New chain = new cassette as well usually??

[Joe24]

I asked my LBS if it was worth putting on a more expensive chain in the hope it will last longer. He said i would still wear it out in the same time as the cheaper ones that goes onto the bike now.
So i just use the cheaper one and hope that they last a decent time before they need changing(2 months would be nice, even a month an half would be nice)

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

thanks for the help as always...

...I have had this chain and cassette from new about 18 months ago, the cogs seem ok to me...not to many sharks fins and nothing is slipping. I have always kept it well lubed and only once immersed the bike in seawater and coated it with sand
I will probably do what the LBS says...I dont need this all falling apart in Germany.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Holy crap....wifey just called to say the LBS rang her to say my bike was ready to collect...damage...£110!!!!!!!!!!!!!??? no explanation yet...they wewre closed when I rang...OMG...what did they do re build the entire bloody bike??? al I wanted was a new chain FFS!!
If they dont have a good explanation I am gonna name and shame them

 

[dodgy]

New chain - £15
New Cassette - £30
New rings (maybe?) - £25
Labour - £30 ??

Soon mounts up.
Best thing you can do is get a book on maintenance and with the help of the friendly people on here, learn to do your own maintenance.

Dave.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

..well that is what i will have to do for sure...assuming I ever see my bike again...I dont have £110 to throw at them...they should at least have called to say what was wrong and ok the cost before doing the work. ..it's a bike not a bloody car

 

[Joe24]

Thats why i started fitting my own chain. Its pretty easy to do really, dont know why i didnt fit chain before.
Casettes i am going to get the tool and use some of the old chain as a chain whip.
Chain rings are expensive though. When i was talking to my LBS about needing a smaller gear he said it would be about £50 for the chain-rings(2). Chains for me ar £12.95 and the casette was £15. I didnt get charged for labour though on the casette so i was lucky on that.

 

[Mr Pig]

You're right. If you paid for a service then they shouldn't go ahead with that amount of work without telling you first.

That's correct. It does sound like a lot although it's pretty likely that if the cassette and chain were worn the front rings would be too. The bike shop I use, Dales in Glasgow, might not be the cheapest for their bikes but they don't charge labour for fitting parts, just the cost of the parts.

Next time you can fit the parts yourself though, they're very easy to fit.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

..well it's get's worse. LBS have simply replaced the rear cassette and the chain. They then say that they have done a 'full service' including stripping the bike down and re building it (whatever that means) greasing the bearings, removing the forks and replacing them (why??)...I still have th esame old brakes, cables and gear cables,, and the front cogs are the same. So basically that is a new chain and cassette and the rest labour as far as I can see. At no pont did the LBS explain to me what a 'full service' costs or involved. I simply went in for a new chain and was told they would do a full service on it, I only found out what it involved and what it cost after they did the work.
I said that I thought £110 was a LOT of cash for this, and that at least they could have told me/phoned me. They said the onus was on me to ask exactly what the cost was and what work would be done. I said I was going to collect my bike and theysiad that they would refuse to let me have it until I piad the full £110. Frankly I see that as theft.
I am awaiting a call back from the owner who is not there to see what can be done. Guess how happy i am?

 

[Joe24]

What a load of balls. If you did not specify a full service then you should not have a full service done. If it went in for a casette and chain, then thats what it should come out with. They must of chosen to do the full service on their own. Maybe they got notes mixed up wrong and did a full service when they shouldnt have.
Thats sucks BTFB.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

well they just called back and the boss said that because it was their mistake (should have been clearer in the first place as to what was involved/costs etc) they would only charge for a half service...so the damge is now £80 which for the sake of good karma I have accepted. It's not that I dont believe them, I am sure they did the work, but there was just no communication at all...in the guys own words "assumptions are the mother of all **** ups".
Ho hum...c'est la guerre I guess...again..still...

 

[dodgy]

I simply went in for a new chain and was told they would do a full service on it

That's where it all went wrong. It would have been fair for the LBS to have pointed out the likely cost before hand, but did you not question the need for a 'full service' when you just wanted a new chain? It's a bit like going to a garage for new tyres and being told 'we'll do a full service on it, too'. You'd expect to pay for that, I think?

Anyway, what an unfortunate incident. I for one stand ready to help you out next time, maybe preventing you having to pay anything at all next time

Dave.

 

[Alcdrew]

LBS's must make a mint out of 'servicing' bikes, I recently took my year old bike in (mainly cos I talked my company in to paying for it ) I opted for a mid service(so not even a full service like you got), got 2 new cables and a new chain for the sum of £75.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I just collected the bike. Serious attitude problem those guys have in there. They even left my bike outside on a busy street in the rain..it has a brookes on it, not to mention the theft potential, especially in that area!! Idiots. Also the bike computer I bought from them last time isnt working, I had asked them the check it, they said that it was now in full working order...erm...which it of course isnt. I would have been shocked if they had done what they said...incompetence abounds it seems.
I have ridden the bike (only allowed after I had to pay for it!!) and I cannot tell any difference at all to how it was before to be honest. I can see the shiney new cassette and chain so i know they have been replaced. The bike wasn't even given a basic clean, it's still covered in filth, so i have my doubts if the 'stripping down and re building' they claim to have done actually took place, but it probably did and it's just that I cannot see/feel the results.They claim to have spent all day yesterday on it...hmm...yep mine and the other 10 + bikes they had lined up for collection today..yeah right.
Basically I get the impression the shop is used to bashing out kiddies mountain bike repairs & not used to cyclists who question them; minimum effort maximum rip off seems to be the order of the day there.
I asked for my old parts back, they just grunted and said they had binned them, so I asked them to retrieve my property from their waste bin and return it to me, happy they were not! They had to empty the entire bin out in the middle of the shop. The chain was nowhere to be found, no big deal, but I wanted my old cassette back...eventually after much tutting they retrieved it and the two smaller rings and 'placed' it on the table for me to pick up covered in shoot...so i asked them to put it in a bag for me...pissed orf they were.
My opinion based on todays sorry episode is that this outfit are only interested in their own bottom line, They dont give a **** about customer value or communication. They are used to ripping peeps off and dont like it when somebody pulls them up on their poor customer service.
I will NEVER go there again, not even for a spare black plastic inner tube cap!...guess they arnt going to see my £1000+ for a new road bike either...idiots..

I for one stand ready to help you out next time, maybe preventing you having to pay anything at all next time

Many thanks indeed. From now on I will do all my own servicing when I can. I have an old MTB I can 'practice ' on first, then I will move on to the main bike only when competent.

...the silly thing is with this LBS is that I am a reasonable bloke, I would have paid the £110 had they been honest up front, communicated through out and dropped their confrontational attitiude...the only thing they showed any aptitude for was in giving an object lesson in how to lose a good customer's trust.

 

[jags]

btfb they no more serviced your bike than i did you were ripped off .do yourself a favour and buy some bike tools do your own service it aint any big deal honestly.

 

[piedwagtail91]

LBS's must make a mint out of 'servicing' bikes, I recently took my year old bike in (mainly cos I talked my company in to paying for it ) I opted for a mid service(so not even a full service like you got), got 2 new cables and a new chain for the sum of £75.

thats about £50 for labour!