'll be cheaper, faster, more convenient and more satisfying in the long run.

It's not that hard to get 'approximately' right, I agree. Bang on perfect, yes it most certainly is. It really depends on how picky the person is. I've noticed that usually people tend to expect it to work perfectly 100% of the time rather than living with it being slightly out. A lot of newbies are very nervy of anything not being absolutely perfect, I was the same. With time you relax and realise gearing problems mysteriously come and go for no particular reason you can pin down.

Cable cutters, I found various people on here said that you could 'suffice' with plier cutters but it's better getting proper ones. I found out that it's absolutely impossible to get them off with plier ones and even with a fairly decent set of cable cutters it takes a huge number of cuts and very frayed ends. Basically you need a set of cutters that costs £20 or £30 and is razor sharp and preferably designed for bikes. So yes it is easy, provided you have eyewateringly expensive equipment. Depends how you see it really, I see the time saving of not going to the LBS being a bigger deal than the small amount of money installing the cables.

 

[HLaB]

They do wear out eventually and you'll need a new cassette and chain but I think some shops are a little to quick to suggest replacing. Typically before a chain is worn 0.75% you don't need to replace a cassette (with me thats around 1500miles many other folk get many more miles). With my last cassette I ran it a bit longer (around 5500 miles) and replaced chain and cassette then.

 

[HLaB]

It's not that hard to get 'approximately' right, I agree. Bang on perfect, yes it most certainly is. It really depends on how picky the person is. I've noticed that usually people tend to expect it to work perfectly 100% of the time rather than living with it being slightly out. A lot of newbies are very nervy of anything not being absolutely perfect, I was the same. With time you relax and realise gearing problems mysteriously come and go for no particular reason you can pin down.

Cable cutters, I found various people on here said that you could 'suffice' with plier cutters but it's better getting proper ones. I found out that it's absolutely impossible to get them off with plier ones and even with a fairly decent set of cable cutters it takes a huge number of cuts and very frayed ends. Basically you need a set of cutters that costs £20 or £30 and is razor sharp and preferably designed for bikes. So yes it is easy, provided you have eyewateringly expensive equipment. Depends how you see it really, I see the time saving of not going to the LBS being a bigger deal than the small amount of money installing the cables.

Yip I think its like most things just getting over that initial hurdle. I was the exact same, at first it seemed like a black art.
I'm with you the convenience is far better than the cost saving
OT my mate just bought a new pair of cable cutters of wiggle, £14 (no idea the brand) his Dad thought they were dear (I thought that was average to cheap) iirc the icetoolz pair I bought 5 years back were around that price.

 

[Moodyman]

I can't believe anybody would trust a bike shop to service their bike. Or more to the point, why would you ever allow your bike to reach the point where it needed a service? Owning and riding a bike is about constant checking, adjustment, replacement of parts in good time and keeping it in good nick, it would drive me crazy to have to ride a bike that was in anything less than perfect adjustment.

I think it depends how much one rides. Someone who rides daily in all weathers, like a commuter, needs to be able to keep his/her bike running themself.

A weekend warrior / leisure rider can justify the annual bike service as they don't have to buy specialist tools and don't have much going wrong due to low mileage.

 

[Moodyman]

The bicycle tutor website looks good. I'll have a go at most mechanical jobs so maybe next time, wife and kids permitting I'll be able to do more of my own maintenance. I dropped the bike off this morning and the first thing they said was that my bike would probably need a new cassette! When I pointed out that the bike is only a year old, the bloke said that a cassette change was normal after this amount of time. He did though after a quick check, agree that it didn't need changing. Was he right about bike cassettes, or was it possibly a way of getting more cash out of the customer. i.e ME!!

Learning to do things for the first time can be very frustrating, but very satisfying once done.

Expect to buy a lot of tools as every bike part needs its own tool to install / remove it.