lbs having a laugh?

[alecstilleyedye]

daughter's boyfriend is off to uni next week, and has been donated a '90s mountain bike that i said i'd look over to make sure it was ok.

it was all ok, apart from the fact that the cassette turned freely when the cranks turned; which from experience i know to be a broken freehub. having not got the spare part, nor having made that repair myself before, i directed said potential son-in-law in the direction of the lbs, whom i've had plenty of dealings with before, having done a bodge-fix of cable-tieing the cassette to the spokes to make the bike ridable in the interim.

apparently p-s-i-l has been quoted £50 for a new wheel which, considering that the rim, spokes and, from what i could tell, the hub shell were in pretty good condition.

i know the owner fairly well, but this was the assistant who wouldn't know that p-s-i-l knew me. is this a bit of rather sharp practice and the p-s-i-l taken advantage of?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

The wheel, may be cheaper than the labour+parts to do the repair.

 

[Citius]

which from experience i know to be a broken freehub

Alternative experience might simply suggest that the pawls were stuck and needed freeing up. Experience also suggests that the only way to be certain is to open it up and confirm it one way or the other...

 

[midlife]

Lbs took one look at a wheel lashed together with cable ties and thougt, well that's lunched!

Shaun

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Alternative experience might simply suggest that the pawls were stuck and needed freeing up. Experience also suggests that the only way to be certain is to open it up and confirm it one way or the other...

indeed. i might have considered doing that had i not had my commuter needing replacement cassette, chain, tyre, tube and brake blocks and only enough time to give the other bike a cursory going over…

 

[Smokin Joe]

The wheel, may be cheaper than the labour+parts to do the repair.

^^This^^

It's at least a couple of hours work to strip and service the freehub plus whatever parts might be needed. A wheel that's at least twenty years old owes you nothing and fifty quid for a new one is hardly a deal breaker.

 

[cyberknight]

http://www.woollyhatshop.com/bike-wheels/26-540/rear-546

 

[alecstilleyedye]

^^This^^

It's at least a couple of hours work to strip and service the freehub plus whatever parts might be needed. A wheel that's at least twenty years old owes you nothing and fifty quid for a new one is hardly a deal breaker.

probably right. as long as the quality is like-for-like, not really a problem. either way, a hard-tailed mountain bike is a bit overkill for the flatlands of cambridge…

 

[winjim]

A new freehub recently cost me £35. Fitted it myself which turned out to be not too difficult.

 

[Smurfy]

Is it Shimano, or some generic freehub? Spares may not be available for generic freehubs or elderly Shimano hubs, in which case a new wheel may be the only option.

 

[ufkacbln]

http://www.woollyhatshop.com/bike-wheels/26-540/rear-546

Now add on the cost of the original assessment, removing the old wheel, fitting the new one, setting up the gears and brakes?

 

[Drago]

I don't think it's unreasonable, Labour being doubtless the biggest element. That's the cost of not being able to.or not wanting to do it yourself.

 

[ufkacbln]

[QUOTE 3930036, member: 45"]You'd have to do all of that if you were replacing the wheel. The only difference would be swapping the freehub, but you'd have to swap over the tyre instead.[/QUOTE]

The question was whether this was the difference between the web and the LBS... if included is the LBS price not better?

 

[PatrickPending]

Similar to winjim - changed the freehub on a 105 hub, quite easy......think mine was approx. "25, a search on amazon shows they can be had for cheaper, strangely a quick look at chain reaction hasn't turned one up.....


http://www.amazon.co.uk/shimano-freehub-Sports-Outdoors/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n:318949011,k:shimano freehub

even more here...


http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-freehub-bodies-dept608/

 

[sgl5gjr]

Some freehubs can be a pain in the a*se to find..... to replace like for like... I rarely waste time rebuilding for customers as it's generally easier to swap out for a new one...if you can get one.... I had heck of a job getting one for a Boardman road bike... I did get one mind but it wasn't easy...