Is £160 a

[Riding in Circles]

I'm trade and here it would have cost £80-£100 max including VAT and I would have taped the bars, generally I give a fixed price for work like this so people already know what to expect.

 

[italiafirenze]

Maybe they are sick of you and don't want you to keep bringing your unprofitable business?

In the service industry some customers really are more trouble than they are worth. You must realise they are in the job to make money, not provide subsidised services to those who are capable of buying all their own cheap imported parts but incapable of assembling them.

Or maybe, they just thought that the job was worth £160.

Question is; at what price would you not have just handed over the cash and instead said "hang on a minute, didn't you say £90?"?

For me it would have been £91 or above.

 

[on the road]

he said 3 days

That sounds reasonable, an hour day 1, an hour day 2, an hour day 3

 

[gb155]

So, for £160 he didn't take the bars and when I test rode it , the bards didn't feel quite right

Looking at the picture I can see why ( look at the angle of the drops and where the shifters are )

Guess he really doesn't want me to go back

 

[Zoiders]

It's a four hour job (£15 an hour, possibly a bit more in some places) not including any cables or odds and sods they may have supplied and he also got the drops wrong as he doesn't understand how the short drop flat top bars work.

Twice the price nearly for half the job you wanted, I wouldn't go back to him (not that I would have gone in the first place)

£90 was about right possibly even £100 - £160 was just them bending you over the counter and not even offering you lubricant to ease the shafting. This talk about "non profitable business" is complete bollocks, no one makes private business consultant fee's from bike building and anyone who thinks they would should try getting a job as a "mobile mechanic" (which has recently emerged as a middle class fantasy for well to do cyclist's who think they are handy with the cable cutters) and see if the mythical 30k a year plus that I have seen quoted in various semi fictional shitty cycling rags that are published in Bath starts rolling in year in year out. For a quiet LBS that might go all afternoon without selling as much as a bottle cage £90 on a build is £90 pure profit for an afternoon of non stressed work with all new parts that all fit together with no real problems while they listen to radio two.

 

[gb155]

It's a four hour job (£15 an hour, possibly a bit more in some places) and he got the drops wrong as he doesn't understand how the short drop flat top bars work.

Twice the price or more for half the job you wanted, I wouldn't go back to him (not that I would have gone in the first place).

The issue of not going in the first place is different , was quoted a reasonable price, I'm a loyal ( was) customer of his and had no reason to think

A the price would be so high

&

B the job would only be half done

But your right - I won't go back, I can sort the drops and levers myself , you live and learn eh ?

:-)

Bust still- it's a class bike

 

[Zoiders]

A build from scratch not including wheels is less work hours wise than a full service as well.

It may involve a bit more parts wise but it's much quicker as everything works and does not need cleaning, the real money is in the build, part's sell them self and have an established and rather low margin that never changes.

Any idiot can sell bit's, hence the success of the online retailers.

 

[gb155]

A build from scratch not including wheels is less work hours wise than a full service as well.

It may involve a bit more parts wise but it's much quicker as everything works and does not need cleaning, the real money is in the build, part's sell them self and have an established and rather low margin that never changes.

Any idiot can sell bit's, hence the success of the online retailers.

The only parts supplied were a seat post clamp and headset bung tho.

I'm tempted to call in but then I figured , what's the point, the trust is gone now, so I wouldn't go back anyway , especially when you look at the drops

 

[Herzog]

I'm tempted to call in but then I figured , what's the point, the trust is gone now, so I wouldn't go back anyway , especially when you look at the drops

I would call in. It would be good to tell him, in a polite manner, what you think of both the cost and quality of the job, and that you won't be coming back. I think people should be told when they've provided sub-standard service (he may try and win your custom back).

On the way out, remember to grab as much as you can, 'Supermarket Sweep' style!

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

So have you got your £70 back that they overcharged you? (for a rather shoddy job with regard to the bars i.e. no taping and bizarrely set up shifters)

 

[gb155]

So have you got your £70 back that they overcharged you? (for a rather shoddy job with regard to the bars i.e. no taping and bizarrely set up shifters)

Not yet

The list is growing tho

One part I forgot about was inner tubes, but he's installed the short valve ones , with those wheels I'm gonna struggle to get a pump on

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Jeez Louise... sounds like he didn't have much of a clue!!! Name and shame so others can avoid!

 

[gb155]

Jeez Louise... sounds like he didn't have much of a clue!!! Name and shame so others can avoid!

Will blog tonight

Enough is enough

 

[User482]

In general though, how long is a piece of string? Last time I rebuilt my bike (after it was resprayed), that included replacing the wheel bearings and freewheel, new chain, pressing in the headset cups, new set of cables, etc. It took me a full day, so at £30/ hour, £160 wouldn't be so unreasonable.

But building a bike with all new parts is certainly quicker and easier, I would say 3 hours tops.

 

[gb155]

Lol