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7 Month old bike needs £300 worth of parts and labour

I have a Ribble Sportive Racer purchased in July last year and done 6250kms. In recent months the bottom bracket has become rather crunchy. I looked at replacing it and am familiar with replacing Hollowtech BBs and have the tools, however this one is Pressfit. I neither have the tools or knowledge to replace it. I am rather disappointed with the quality of this design; though to be honest BB type was not an issue in my decision to buy. So I've taken it into a well know high street chain of bike shops for a service.

The service quote is £298.91 when the bike itself cost about £1100 just last summer. Apparently I need a new cassette (maybe fair, third chain) need a brake caliper (as the rear one is a little stiff from a muddy winter, I often put tape over the gaps as I've had issues like this before, but this happens every winter) need new headset bearings because there is about half a mm of play in the fork, apparently tightening this one up is not possible,) need new brake pads (though I have more at home and put new ones on a month ago,) need new bar tape (though I don't really give an eff about a few frayed tape ends) and need new cabling (though again the bike is only a few months old.)

I feel like they are taking me for a ride, they sent me a nebulus list of item codes which I had to look up on the website. I am sure the bike will be smashing if I pay for all this, but apart from the BB and cassette most of these things are just natural wear that will recur in a couple of months and would never cause an issue. The cabling is particularly egregious; it can't be stretched by now; it is like they can't index the gears incase they jab their little fingers. Just crimp it, the little bobbin they stick on the end will drop off after a week guaranteed.

I feel annoyed that I will have to stand there telling them why I think they are wrong or I don't need this or that, whilst they stand their sucking their teeth imply that if I don't get everything done that my bike will explode. I came in asking for a bottom bracket and service, just greasing and tightening and realigning a few things shouldn't require half a rebuild. If I have to pay this kind of money every six months I could just buy a mountain bike in Halfords and throw it away.

Thoughts gentlemen and dottigirls? Does this sound reasonable?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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62 comments

Avatar
Bob Wheeler CX | 7 years ago
1 like

"Enjoy the ride"

Avatar
Leviathan | 7 years ago
1 like

I am just blown away by how many replies there have been on this one. This sort of thing has obviously vexed some of you before.

I have over the years replaced everything on my old Jamis frame which I had for 6 years including the Hollowtech BB. However The Ribble pressfit BB had me stumped and time is money as one of you pointed out. I am moving flat in about three week and the weather is changing so I hoped to get the BB sorted quickly, fat chance now. 

I do ride my No. 1 in the winter because I am riding at all times of the year. I don't just commute, I do take 'the long way' home and ride at the weekends too. I am rarely smashing centuries but normal get a 40/50/60 in once a week at all times of the year. I do clean and maintain my bike (sorry Peter, 'little maintenance' is wrong, this all started because I tried to grease my BB myself and realized what a poor design it was,) but no one who has to work can clean their bike after every ride. I am not after boxfresh condition, but the BB at the moment is just not fun to ride with the noise and feedback.

At the end they have a point about most of these items, however most of them I can deal with myself at some point in the next six month. But the cables are not rusted, they are mostly internal and there is one missing cap on the rear derailleur; after 7 months I don't believe they need replacing for one second. As suggested by someone else on here, "three chains per cassette" and has another couple of thousand K in it, that is three months I would have had to get a new one and fit it myself. They don't need doing, simple as that. What Henry* said about 10mm on the headset was just a lie, and I don't appreciate being lied to. He actually made it looser fiddling around with it, I've tightend that up myself this afternoon.

Unfortunately I have to keep getting to work 5/7 days and other things, time/money/mental effort is an ongoing juggling act. I've been trying to do more every year, but it's not easy if you don't have infinitely deep pockets, I though I could get some professional help this time but Evans just priced themselves out of the market with their take it or leave it attitude. I can and do spend a lot of money on my bike, but it gets spread out.

The main things that have annoyed me is the waste of my time and having to buy tram tickets to get into town for a few days, and the exaggeration of risk.

*Good name for a hoover not a bike mechanic.

Avatar
ktache | 7 years ago
1 like

Leviathan, when you do change the cables, fit cable oilers if possible, it does add to the hastle but means that cables last so much longer with better shifting and/or braking.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
0 likes

I've just watched a great GCN vid on the Yut'oob and although it does seem easy enough to change a Pressfit, however he does talk about the dangers of bodging it and frankly at £179.99 for a Park bearing press let along the removal tools I don't see how it is economic unless I am changing the BB multiple times in the future and especially not as a panic buy. I might as well have just let them do what they wanted. I will just have to have a deep clean and fettle myself in the spring sunshine and then take it to a more Local shop and just say 'Can you replace my BB, kind Sir?'

 

unconstituted  try http://gearmechhanger.com/ for cheap and specific replacement hangers. One of my previous poor experiences with a LBS was when I broke a hanger when my bike fell on some the road after being propped against a fence. It took three weeks 'waiting on parts' and when it arrived he had to bodge it togetherby filing it and attaching by one screw. That was when I discovered the website above and got the right part in a couple of days. 

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
1 like

I had a full cro-mo bike frame once, great for some services as you could liberally wack everything with a hammer! 

Headset - hammer it in with a piece of wood!

Bottom bracket stuck? Hit the removal tool hard with a lump hammer or crank it with an extension bar!

Seat post problems? Pull and heave away!

Wouldn't dare do any of that on current no.1 bike. 

 

Avatar
huntswheelers | 7 years ago
1 like

All those parts and service plus full wash and protective wax.... around £180 in my workshop....

Clearly you need a decent local mechanic/LBS who will work for YOU and not shareholders

Regarding the Manufacturer.... I've had a lot of customers unhappy with their bikes (for various reasons) and 3 have returned bikes to them and purchased another brand..... 

Avatar
mtbtomo | 7 years ago
1 like

What kind of bearing press are you looking at?  I paid around £50 brand new for my Park one and a quick google suggests there are other options for just over £30 (Wiggle Lifeline) and I bet you might even find someone selling a home made one that would do the job on ebay.

 

 

Avatar
dottigirl | 7 years ago
0 likes

Simon on that GCN video makes it look piss easy too. 

Make sure you grease/don't grease as needed too. 

SingleSpeed wrote:

You can't 'grease a Bottom Bracket' by the way...I don't know whow you were planning on doing this but it doesn't put you in good stead for making judgement on the design  1

ps (yes I have a some CK BB's and yes I do have the grease tool and yes it's proper tool porn)

You can grease the threads/cups and the crankset contact surfaces though, and that can solve a fair bit of creaking, etc. 

Avatar
mtbtomo | 7 years ago
0 likes

BB30's are notorious for creaking and I don't have one, but I bet appropriate use of grease or studlock compound (for mating surfaces that aren't meant to move against each other) would reduce the likelihood of creaking next time.

I don't find Shimano bb86/92 to be any worse than threaded external bb cups but it does irk me that they often cost more than threaded cups, yet manufacturing costs will be less with plastic cups and no thread machining

Avatar
Langsam | 7 years ago
1 like

I use Jagwire Road Pro cables and housings, leaving the cables 2-3" longer than 'shop normal' and seal the ends with hot glue.

 

When I service the bike I strip off the glue, clean the cable with a cloth soaked in WD-40, and blast the housing through with more of the WD-40.

 

I then reinstall the housings/cables and reglue the cable end. Result: superslick shifting and braking, 99% good as new!

 

Would a shop do this - would they hell!

 

My commuter has square taper BB/crankset and a cheap 1" external threaded headset, neither of which show ANY signs of wear after many 1000s of KMs in all weathers. Running a pressfit BB for a commuter is just asking for unnecessary maintenance hassles, likewise neglecting to fit full 'guards for an all-season commuter bike.

 

Maintenance is inevitable for the kind of mileage you're doing. You could have mitigated the costs with better equipment choices, however.

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hawkinspeter | 7 years ago
0 likes

Just a counter-point to people who've used those cheap BB30 tools - I tried one of them myself and somehow got the bearings mis-aligned and ended up bending the tool! (as well as putting a scratch into the bottom bracket). I think it was more my heavy-handedness than the tool being rubbish, but I ended up buying an expensive tool to do it: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/park-tool-bearing-cup-press-hhp-2/rp-prod17482

Now it's an easy job to pop the bearings back in nice and straight and I now enjoy a creak-free bottom bracket (with a little bit of loctite to keep the bearing stuck in place). That tool is a serious piece of kit and can be used for headsets as well.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 7 years ago
1 like

You don't need expensive tools to fit a press fit bottom bracket. You can get the bits from B&Q.
The dies that fit into the cups come with the Park cup removal tool.

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SingleSpeed replied to Leviathan | 7 years ago
1 like

Leviathan wrote:

(sorry Peter, 'little maintenance' is wrong, this all started because I tried to grease my BB myself and realized what a poor design it was,)

 

You can't 'grease a Bottom Bracket' by the way...I don't know whow you were planning on doing this but it doesn't put you in good stead for making judgement on the design  1

 

ps (yes I have a some CK BB's and yes I do have the grease tool and yes it's proper tool porn)

 

Avatar
dottigirl replied to mtbtomo | 7 years ago
0 likes

mtbtomo wrote:

What kind of bearing press are you looking at?  I paid around £50 brand new for my Park one and a quick google suggests there are other options for just over £30 (Wiggle Lifeline) and I bet you might even find someone selling a home made one that would do the job on ebay

Was just about to say this - it's the price I used in my original post. Looks decent too, even though I'm not a fan of W*ggle. Park Tools aren't all that either.

unconstituted wrote:

Anyway, we all have demons to face. Mine is the RD hanger alignment. Been putting off buying a tool and learning that myself. Its day will come.

Mine is FD alignment. Can I get the bugger straight? Can I hell! 

Got one to fit to my new build and am dreading it. Seriously considering that sodding Campag tool someone recommended the other day (it's not Shimano but apparently it still works).

 

Avatar
Leviathan replied to mtbtomo | 7 years ago
0 likes

mtbtomo wrote:

What kind of bearing press are you looking at?  I paid around £50 brand new for my Park one and a quick google suggests there are other options for just over £30 (Wiggle Lifeline) and I bet you might even find someone selling a home made one that would do the job on ebay.

 

A-ha* The GCN vide showed this very pro tool:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Park-Tool-BBP-1-Bottom-Bracket-Bearing-Press-Set...

But you are talking about this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tool-home-mechanic-bearing-cup-press/?lang=...

No handles but cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHIMANO-SRAM-BB86-90-92-95-24-22-PRESS-FIT-TOO...

Okay, so I am getting closer to the idea I might be able to do this on my own.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TEAMSSX-New-Icetoolz-Press-Fit-Bearing-Removal...

Maybe I could be really cheeky and use the Praxis converter BB Evans recommended. I'd still be concerned I would eff everything up but that is the same way I felt the first time I did the Hollowtech. Worst case is I end up with some tools to put on ebay(?)

What about using a steel BB like this? does the material matter, steel less likely to squeak than plastic? So I should be looking for something that says BB30 outer with shimano 24mm core?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/rotor-pressfit-4624-bottom-bracket-steel/

I've just checked out my 'dream Canyon' which may never happen, but it also used Pressfit, this makes no sense, why is this technology the new standard? Jack in NZ says on Wiggle "Press fits BB are the bane of my life. New BB in place and squeaking within a month. Curse it."

*Hunting High and Low, very appropriate.

Avatar
Swiss | 7 years ago
2 likes

Best bike maintenance piece i have read "Fire Youtube up on your lunch hour and watch a handfull of videos - they all show the same thing, some guy hitting the bottom bracket. Tools used varies.

Apply the same to every single thing you can do on a bike. And do them one at a time, as they come up, so you don't have to spend a whole weekend fixing your bike and 'unable to ride'. "
Ha ha bravo unconsituted!

Avatar
Swiss | 7 years ago
3 likes

I bought a carrera subway for 200 in a Halfords sale in July last year and used it every day as a commuter for the station and for riding with the kids on local trails. It's been washed with a bucket &sponge and it's chain oiled with Mobil 1 once a month.
It's been as white goods as a bicycle can be in that everything works fine enough and gets little/no attention.
Maybe you were on to something at the end of your original post in getting a disposable bike.

Avatar
Carton | 7 years ago
1 like

The bottom bracket, headset and caliper all at the same time seems excessive. But it sounds like you are not very thorough with your everyday maintenance (neither am I, TBH) and go out even in crap weather (that's where I draw the line) so it could happen, I guess. Everything else seems fairly standard.

But yeah, I hate that duty of care all or nothing spiel. I'd find someone else if it's not too inconvinient. Also, the worth your time bit is particularly important. I don't do anything myself unless either I feel like fiddling around or it's dead simple (though things become a lot simpler over time after several bouts of fiddling around).

Avatar
Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
2 likes

A good point raised above... what is your hourly rate? What do you get paid, and what do you value your free time on an hourly basis.

It was a solicitor that told me that... its not so much the value of the service you are paying for, but the value of the time you would be giving up to do the work yourself. 

That said, I like doing my own mechanics... plus I have massive trust issues... so if something was to go wrong on the bike, I want to know it was my fault. 

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
7 likes

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

A good point raised above... what is your hourly rate? What do you get paid, and what do you value your free time on an hourly basis.

It was a solicitor that told me that... its not so much the value of the service you are paying for, but the value of the time you would be giving up to do the work yourself. 

That said, I like doing my own mechanics... plus I have massive trust issues... so if something was to go wrong on the bike, I want to know it was my fault. 

 

Lets just get something straight before I launch a rant on this nonsense. It takes longer to take a bike to an LBS and collect it than it every will to fix any issue on your bike. 

So, about your 'good point raised above' - it's only a good point if you literally have no free time that you would spend lounging around, doing anything less useful than learning and doing mechanics. This is slacker wisdom.

These shitty 'common sense' false dichotomies are a repetitive strain on the soul of every rational person that has to listen to them.

I don't wake up on Sat morning and think, "oh, will I go for a ride today or fix a bottom bracket". No, I spend ten bloody minutes on Thursday evening fixing it, because that's the upper limit of how long it actually takes to remove and replace a press-fit bottom bracket once you know how. 

Fire Youtube up on your lunch hour and watch a handfull of videos - they all show the same thing, some guy hitting the bottom bracket. Tools used varies. 

Apply the same to every single thing you can do on a bike. And do them one at a time, as they come up, so you don't have to spend a whole weekend fixing your bike and 'unable to ride'.  

Leviathon is right to canvass opinions on this, but it's wrong to tell him not to learn how to fix his stuff, when 1. It'll save him money, and 2. it's a simple almost foolproof job (even though it does in honesty appear daunting until you've actually done it once).

 

 

 

Avatar
beezus fufoon replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
3 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

A good point raised above... what is your hourly rate? What do you get paid, and what do you value your free time on an hourly basis.

It was a solicitor that told me that... its not so much the value of the service you are paying for, but the value of the time you would be giving up to do the work yourself. 

That said, I like doing my own mechanics... plus I have massive trust issues... so if something was to go wrong on the bike, I want to know it was my fault. 

 

Lets just get something straight before I launch a rant on this nonsense. It takes longer to take a bike to an LBS and collect it than it every will to fix any issue on your bike. 

So, about your 'good point raised above' - it's only a good point if you literally have no free time that you would spend lounging around, doing anything less useful than learning and doing mechanics. This is slacker wisdom.

These shitty 'common sense' false dichotomies are a repetitive strain on the soul of every rational person that has to listen to them.

I don't wake up on Sat morning and think, "oh, will I go for a ride today or fix a bottom bracket". No, I spend ten bloody minutes on Thursday evening fixing it, because that's the upper limit of how long it actually takes to remove and replace a press-fit bottom bracket once you know how. 

Fire Youtube up on your lunch hour and watch a handfull of videos - they all show the same thing, some guy hitting the bottom bracket. Tools used varies. 

Apply the same to every single thing you can do on a bike. And do them one at a time, as they come up, so you don't have to spend a whole weekend fixing your bike and 'unable to ride'.  

Leviathon is right to canvass opinions on this, but it's wrong to tell him not to learn how to fix his stuff, when 1. It'll save him money, and 2. it's a simple almost foolproof job (even though it does in honesty appear daunting until you've actually done it once).

 

not to mention, if you take it to halfords or evans, you will quite possibly end up having to spend some time fixing it yourself anyway!

Avatar
Jimmy Ray Will replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
2 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

A good point raised above... what is your hourly rate? What do you get paid, and what do you value your free time on an hourly basis.

It was a solicitor that told me that... its not so much the value of the service you are paying for, but the value of the time you would be giving up to do the work yourself. 

That said, I like doing my own mechanics... plus I have massive trust issues... so if something was to go wrong on the bike, I want to know it was my fault. 

 

Lets just get something straight before I launch a rant on this nonsense. It takes longer to take a bike to an LBS and collect it than it every will to fix any issue on your bike. 

So, about your 'good point raised above' - it's only a good point if you literally have no free time that you would spend lounging around, doing anything less useful than learning and doing mechanics. This is slacker wisdom.

These shitty 'common sense' false dichotomies are a repetitive strain on the soul of every rational person that has to listen to them.

I don't wake up on Sat morning and think, "oh, will I go for a ride today or fix a bottom bracket". No, I spend ten bloody minutes on Thursday evening fixing it, because that's the upper limit of how long it actually takes to remove and replace a press-fit bottom bracket once you know how. 

Fire Youtube up on your lunch hour and watch a handfull of videos - they all show the same thing, some guy hitting the bottom bracket. Tools used varies. 

Apply the same to every single thing you can do on a bike. And do them one at a time, as they come up, so you don't have to spend a whole weekend fixing your bike and 'unable to ride'.  

Leviathon is right to canvass opinions on this, but it's wrong to tell him not to learn how to fix his stuff, when 1. It'll save him money, and 2. it's a simple almost foolproof job (even though it does in honesty appear daunting until you've actually done it once).

 

 

 

 

Alright treacle, didn't mean to stick a bee in your bonnet....

Don't think i said not to olearn to do it yourself... just to value other peoples time when you oay them to do it for you. 

But... lets be honest, watching the video on youtube is probably going to take ten minutes. 

Buying the tools will be an hour... probably, or again 10-20 mins if buying on line (plus wait for delivery)

Buying the parts will be 10-20mins on line

Then, changing bottom bracket bearing in 10mins is cracking on... cracking on to the point of not getting the job done properly. I wouldn't remove my cranks without taking the opportunity to clean and re-grease bolts/mating surfaces etc. 

I'm being pedantic because you are being overly trivial about mechanis.

For a competent mechanic all jobs on a bike are striaght forward; not everyone is a competent mechanic however. 

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
1 like

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

 

Buying the parts will be 10-20mins on line

Then, changing bottom bracket bearing in 10mins is cracking on... cracking on to the point of not getting the job done properly. I wouldn't remove my cranks without taking the opportunity to clean and re-grease bolts/mating surfaces etc. 

 

 

20 minutes.

To Google and checkout a bottom bracket.

I'm not even going to ask how long it takes you to clean and grease a few bolts crying

Anyway, he doesn't seem keen on trying it out, so whatever.  Anyway, we all have demons to face. Mine is the RD hanger alignment. Been putting off buying a tool and learning that myself. Its day will come.

 

 

Avatar
ChrisB200SX replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
0 likes

unconstituted wrote:

20 minutes.

To Google and checkout a bottom bracket.

I'm not even going to ask how long it takes you to clean and grease a few bolts crying

Anyway, he doesn't seem keen on trying it out, so whatever.  Anyway, we all have demons to face. Mine is the RD hanger alignment. Been putting off buying a tool and learning that myself. Its day will come.

 

isn't there an app for that?

Avatar
dottigirl replied to ChrisB200SX | 7 years ago
0 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Anyway, we all have demons to face. Mine is the RD hanger alignment. Been putting off buying a tool and learning that myself. Its day will come.

 

isn't there an app for that?

Oh, please tell me there's an app for FD alignment. Please!

Avatar
srchar replied to dottigirl | 7 years ago
1 like

dottigirl wrote:

Oh, please tell me there's an app for FD alignment. Please!

This little gadget has saved me more time when building bikes than any other tool I own:

http://www.comtat.co.uk/products/836.htm

Avatar
dottigirl replied to srchar | 7 years ago
0 likes

srchar wrote:

dottigirl wrote:

Oh, please tell me there's an app for FD alignment. Please!

This little gadget has saved me more time when building bikes than any other tool I own:

http://www.comtat.co.uk/products/836.htm

Thanks for the reminder - think you've mentioned it before? Anyway, I have two bikes to do this with so I've just called an LBS and they're getting one in for me - £11.99.  1

If anyone else is looking, there's Comtat or you can check your local supplier here:

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_product.php?cat=26&p=9758

 

Avatar
Rapha Nadal replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
0 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

 

Buying the parts will be 10-20mins on line

Then, changing bottom bracket bearing in 10mins is cracking on... cracking on to the point of not getting the job done properly. I wouldn't remove my cranks without taking the opportunity to clean and re-grease bolts/mating surfaces etc. 

 

 

20 minutes.

To Google and checkout a bottom bracket.

I'm not even going to ask how long it takes you to clean and grease a few bolts crying

Anyway, he doesn't seem keen on trying it out, so whatever.  Anyway, we all have demons to face. Mine is the RD hanger alignment. Been putting off buying a tool and learning that myself. Its day will come.

In this modern age where 98% of rear hangers are replaceable, there is literally no need to ever worry about hanger alignment. Let your demons rest.

Avatar
davel replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
1 like
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

A good point raised above... what is your hourly rate? What do you get paid, and what do you value your free time on an hourly basis.

It was a solicitor that told me that... its not so much the value of the service you are paying for, but the value of the time you would be giving up to do the work yourself. 

That said, I like doing my own mechanics... plus I have massive trust issues... so if something was to go wrong on the bike, I want to know it was my fault. 

 

Lets just get something straight before I launch a rant on this nonsense. It takes longer to take a bike to an LBS and collect it than it every will to fix any issue on your bike. 

So, about your 'good point raised above' - it's only a good point if you literally have no free time that you would spend lounging around, doing anything less useful than learning and doing mechanics. This is slacker wisdom.

These shitty 'common sense' false dichotomies are a repetitive strain on the soul of every rational person that has to listen to them.

I don't wake up on Sat morning and think, "oh, will I go for a ride today or fix a bottom bracket". No, I spend ten bloody minutes on Thursday evening fixing it, because that's the upper limit of how long it actually takes to remove and replace a press-fit bottom bracket once you know how. 

Fire Youtube up on your lunch hour and watch a handfull of videos - they all show the same thing, some guy hitting the bottom bracket. Tools used varies. 

Apply the same to every single thing you can do on a bike. And do them one at a time, as they come up, so you don't have to spend a whole weekend fixing your bike and 'unable to ride'.  

Leviathon is right to canvass opinions on this, but it's wrong to tell him not to learn how to fix his stuff, when 1. It'll save him money, and 2. it's a simple almost foolproof job (even though it does in honesty appear daunting until you've actually done it once).

 

 

 

 

Alright treacle, didn't mean to stick a bee in your bonnet....

Don't think i said not to olearn to do it yourself... just to value other peoples time when you oay them to do it for you. 

But... lets be honest, watching the video on youtube is probably going to take ten minutes. 

Buying the tools will be an hour... probably, or again 10-20 mins if buying on line (plus wait for delivery)

Buying the parts will be 10-20mins on line

Then, changing bottom bracket bearing in 10mins is cracking on... cracking on to the point of not getting the job done properly. I wouldn't remove my cranks without taking the opportunity to clean and re-grease bolts/mating surfaces etc. 

I'm being pedantic because you are being overly trivial about mechanis.

For a competent mechanic all jobs on a bike are striaght forward; not everyone is a competent mechanic however. 

Plus it's really hard to figure out the value of your time.

My hourly rate is such that it would be a no-brainer for me to take it to a mechanic. But I'm not comparing the time that I sell via full-time employment with that of a mechanic. We're comparing my free time. On the market, that has far less value unless I can get a Saturday or evening job consulting. I wouldn't do that, so my free time hourly rate probably holds less market value - but it's much more valuable to me than my Mon-Fri 9-5.

This is a judgement on each individual's part. To me, bike mechanics would probably have to increase their rates by a factor of 5 or 6 for me to consider the inconvenience of the kind of DIY we're talking about, above spending time with my family or riding my bikes, say.

How much I can afford to spend on servicing, and how much I can justify when compared to other methods of commuting, obviously plays a part in that. But there'll be people who can afford to spend more money on servicing their workhorses than I can who happily fettle as their hobby and/or because they're far more competent and efficient in the workshop, and place reasonable value on that pursuit.

I'm happy with basic maintenance and the odd occasional straightforward job, time permitting, but I've got two bikes (commuters/off-roaders) that I batter and they need way more tlc than I'm going to give them. The consequence of that is that the jobs stack up and I have to (pay someone to) regularly take care of them.

tl;dr - I can't be arsed to maintain my beater bikes properly, and there are really good mechanics who'll collect and drop off your bike.

Avatar
Simon E | 7 years ago
1 like

Worn brake pads and gunked up cables do happen (most often the loop from the chainstay to the rear derailleur) though this seems a bit premature. Riding year-round on wet or salty roads is a killer. Despite knowing this I still don't maintain my bike enough in winter and and later curse myself for neglecting it. If you don't use mudguards you're giving it three times the abuse or more.

"they couldn't do x if y wasn't done"

Hmmmm....

I would fit the cassette, cables and caliper yourself. Get a brew, put on the radio/ipod and fettle away, it's very satisfying. Then get the BB and headset replaced at a LBS  you can trust.

Fibrax (made in Wrexham) sell direct on ebay, their ID is cyclefanatics. You can get 10m of outers to cut yourself or a kit.

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