Repair the bike or buy a new bike?

[LemonJuice]

The guy told me that he wouldn’t be able to order any new parts because of the coronavirus and it would take between 13-15 days before I could pick up the bike from the shop.

I have found another local bike shop and booked an appointment on the 29th of this month and the guy said it will be ready the same day.

In a way, I am glad because the couple of weeks gives me enough time to buy other things.

 

[C R]

The guy told me that he wouldn’t be able to order any new parts because of the coronavirus and it would take between 13-15 days before I could pick up the bike from the shop.

I have found another local bike shop and booked an appointment on the 29th of this month and the guy said it will be ready the same day.

In a way, I am glad because the couple of weeks gives me enough time to buy other things.

Did they actually look at the bike and tell you which parts needed ordering?

 

[bikingdad90]

@LemonJuice waiting times in Middlesbrough area are around 3weeks.

NRG cycles is open by appointment booked over the phone and is reasonable in price.

Paul Curran cyclesport in Stockton is only doing emergency repairs.

You could also try Skinnergate cycles in Middlesbrough or Stockton as I think they are operating an appointment system.

Not sure what the state of play is with Blue giraffe cycles in Riverside Park or Godleys cycles in Nunthorpe. I think Godleys must be open as they are on Freewheelers.

 

[vickster]

The guy told me that he wouldn’t be able to order any new parts because of the coronavirus and it would take between 13-15 days before I could pick up the bike from the shop.

I have found another local bike shop and booked an appointment on the 29th of this month and the guy said it will be ready the same day.

In a way, I am glad because the couple of weeks gives me enough time to buy other things.

Can you order the required parts in readiness and provide to the shop? They may still charge a bolt on fee but it won’t be much and the parts will be cheaper. I‘d also buy a chain and cassette and return or put in the parts box for the future as they’re consumables which you’ll munch through if you get full use of those £200 shoes!

 

[DSK]

The next shop sounds much better and as if they are easily geared up with spares etc and know how. Most, if not all of us said its just an hour or two's work and may be even while you wait.

 

[LemonJuice]

As soon as I mentioned that I needed two spokes on the front wheel he told me that the he could not order any parts.

In a way, I am glad that I have to wait a couple of weeks so I can order other things in the next few days.

I need the following:

A new pair of wheels. I don’t want to ride around with a wheel that has two spokes missing and also the rear wheel should be 8-speed and the one currently on the bike is a 9-speed. I don’t want to pay too much, is £40-50 a reasonable budget for a pair of wheels?

I’m after a pair of road shoes and clipless pedals. I’ve already linked to a pair of shoes and pedals I like. What does everyone think about them? Should I only pay £50-100 for a pair of shoes?

I'm after a new seat.

I’ve already bought new handlebar tape and a

One thing I do want to mention is that I’m not so much after comfort, I’m going for the more racing style.

 

[LemonJuice]

How do I know if the clipless pedals will fit the bike?

 

[LemonJuice]

https://www.bikeinn.com/bike/spiuk-rodda/136685186/p

https://www.bikeinn.com/bike/exustar-cleats-earcr2-keo/136785373/p

https://www.bikeinn.com/bike/exustar-cleats-spd-sl-ebsl11/136785411/p

Can I use either type of cleats with SPD PL pedals?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QR-700c-...hash=item2ccbbc0e11:m:mqdRSrpauJ4uiWVQG311H0w

Are those wheels decent?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I need the following:

A new pair of wheels. I don’t want to ride around with a wheel that has two spokes missing and also the rear wheel should be 8-speed and the one currently on the bike is a 9-speed. I don’t want to pay too much, is £40-50 a reasonable budget for a pair of wheels?

I’m after a pair of road shoes and clipless pedals. I’ve already linked to a pair of shoes and pedals I like. What does everyone think about them? Should I only pay £50-100 for a pair of shoes?

I'm after a new seat.

I’ve already bought new handlebar tape and a

One thing I do want to mention is that I’m not so much after comfort, I’m going for the more racing style.

You do seem determined to make really hard work of this. The bottom line is you currently have an unrideable bike, which you have never ridden, and don't yet know if it will actually suit you in terms of fit and handling - but now you have gone from just fixing the thing to buying a load of bits and changing things around.
If your front wheel has two spokes missing and that's it, all you need is two spokes and a bit of truing. You don't need a front wheel!
If the existing rear wheel can be made to give you eight useable ratios that the shifters were designed for, then you don't need a new rear wheel either. If you've got one cog on the back out of nine you can't use it doesn't matter, so long as the indexing on the shifters is compatible with the spacings on the cassette. I don't run 8/9 speed stuff so I can't say whether it would be or not.
You will be lucky to even find a pair of wheels for £40-50, never mind decent ones. The cheapest I've noticed tend to be about £25-30 for a front and £30-35 upwards for a rear. We are talking about basic quality hybrid type wheels here, which may be too wide for a modern road bike anyway. If you buy a new wheel, you will need a new cassette to suit it, plus then a new chain as a worn chain may skip if fitted to new cogs. That's more expense.
Sorting out bikes is not like picking things off an a la carte menu. Doing one particular thing often has knock-on consequences and involves further work and expense on another part. It's very easy to start messing around and before you know it, the only original bit left is the frame. Do yourself a favour; fix the thing minimally first to make is rideable and safe, then ride it as it is and decide how well it fits and how much you really like riding it. Then, and only then, consider whether it is really worth making any other changes to and whether the value of the bike justifies the outlay.
.

 

[LemonJuice]

I do apologise, but I am a perfectionist which is self-explanatory, so I want everything to be the best of the best.

Shimano road bike chain:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-...0&pageci=bb0f7bc2-5c27-4b19-a1db-0027938cf09a

Shimano 8-speed cassette:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBB-Driv...w&pageci=543e58ff-9435-4322-b384-298e77336095

Peanuts, really.

The chain set type is “Compact 50-34”, but when I have searched that on Google lots of different types have come up, how do I know which one to buy?

I don’t mean to be a pain in the arse, I just want things to go smoothly.

If I were to buy all of the parts separately, I could take them to a local bike shop and ask the guy for them to be fitted, right?

 

[Globalti]

That's the quickest way to piss off a professional mechanic - present him with a pile of bits you bought cheap, probably the wrong bits, and expect him to fit them. If I was that mechanic I would decline the request and probably not very politely.

 

[bikingdad90]

An 8 speed through to 10 speed are exactly the same in total width but the chain is thinner to accommodate the additional cogs. I wouldn’t bother changing the chainset if it isn’t worn as an 8/9 speed one should work fine with either 8 or 9 speed and I dare say even 10 speed.

In terms of the eBay links, don’t bother, you’ll get a better price from Wiggle, Merlin or Ribble for new. If your going down the used route I would use Facebook marketplace.

A new wheelset can be found on marketplace for between £80 and £100. There was someone selling a sycos race pair of wheels for £80 recently and would have accepted £65 for them. I nearly got them but went for a better pair in the end.

Thinking about it, you seem to want to get riding soon. Why don’t you sell the bike as a fixer upper and buy a used working one for a little bit more. You should be able to pick up a Specialized Allez for about £300 like this one


View: https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2569424493296931/?ref=browse_tab&search_query=Road%20bike&tracking=%7B%22qid%22%3A%226826956776389625275%22%2C%22mf_story_key%22%3A%222843531879097386%22%2C%22commerce_rank_obj%22%3A%22%7B%5C%22target_id%5C%22%3A2843531879097386%2C%5C%22target_type%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22primary_position%5C%22%3A-1%2C%5C%22ranking_signature%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22commerce_channel%5C%22%3A503%2C%5C%22value%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22upsell_type%5C%22%3Anull%7D%22%7D


Boardman
View: https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/579076369393177/?ref=browse_tab&search_query=Boardman&tracking=%7B%22qid%22%3A%226826957888852891659%22%2C%22mf_story_key%22%3A%223818211381585649%22%2C%22commerce_rank_obj%22%3A%22%7B%5C%22target_id%5C%22%3A3818211381585649%2C%5C%22target_type%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22primary_position%5C%22%3A-1%2C%5C%22ranking_signature%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22commerce_channel%5C%22%3A503%2C%5C%22value%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22upsell_type%5C%22%3Anull%7D%22%7D

 

[vickster]

I’d spend more on decent parts, and less on the red disco slipper shoes

A £50 new pair of wheels won’t be much good, double that probably needed
What’s the condition of the tyres and inner tubes? May need to budget £40-50 for those too

If it’s an 8 speed groupset, just buy a decent 8 speed chain and Shimano cassette. The original spec said 12-26 which sounds narrow to me if there are any hills around?
£15 here https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/sram...e7tCh2L_QsmEAUYAiABEgLNzPD_BwE#12-26t-8-speed

this the full spec so you can get the right parts (unless you want to change the cassette in which case you need to consider the tolerance of the rear mech)
https://www.thebikelist.co.uk/boardman/road-sport-2013

The 50-34 chainset is irrelevant unless the chain rings need changing too.

 

[vickster]

That's the quickest way to piss off a professional mechanic - present him with a pile of bits you bought cheap, probably the wrong bits, and expect him to fit them. If I was that mechanic I would decline the request and probably not very politely.

As long as they’re the right bits, my lbs happily fits parts supplied, but charges an extra £5-10 on top of the fitting charge per item.

 

[Globalti]

Well that's reasonable I suppose but in the end it's got to be better to tell the mechanic your approximate budget and let him supply the parts because he will know what works and won't waste time trying to make inappropriate parts work.