Anyone know somewhere to get bike fixed very cheaply?

DrFroggies

Hi guys,

Just wondering if any of you could recommend me a place to get some fairly extensive work done on a mountain bike. I'm based in North County Dublin.

The bike's about 8 yrs old and for the past three or four has been mostly out in bad weather so i reckon i could need new chain, brakes&cables, gears, tyres and maybe even wheels.

Bike has sentimental value to me so I'm hoping to rescue it rather than buy another cheap 2nd hand bike? But budget is very tight (hoping to get it done for less then €100...is that realistic?)

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks
Dr F ;-)

Beasty

Try the Bike Mechanic Ads

MarcinG

what make is it? how bad condition is it in?
how good you want to make it? Was something obviously wrong with it once you used it last time? Can you use it now?
If it requires drive train and wheels to be replaced just have a look at chainreactioncycles to be more familiar with prices. i can do it for next to nothing (few beers may do) but it may take some time and you will need to deliver it to bray.
Ps. but i would recommend you to get in touch with some busy bike mechanic
to obtain some old but still ok parts if you really want to make it cheap.

Dermot Illogical

You could try rothar if you're willing to give it a go yourself.

CramCycle

Post up a few pictures so people can give a more informed opinion if you can.

bcmf

Dr.F I can service the bike for you am in NCD. I pm you some details.

DrFroggies

Beasty wrote: »

Try the Bike Mechanic Ads

Cheers Beasty will have a look there.

MarcinG wrote: »

what make is it? how bad condition is it in?
how good you want to make it? Was something obviously wrong with it once you used it last time? Can you use it now?
If it requires drive train and wheels to be replaced just have a look at chainreactioncycles to be more familiar with prices. i can do it for next to nothing (few beers may do) but it may take some time and you will need to deliver it to bray.
Ps. but i would recommend you to get in touch with some busy bike mechanic
to obtain some old but still ok parts if you really want to make it cheap.

Hey Marcin G. Cheers for the offer...i'd certainly be interested in taking you up on the offer if i can find a way to get the bike out to Bray (and of course i figure out just how much work needs doing) Thanks! As for the bike make and condition. Well it's a Dawes Mountain bike just for normal everyday use and it's suffering mostly from rust and weather exposure, last time i used it, it was in perfect working order but just from looking at it, i'd say the weather has screwed the gears, brakes and even wheels. Had a look at chainreactioncycles but not really sure what i'd be looking for in terms of pricing.

RT66 wrote: »

You could try rothar if you're willing to give it a go yourself.

Will check rothar out RT66 cheers.

CramCycle wrote: »

Post up a few pictures so people can give a more informed opinion if you can.

Will do CramCycle but won't get a chance until sometime over the weekend when I'm back in Swords (where the bike is)

bcmf wrote: »

Dr.F I can service the bike for you am in NCD. I pm you some details.

Hi bcmf will reply to your pm. Thanks!

dewindygap

Mr Skeffington was the man you need but he took time out. Are you still out there Skeff ? Are you back doing servicing ?

Mr. Skeffington

Thanks dewindygap, I'm back from my travels but haven't been doing any repairs. Still taking a bit of a break. Looks like there are some good options in the bike mechanic ads. Skeff

DrFroggies

Hi guys, thanks again for all the replies. Here are some photos of the bike as promised (cobwebs, rust and all) it's actually not in as bad condition as i thought (i thought the rust was far worse) but probably needs most of the work i imagined, the only protection it's had over the last few years is a bit of tarpaulin which sometimes slips off.

Anyway thanks for the offers and tips so far...hope the photos give some idea of what might need to be done.

MarcinG

Well. I would say that it looks for me that you looking for someone to clean your bike rather than fixing it No one will remove rust by a touch a magic wand. I would take a bucket of hot water with some washing up liquid, couple of old brushes and WD40 (wd40 is brilliant on removing old grease/stickers bringing shine back to metal surfaces). Buying new parts may be expensive (AFAIK you budget was about 100?) and unnecessary (bike certainly isn't rusted through and spokes seems fine same with rest). Once bike is clean i would try to ride it and see does it work. This should give you idea about what is to be done.

seamus

Chain doesn't actually look that bad in comparison to some of the other parts.

Rust isn't quite as big a deal as it looks. It can be removed with a bit of patience, acid and steel wool.

I know how I would proceed if I had the time. But if getting it nice and perfect isn't a top priority, then does as Marcin says - clean it up fully, get rid of all the dust and cobwebs and use WD40 to degrease and shine it. Remember that WD40 is not a lubricant, so afterwards apply a lubricant liberally on every bolt and pivot you can find.
Give a ride and you can then figure out what needs fixing.

This could be fixed up quite cheaply. From a first look, you only need to replace tyres (& tubes), brake pads & cabling, if you're willing to put a little time into cleaning up the rest of the parts. You'd easily get all of these for less than €40.
You may not need to replace the chain. The chainrings don't look particularly worn, so I see no reason why the chain would be. Bit of TLC and it'll be humming again.

I would personally just strip the whole thing down and clean and lubricate each part individually, then rebuild it with the new parts above. But if you don't have the time or expertise for that, then the shortcut above is absolutely fine.
If you clean the bike up yourself, then that's less time you'll have to pay a bike mechanic.

DrFroggies

Thanks guys...that's great news! I'll give the bike a clean up when i'm back in Swords and get stuck in. It'll be just the basics to get her up an running again but i'll try to continue fixing her up (de-rusting etc) as i go along.

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys!:)