Have I been ripped off?

Seth Brundle

What kind are they? Most mudguards are easy enough to fit.

hans aus dtschl

I have never worked in a bike shop. I do all my own repairs. I think it's a fair price. But maybe they could have told you up-front and let you decide for yourself before beginning work.

Because: their hours, tools and overheads cost money, they're obviously busy, and people won't do the repair/replace work themselves. So the bike shop get to name the price. It's not really about how much it costs them to do the work, it's about how much it costs potential customers to do the work themselves.

I know that by my reasoning, if they charge a hundred quid it's a fair price, but that's how it goes. It's a balance between how much they need to draw in new/repeat custom and how much they need to stay above break-even. I don't begrudge them profit and a half hour of many people's time is more than 30 quid. If their customers all have the time, space, tooling and ability to do the work themselves, then the bike shop will either need to drop price or stop doing that type of work altogether.

A lot of people working in tech industries are able to earn ridiculous sums of money simply because "nobody else can do it, and someone needs it done".

CramCycle

That is one thing I didn't like, any bike shop I've ever been too gave me a rough price before work started. I won't hide my dislike of the bike shop I presume it is but other than not naming the price first, there is nowt wrong with it. Although, not naming the price first is a big enough no no in any business.

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119701512#Comment_119701512

Yes definitely, they are SKS Bluemels which are not the worst to fit, but I know it will be an hour or two of faffing around to get them in the right position etc & this thread reminded me that I maybe don't have the skill or patience for some jobs where I might be better off giving someone 50€ to do it for me

07Lapierre

would you pay €60? (Seems to be the going rate! :) )

Dowee

In defense of this LBS, I live locally and have used them for years for all sorts of things. I do a lot of my own repairs but have bought a lot of parts there (always for reasonable prices), they have often ordered stuff specifcally for me. I have also had numerous repairs done and even a wheel built from two older (damaged in different ways) wheels and I was often surprised at how little I was charged.

Some of the staff are better than others but they will always defer to one of the mechanics if there is something specific you need an answer on.

The only exception to the above was during the crazy bike shops days during covid when there was lengthy delays and the service wasn't as good, but I would give them a pass on that.

CramCycle

I'll do it for €59.99

monkeyslayer

You pay for the know how. Its like paying a guy in halfords a tenner or more to replace your cars front headlight bulb. It's probably the easiest job to do in car repairs but probably 99% of the worlds car drivers believe any repair that involves even seeing the engine is far beyond their capabilities.

test account 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119693675#Comment_119693675

Nope,

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119711562#Comment_119711562

Did you ask for an estimate at the outset?

test account 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119699556#Comment_119699556

I think this post is where I was coming from when I started this thread. In fairness most comments on here are very true, yes they're a business and have overheads etc. I understand that. And maybe they've set a minimum price to make jobs viable. However, I sill feel the price for the time taken, labour and parts is on the opportunistic side. And I'm sorry to say its turned me off returning and repeat business likely won't happen. And thats the point unfortunately for the shop is I likely won't return.

The flip side is, I'll learn a new skill 🙂

Weepsie

We're they having to remove and replace bartape too? There's an additional time and small cost for that

magicbastarder

Unless the mechanic is working flat out (and to be fair, most bike shops are busy with this sort of work) it costs more than 15 minutes pay to get 15 minutes work done. the busy time has to pay for the quiet time.

if the mechanic owns the shop, they clearly won't be able to work flat out. if the mechanic is employed in the shop, you have to factor in income for the mechanic and profit/income for the owner.

that said, i thought 60 was on the high side.

at1withmyself

It's very hard to determine a price without seeing the bike and knowing how straight forward or complex the job was. I worked in a shop and it would take longer then 15 minutes to do 3 cables properly and in some cases close to an hour. Maybe brake blocks, calipers, derailleurs had adjustments or threads were stripped / seized.

Do you know what type of cables were used as they can range from a few euro to 50+ euro a set. A decent set if Shimano cables is about 15 euro.

Without more details people are just speculating. Most shops online have a price list available and it can be 25 per cable listed which comes to 75 for 3 so 60 is no not far off that. Don't be afraid to go back and talk to them and query the price.

It's great your looking into doing it yourself from now on as you'll also learn how long the process can take and save some money.

fatbhoy

Fact is, if your hobby is MTBing or road, learning to do [most of] your own maintenance will save you a lot of money, and is pretty much an essential skill to have unless you're loaded.

JMcL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119711180#Comment_119711180

In fairness, some cars over the past 10-15 years have been a nightmare to change headlamp bulbs. We used to have a Renault Scenic and you look under the bonnet and think "Wow, how did they manage to fit a 2l engine in there?" You find out the first time you try to change a bulb that it's because they've used up every fecking cubic cm of the space. I never managed it, and the young lad (with the smallest hands) at our local garage used to develop something akin to PTSD every time we'd ask him to do it. That said, the Focus I'm driving at the minute is much more serviceable. Now back to regular programming after that brief detour to the motoring board :-)

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119714184#Comment_119714184

If you have the time. The time to do maintenance is often the time I have to ride my bike, which I value more!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119711180#Comment_119711180

While I wouldn't pay halfords, and can do it (on some cars I've come out bleeding because of the tight space), they never come out properly aligned. Car was just in for the service a few weeks after me replacing both, and only with them properly aligned I can see what a crap job I did!

monkeyslayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119733413#Comment_119733413

True, tho was more to illustrate the point. Someone who has never repaired a bike before might struggle with replacing brakes and a gear cable to the point where 40 euros worth of labour might actually seem like a deal. It's the know how and experience you're paying for as well as the parts and time.

ballyharpat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119699556#Comment_119699556

My LBS would like to buy cable and housing from your supplier, thanks, plus if you could do his stock take and ordering that would be great. While youre at it, when youve 15 minutes, change 3 cables/housing/endcaps. Oh, and while youre at it, go ahead and take the bike in from the customer, that only takes 5-10 minutes, ring him to tell him it's ready, give him back the bike and take payment. He has insurance as well, and plenty of other expenses-his tools re not free etc.

Why is it ok to give a plumber e70 per hour, but a bike mechanic can't get e25 for an hour work-they generally give a look over the bike as well and may notice some other issues, also, if its a double ring on front, they probably checked/adjusted bot mechs.