Repair the bike or buy a new bike?

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vickster

Legendary Member
Correct but, it sounds irrational to be at this stage and then worry about not getting the bike back the same day, when we have all said its likely a couple of hours of work time.

£200 shoes + £100 repairs = £300 for a used functional road bike.
I hope he wasn't serious about the £200 shoes :wacko: And if he was, he'd still buy them to go with his £300 bike presumably :unsure:
 
£200!!!
Shoes starting from £37 at Merlin Cycles

https://www.merlincycles.com/search?w=Shoes

and pedals from £40 ish also

https://www.merlincycles.com/road-bike-pedals-cleats-75317/

and then save on RRP for 12 months through the loyalty scheme.
 

carlosfandangus

Über Member
Please lets not fall out, its only the internet and we are all anonymous, the best advice is to take it to a bike mechanic and get good face to face advice, then complain if needed, everyone on this thread has been trying to help and steer you to this course of action.
 
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LemonJuice

Well-Known Member
The rear derailleur is the least of your problems, imo. Worry about other stuff, if you must. Or rely on the LBS you've settled on to get it right.
While you wait for Leonard Zinn's book to arrive, here's a link to an interesting and informative set of articles be Relja, SE of UK: https://bike.bikegremlin.com/post-list-by-category/

Q: is the bike BER? [Answer: not even close.]

What should I be more worried about exactly?
 
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LemonJuice

Well-Known Member
With all due respect its been almost a month of waiting and buying pricey accessories, which, for the same money could have got you a nice, used but fully serviceable bike like a Giant Defy/Specialized Allez etc.

Don't be worried about it, probably a couple of hours of work at best and the LBS will also give you an indication of service time when you drop it off.

On a more important note, have shoes arrived yet and do they fit correctly?

I haven’t found any shoes I like.
 
@BigMeatball and @LemonJuice, come on now let’s not fall out and loose a member on the forum.

@LemonJuice, over the 14 pages so far, your bike will be serviced and put back on the road by the mechanic but you will supply a new 8 speed cassette and 8 speed chain and are looking at getting a spare 8 speed rear mech.

If you are keeping your shifters then you need a Shimano R2300/Claris short cage (SS) or medium cage (GS) but not a long cage (LS). If you get the R2400 version it is just the new version of Claris which is the same as R2300 but the shifters have hidden cabling unlike the R2300 which has the gear cabling coming out the side. If you do upgrade to the shifters you will need a new front derailleur as the ratio I believe is different and 2300 and 2400 are not compatible.

As others have said you do not need a new rear mech as the spring in it currently has the incorrect tension and when the bike mechanic fixes it it will look fine and correct. He will most likely loosen the cable and retighten under tension to fix or if the cable is fraying he will replace it.
Cheap items like cables, cable outers and spokes are not worth supplying yourself as the shop will bulk buy and keep as stock so they most likely can supply for cheaper.

For shoes and cleats and pedals buy them secondhand first to see if you like this way of cycling and are comfortable with it; use it as a chance to try out SPD, SPD-SL, Look Keo, crank brother egg beaters or Speedplay first and then sell on and invest in a proper pair of pedals and shoes which you know you will like. For me I can’t get on with SPD-SL so use SPD or look Keo on my bikes.

If you do supply parts yourself the shop will normally charge labour time plus £5-£10 but if they supply the charge is usually waived and in total in can work out cheaper than the individual sum of the parts.
 
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silva

Über Member
Location
Belgium
I repair my socks everytime with the thought if I buy new next week I'll be repairing them too what's the difference. Why would a bike be different?
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
Page 11
Think on these matters:
1) Have you got a chain the right length? ;)
2) Is its colour going to suit the frame?
3) Is your hanger straight (make sure the bike shop commits to check this)?
4) Have you got a second bottle cage? (of a colour which matches the red frame)?
Page 14
What should I be more worried about exactly?
More worried than replacing a rear mech that doesn't need replacing? How long a list do you want? However:
I gave you a list of things to 'worry about' a day ago: see my quote above (may the powers that be look kindly on the heinous crime of self-quoting). I didn't see you make a response to any of those, but at least one is important.
To which I'd add: 'when is the Zinn book going to arrive so I can get stuck into it' worry.
I suggest that you put BigBalls on ignore, if you find her contributions distract you, rather than you telling her to put you on ignore: that's how it works. I offered you advice on this before; advice on which you've chosen not to act.
Her comments are just 'chat' on the eponymous cycle forum, albeit from the 'beyond exasperated' side/end of the spectrum. Anyway, even taking care, a troll would disclose a soupcon of their insights into bicycle components. It would be unreasonable to accuse you of that.
 

jay clock

Massive member
Location
Hampshire UK
the perfectionist in me hates the cable coming out of the side of the shifters, so add some shifters to your shopping list. And in replacing those you will need new bar tape too. White always looks good and they do some coated in Bartapium™ which stops them getting dirty. Your local bike shop should have it next to the pre-inflated tubes
 
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