Bicycle Mechanics - LBS tuneup

I just took my bike in for a tune up. $85 for this. Is it really worth it. I didnt' notice any mis aligned wheels. or bent anything. Just needed to get the front deraileur wire replace and make sure everything is in working order.

I am a newbie so i dont' know. any insight?

wow $85? If it were me, I wouldn't have done it, but then I'm a newbie as well.

My LBS charges $50 to do the following:

Adjustment of deraileurs
Brake adjustments
cleaning drivetrain
truing wheels

Personally though, I really enjoy working on my bike, and can perform most common maintenance tasks, so to me even the $50 is sort of steep. The shop I bought my road bike from (not lbs) had a free 30-day tuneup, but when I picked it up it looked like they hadn't really done anything. For one thing they didn't true the front wheel which had a slight wobble (I guess they didn't stress release it when I bought it). So since then I've done everything myself. Fixing bikes is really easy (well, compared to cars!), just buy some tools and read Sheldon Brown's website. You'll have recouperated your costs within a tune-up or two. :beer:

Yes $85 for a "tune up" is a rip off. A complete overhaul can be done at that charge but I shutter to think what that would cost at that LBS.

Wow......85 is a huge rip off. My shop charges 35 for the same thing.

Hi Benito,

$85 would be on the high end of normal for where I live (East coast of the US), but I don't really know what normal is where you live. In the future, you might want to discuss with the bike shop exactly what will and won't be done for the fee. That will give you the information to compare their prices with other shops in your area.

Paul

I agree it sounds like a rip-off. If you buy a bike at my LBS, you get a free yearly tune-up for as long as you own the bike.

Otherwise, it is $50. And they have coupons that are good for $10 off.

I think you need a new LBS.

Well, things in this area tend to run more expensive. It actually ended up costing 70. They give an est for 85 incase they need to replace something and dont' have to call inorder to do the work.

I agree though, seems kinda steep.
Over and done w/. oh well, i will never do that again.

Yes, that price is VERY steep for a tune-up. When I bought my 03 Specialized Mtn bike this year it came with a year of free tune-ups...and they said bring it back anytime. That's probably extreme, but I know many offer several free tune-ups. Go back to the shop and tell them you want to give them your business, but they need to be in line with their competition....I've had to do the same thing in the automotive racing industry...always was price matching or coming in between..Whatever it took to keep the business going. Good luck to you!

Any parts involved? A tuneup around here runs for $50. A cable/housing and brake pads would run it up a bit tho.

Yea 85 in Princeton is below normal. For my shop, a tune up usually runs 45-65 bucks, and then ends up being close to 100 when trueing wheels and replacing chain. Hey oregonbound, where are you located in NJ? I'm in Princeton, work at Kopps Cycles if you know the shop.

If you bring your bike in for a tune up, and they charge a set price for it, then they see other things wrong (ie- trueing wheels), will they then automatically charge the extra money and true the wheels, or will they contact you and tell you that your wheels need trueing and quote the price and ask what you want them to do?

I recently had problems with my rear deraileur. It completely snapped off the rear wheel, and I had to go to my LBS to get it fixed. While there, they fixed the problem, then as I went to touch my bike, the guy says "Anything else I can do for your bike today?". I had to laugh- I knew he was really saying "there's some things wrong with your bike and I'd like to fix it". So I ask him what's wrong, and he wants to replace the brake cable- no problem, I told him. He broke down the price for me, including the labor, and I was clear as to what he would do for my bike. I like that they wouldn't do extras without telling me. Maybe what they did is charge you for extras, and you didn't know they'd be going beyond the basic tune-up. I'd call and ask what that $85 covers- you certainly have the right to see what the tune up is comprised of.

Any way you could find this out, then quickly check other LBS's around town and pull your bike out asap and go to another LBS? I know that's harsh, but if they're charging $85, and it's clearly not as comprehensive as what the people here are saying a basic tune-up is, I'd move my bike in a minute, done or not.

Koffee

trueing the wheels were included in the price. I have checed other palces around here. I checked other places and it was around the same price.

I guess I won't be having my bike fixed in Santa Clara anytime soon- if they're all charging $85 for a simple tune up, then I can't afford to bring it in! It makes me shudder to think how much they charge for the really easy stuff...

Koffee

It makes me wonder what there rent, salary, healthcare, and taxes costs are. This is California.

Originally posted by Bobatin
It makes me wonder what there rent, salary, healthcare, and taxes costs are. This is California.

Probably a heckuva lot more than you are paying in GA :D

I'm in SoCal, and for a basic tune-up here is around $50, without parts... that usually includes truing wheels, cleaning and lubing, replacing cables, and adjusting... total overhauls run about $80-100, but then the bike is pretty much completely disassembled, cleaned, and put back together...

I, myself, try to do as much of the work on my bike as possible... if I can't, it goes to the shop, but that is very very rarely

Jeff