Bicycle Mechanics - Poor bike assembly - worth the extra $?

I went into my LBS today to order a new 2010 Cannondale CAAD9-6. They were very helpful in finding a frame, stem, and so on that would suit my needs. However, when they started ringing up the bike it came to $1360 instead of the $1150 that other dealers were asking. When I told the guy that it was $1150 at another shop, he directed me to their site and told me they assemble the bikes correctly whereas other shops just get it ready to sell. Here's the site: http://www.rideyourbike.com/ and the info he directed me to is listed in the pull down menu "Services" under "Bike Assembly". It's a great bike shop and I'd like to give them business, but it's way more than I was planning to spend. What do you guys think?

Properly built-up and tuned is the only way to go here. Ask them if they open the bottom-bracket and hubs and headset to be sure all is in order. For $210, they should.

Don't you wish you learned bike-mechanics? $210 isn't a bad price - if they really do it right.

Any good shop should stand behind the product and offer free adjustments/tune-ups. So I don't buy the higher price argument.

Of course, the last time I bought a new bike was 1975. I only buy used, so any repairs/assembly are on me.

$210 seems kind of high to me too. A complete tune-up is about $75 - $125 and this includes a lot more than assembly and adjustments. In reality, they will not check the bearings in the BB, the hubs, the headset, etc. They will assemble the bike (Which is mostly assembled anyway), adjust the gears, brakes and true the wheels.

I have assembled bikes from a box and it takes about an hour to do it properly, so $210 is high.

I don't know, wrk. I've seen an awful lot of bikes roll out of bike-shops - new - with them just screwed together and no grease to be seen. I don't know why they do this. Maybe they want them to last only as long as their warranty so you're stuck buying another new bike? What I've suggested to friends of mine is to buy the bike. Then bring it to me and I'll re-build it right. For friends I've done this free. A customer could expect to pay me around $200 - and get a talk about options and advice thrown in for good-measure. My re-build is a complete overhaul. NOT a tune-up.

If the OP has no friend who is a bike-mechanic, and the plethora of shops who believe a build means turning some nuts & bolts, I'd say the buyer is between the rock and the hardplace.

College Cyclery in Reno makes sure that all bikes are properly assembled and adjusted, including destressing and retensioning the wheels, even on Electras. I have not seen them disassemble headsets and BBs to regrease them however. The bikes are well assembled and adjusted and they charge list price, or below for prior year bikes.

IMO proper assembly should be part of the pre sale service on any bike and should not be an extra charge.

There is no way I would pay 210 for someone to set up a bike. My LBS takes 1.5 to 2 hours to set one up, and all are done right and ready to go.

IMO proper assembly should be part of the pre sale service on any bike and should not be an extra charge.

I agree. My price is for what I'd be facing when someone (smart) brought me a box from BikesDirect or similar. That's a frame-up build. Likely with poorly fitting components and wheels in need of spoonful of salsa. Ditto if someone wanted a high-end frame and personalized components for a ground-up custom job. I mean, would you order a ground-up top-end frame (even - koff - carbon) and top-drawer components and bring the essentials for the "superbike" of your dreams to: "Unkle Bub's Bait & Bike?"

If you do, let me know - I'll film it!

If this gives you any idea, I just ordered my wife a new road bike from my favorite LBS yesterday. Special order, set up, new bar tape (wife doesn't want white) and a computer installed. Still $100 off MSRP and no labor.

This sort of thing should be resisted. When you spend your hard-earned money at a bike shop, you deserve the bike of your choice at the advertised price, in a perfect state of assembly and readiness for the road. If the bikes come from the manufacturer or importer to the shop in such a condition that they need a lot of work to set them up, that's the shop's problem, not yours. They're at liberty to negotiate terms with their suppliers when contract time comes around. Nowadays, it seems they're content to accept the poor state of bicycles as shipped, in the knowledge that putting them together will be a lucrative sideline for their workshop.

What is the point of buying a bike from a shop if they aren't going to build it up properly? If that's the case why shouldn't a consumer buy a bike online (at a lower price) and then pay the shop to assemble it? As far as I can tell, the "discounted service", "free x-month tune up", and "already assembled properly" are the only reasons to buy the bike in a shop to begin with.

No way I would pay a dime extra for a "better" build on a brand new bike from a shop - regardless of the cost of the bike - especially if other shops are selling the same exact bike for less money in an assembled state! That is just crazy. No offense to the pros on here that commented - but isn't that already built into the price of the bike when you buy from a local shop?

That sounds like a load of BS, the shop I work at has all bikes for sale with a lower price than the MSRP. Our bikes are built well right out of the box, then checked again before test rides, then checked again before bought by the customer. Go to another shop, it sounds like they are charging a crazy fee, because they are greedy. A complete overhaul on a bike is usually only around 150 dollars, how could they possibly expect you to pay that much?

Oh Aaron's... I'd really like to "support my LBS" but crap like this is why I only buy cheap stuff I need immediately from them, even though I live a mile away.

I agree. My price is for what I'd be facing when someone (smart) brought me a box from BikesDirect or similar. That's a frame-up build. Likely with poorly fitting components and wheels in need of spoonful of salsa. Ditto if someone wanted a high-end frame and personalized components for a ground-up custom job. I mean, would you order a ground-up top-end frame (even - koff - carbon) and top-drawer components and bring the essentials for the "superbike" of your dreams to: "Unkle Bub's Bait & Bike?"

If you do, let me know - I'll film it!
+1 If you take a BD bike to your local LBS, or any other mechanic, you should expect to pay $200 for a thorough assembly job.

+1 I think you are getting hosed, but if you really want to do business with that shop, just consider that the "premium" for doing business with them.

That's just about the price I paid for a 4 hour fit session before deciding what bike to buy, and half of that amount was deducted from the total cost of my bike. (LBS refunds half your fitting price for purchases under $3k, and full fitting refund when buying a bike over $3k.)
There's no difference in assembly price for a SUPER MEGA AWESOME BUILD vs. Meh, be glad it rolls. All their bikes are built properly and checked for issues before going out the door.

On principle I'd go somewhere else.

Took me an hour and a half to complete the assembly of my store brand bike. As I've replaced components, I have noticed that the bike was properly assembled, with grease where it belongs, etc.

That is way to much for a service you are already paying for. I call BS.

The $210 price tag struck me as high, too, so I checked out their website and here's what you get for that (cut and pasted, with typos, from the bike shop's site). Yes, it looks like they do take apart the bottom bracket, clean out the paint overspray, make sure everything is greased properly and more. They could be on to something as far as raising the bar for service (or they could be on to a good scam). I would like to know what other posters think:

Any frameset or complete bike purchase from us inculdes:

The shipping (These days it can be as much as $80!).
A Professional Bike Fit (http://www.rideyourbike.com/fit.html) ($100 value).
Chase the paint overspray out of bottom bracket, rack / fender eyelets and water bottle boss threads .
Add marine grease the headset & install loose balls in lower stack. Headsets often come dry and loose balls triple the life of a headset.
Spray inside of frame and fork with Boeshield (http://www.boeshield.com/) to prevent rust.
Align Drop-Outs
Deburr and prep seat tube so the seatpost doesn't get chewed up.

seems like a cash grab to me one of the local lbs in my area does a full assembly checks everything over.. except sealed components for no extra charge it is why they pride themself on being a bike shop and not a dept store

charging for assembly on a bike your getting at their shop is bs IMO.. noyl reason to even charge would be if you had brought in a boxed bike from else where

I'm really torn about this one.

I just went over their bike build page (Lostfreight's list was incomplete).

Sure ... a decent LBS should deliver a professionally built bicycle when you buy it from them, but ...

If they really do what they say they do, then it is a pretty impressive approach to building bikes.

And ... it might be worth something extra to me (maybe the equivalent of an extra ONE hour's labor), but I'd surely want to be there for the entire build -- possibly even asking questions along the way.

Here's their list:


Why buy a Bike from Aaron's Bicycle Repair ?

It is not so much the brand of bike that is going to make it last but rather it is the way in which it is assembled. A bicycle purchased from us will last longer and work better than the exact same bike purchsed elsewhere! We are not kidding, READ ON.........

Unlike a VCR or TV, where price and brand may be the deciding factors in a purchase, a bicycles integrity and durability come from the place purchased. You see, a bike is only partly assembled by the manufacturer. The bikes come to us in a box about 80% assembled. Most shops just finish the job in as little time as possible. We actually dissassemble the bike to a point and reassemble it to our demanding specifications. For example the individual components only come with enough grease for San Diego weather, we put enough in for Northwest weather!

Each bolt and nut (threaded part example: pedal) is lubricated (oil for bolts 5mm and smaller, grease for bolts 6mm and larger) to allow the proper torque to be reached and prevent corrosion. Counterintuitively, lube allows a bolt to be torqued easier and stay tight better than a dry bolt. All the places where your body connects to the bike are of particular importance (stem, bars, seat, pedals, cranks, wheels). We can't even count the number of times a customer has come in with a loose seat bolt. Properly greased, and torqued, a seat bolt will NEVER come loose!

The spoke tension of the factory built wheels is always too loose. We tension each spoke to 200 pounds tension each [ed: I hope they mean "to spec..."], then stress relieve the entire wheel. This will make the wheels stay true longer and break fewer spokes We also lubricate each spoke nipple with a special blend of Anti-Seize and Phil Wood Oil to make sure they will always turn.

We add grease to the wheel (hub), steering (headset) and crank (bottom bracket) threads and bearings. We remove the fork and crank, spray the inside of the frame with Boeshield T-9 rustproofing. We grease the inside of the frame at the headset and bottom bracket areas to prevent rust and catch crap (rust or sand) from contaminating the bearings. We replace the lower stack headset bearings with loose balls. This triples the life of the headset and makes the steering smoother. We also add a bottom bracket sleeve if one is missing/needed and they usually are!

Below is a list of just a few of the extras things we do to make your bike last and last and last:
Approximate individual shop labor charges in (Red).

* True, Tension and Dish the wheels
[They won't come loose] ($40)
* Rustproof Steel Frames: Spray the inside of the frame with Boeshield T-9 ($10)
* Add the proper amount of grease to the wheel bearings (hubs)
[They don't come with enough!] ($35)
* Grease the steer tube [keeps the rust at bay] and add grease to the steering bearing (headset) and replace the lower stack bearing cage with loose balls [triples the life of the headset and makes the steering smoother] ($25)
* Remove and lubricate the crank bearing ($25)
* Lubricate the inner cable of the brakes and gears
[Smooth braking and shifting] ($10)
* Align frame and fork Drop-Outs
[Makes bike track straight and prevents bearing failure] ($15)
* All nuts and bolts are torqued to their maximum tightness [B][ed: I'd hope they mean "to spec...."]
* Lube all threads
[these last 2 steps keep things from loosening up and rusting] (Priceless)
* Add Slime to the tires [prevents 90% of all flats] ($10)
We only do this to high volume tires like mountain or hybrid.
* Free Greenfield (made in USA) kickstand if wanted ($10)
* Finally, we give the bike a Tune-Up ($120) [ed: a newly built bike ... doesn't need a tune-up :rolleyes:]
* This final step involves YOU!
* A bicycle is a machine, and like all machines, there is a "break-in" period. You MUST bring your bike back to the shop for a FREE initial 'Tune-Up' [really a retorquing of all parts and any readjustments needed] after 100-200 miles of riding or 60 days whichever comes last. ($35) Failure to do so can void your warranty!

We also offer this service on bikes purchased at other shops or online.

I'm really torn about this one.

I just went over their bike build page (Lostfreight's list was incomplete).

Sure ... a decent LBS should deliver a professionally built bicycle when you buy it from them, but ...

If they really do what they say they do, then it is a pretty impressive approach to building bikes.

And ... it might be worth something extra to me (maybe the equivalent of an extra ONE hour's labor), but I'd surely want to be there for the entire build -- possibly even asking questions along the way.

Here's their list:

So,... what are you getting for their regular markup? That is, the markup that the other LBS would be charging? Just for comparison, the local dealer who probably has one of the best reputations around here, is asking MSRP of $1199, CANADIAN.

EDIT:
OK, sorry, just realized that was for 2009 model. how much is the difference in US funds?

Part of building a bike is building it correctly. Yes, it comes mostly assembled. A good shop already takes it apart and checks everything. They lost me with "put Slime in the tires". No way. That ***** is evil. I wouldn't put that in a wheelbarrow tire, let alone a bike tire. T9 Boeshield "Rustproofing"? T9 is a teflon lubricant. We use it for chains, cables, squeaky hinges, etc. It's the best lubricant I've ever used. But it isn't a rustproofer. Nor does one need a rustproofer in a carbon, aluminum, or titanium frame. Do they sell steel only?

Why do they give the bike a tune up? They just built it. Shouldn't it be perfect?

Replace the lower bearing with loose balls? Really? Why? So if I have them build a bike with a Cane Creek headset, they're gonna toss my cartridge bearing and put in loose balls? No thanks.

"Chase the paint overspray out of bottom bracket, rack / fender eyelets and water bottle boss threads ."
I've yet to see a bike show up that had paint in the bottom bracket shell. Frame, yes. Bike, no. Chasing the threads on rack/fender eyelets is okay if the customer plans on using them. If not, it gives the bike a rough, unfinished look.

I don't care what their rationale is... charging more than MSRP for a bike is wrong. With the exception of the "professional fit", nothing they listed is needed or that much over-and-above what a good shop should do anyway. Some of it is just stupid.

Well don't blame us free-lance bike-mechanics who specialize in custom work for people. But if I was selling bicycles, I sure as the Dicken's wouldn't pad the bills by charging extra for included-in-cost work. And, in effect, threaten the customer with pee-poor assembly if they don't pony-up a stack of $20's!

That's grounds for arson where I live.

My LBS does all this at no charge... plus a year worth of service.

Ok, I just looked at their site. Did anyone else notice that all of the bikes they pictured for the "assembly" page were more than 10 years old?

Did anyone else consider what a mess all of that extra grease slathered all over the steerer tube, etc is going to cause?

Boeshield T-9 (http://www.boeshield.com/ordering/tech_data.php) IS a rustproofer.



Corrosion Inhibition Meets BSS7220 and FED-STD-791, Method 4001 (Max. 3 dots 1mm per 10 square inches after 100 hours salt spray). Meets ASTM G-34 (Exfoliation Test).

Boeshield T-9 (http://www.boeshield.com/ordering/tech_data.php) IS a rustproofer.

Ok, so it is. Not what comes to mind when I think of rustproofing a frame, though.

Well don't blame us free-lance bike-mechanics who specialize in custom work for people. But if I was selling bicycles, I sure as the Dicken's wouldn't pad the bills by charging extra for included-in-cost work. And, in effect, threaten the customer with pee-poor assembly if they don't pony-up a stack of $20's!

That's grounds for arson where I live.

I certainly see your point ... but ...

Think about your average car wash. Don't they offer a menu of various levels of service?

One could argue that they should just do a fine job of cleaning the damned car, but ... they have a menu of offerings so that each can decide what best represents their needs and their willingness to pay.

Ditto airplanes (economy vs. 1st class) and a host of other business models.

In THAT spirit, I'm not entirely against this shop's approach ... but ... I think their price is way out of line.

That pre-supposes, however, that they do NOT crap in the seat tube of those who don't pay for the super-deluxe model, but rather STILL DO a "workmanlike" and professional job of assembling the bike.

I certainly see your point ... but ...

Think about your average car wash. Don't they offer a menu of various levels of service?

One could argue that they should just do a fine job of cleaning the damned car, but ... they have a menu of offerings so that each can decide what best represents their needs and their willingness to pay.

Ditto airplanes (economy vs. 1st class) and a host of other business models.

In THAT spirit, I'm not entirely against this shop's approach ... but ... I think their price is way out of line.

That pre-supposes, however, that they do NOT crap in the seat tube of those who don't pay for the super-deluxe model, but rather STILL DO a "workmanlike" and professional job of assembling the bike.

The OP did not indicate that they offered multiple levels of assembly quality. It looked to me, when reading his post, like the extra assembly charge is the shop's normal policy. If the charge was included in the price stickers on display bikes on the floor of the shop then he should have been forewarned.

Many of the items shown on the price list from their web site such as the wheel work should be done by every decent LBS as part of normal assembly I think. BTW how do they grease a Shimano sealed BB?:rolleyes: I also agree regarding the "Tuneup" charge. With all the other charges they list, and work done, a tuneup should be nothing more than derailleur and brake adjustments. Also not sure I would want them to try to "Align" the rear dropouts and forks on an aluminum or CF frame or fork. Sounds like some BS in the whole assembly/service list.:eek:

Unfortunately in most cases a MSRP is just that, a suggested retail price, and dealers can charge whatever they think the traffic will bear. Unless all the other local Cannondale dealers are pretty bad then IMO no justification for the additional assembly charges.

Now I also see though why they get a fixed charge of $175 to work on an IGH with problems. An overpriced bike shop it looks like. Do they think that they are a Porsche or Ferrari dealer?:roflmao2:

You put the parts together properly. You sell it for a fixed price. End of story.

How about if you ask them to give it to you unassembled? Would they charge you less?

What if you reported to Cannondale that this dealer was forcing people to pay for "proper" assembly? I guess the implication is that they generally do a bad job, unless you pay extra for them to do it right? That's stupid. You either assembled the bike right, or you didn't.

To the OP: You're wrong. This isn't a great shop. Don't buy from this shop. This LBS is full of BS.

We may have exceptional LBS's around here, but I have never been charged extra for services when purchaing a new bike. I have completely swapped out drive trains, supplying some of my parts and they did not not charge me for this. The bikes were also ready to ride when I took them home. Any reasonable after purchase problems were taken care of without cost.

I just purchased a "brand new" 1993 bike still in the box. It took me about two hours to go completely through it and complete the assembly.

I think I'd try another shop!

I guess it's the "Seattle Premium" you have to pay for living there....

In general the businesses that first ring up the added fees and then point to fine print and act all surprised when you question it are all pulling a fast one on their customer.

A new bike bought from them shouldn't include these charges for piddling setup. It might be a bit different if they had warned you upfront that their services incur added fees to the bike price (imho, dubious at best). Otherwise you'd be much better off buying from BD and bringing it to (another) shop if you can't assemble it properly.

Actual final cost is really important these days and they're being stupidly greedy (i.e. if you can drop a grand on a bike, you can drop some more to fatten their wallets...). This smacks of the notorious added fees for rug mats, cupholders and rust-proofing at car dealerships...


.

Rupert, if you haven't already, check out the shop's Yelp reviews. It seems as though people either love it or hate it, and those that hate it hate it because of the owner.

Did they fit you to the frame? If not then I'd think again about buying there.

Look, an LBS is more expensive to run (per bike) than a high-volume mail order warehouse type operation. They have to charge more to survive. So why would you want to pay more? Because they offer things that the cheap seller can't. The web site identifies better setup, but that's based on an assumption that the big seller won't do it well. The biggest thing an LBS can offer that a high volume seller can't is fit services. The fit of the final assembly is critical to your enjoyment of the bike.

So if they don't fit you, then you're not getting your extra $$ worth (those $$ in excess of the labor to mount your custom parts, that is).

I certainly see your point ... but ...

Think about your average car wash. Don't they offer a menu of various levels of service?

One could argue that they should just do a fine job of cleaning the damned car, but ... they have a menu of offerings so that each can decide what best represents their needs and their willingness to pay.

Ditto airplanes (economy vs. 1st class) and a host of other business models.

In THAT spirit, I'm not entirely against this shop's approach ... but ... I think their price is way out of line.

That pre-supposes, however, that they do NOT crap in the seat tube of those who don't pay for the super-deluxe model, but rather STILL DO a "workmanlike" and professional job of assembling the bike.

There are differences in the bikes they sell. 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace, etcetera. Just like everybody on a plane gets to the same destination in (roughly) the same time, I expect my bike to be just as put together no matter what the model. As I've said before, if you're going to pay the same assembly charge above MSRP on a bike purchassed there as one from elsewhere, what reason is there not to buy elsewhere and have them assemble it?

Bike shops are required to assemble bikes prior to sell. At least the manufacturers we deal with, we can't sell the bikes in the box. If you can't purchase the bike in the box, they truly can't charge a assembling fee. Its also a hidden cost since its not listed on the sale tag.

Seems like a surefire way to lose customers.

Thanks for the responses everyone, from the consensus it looks like I'll be going somewhere else to order my 'dale. To answer some questions:



If the OP has no friend who is a bike-mechanic, and the plethora of shops who believe a build means turning some nuts & bolts, I'd say the buyer is between the rock and the hardplace.

Unfortunately I don't know a bike-mechanic so I have to rely on the shop to put it together.


The OP did not indicate that they offered multiple levels of assembly quality. It looked to me, when reading his post, like the extra assembly charge is the shop's normal policy.

From what I understood it was either the premium marked-up service or nothing. Which is interesting as someone in an earlier post mentioned that the frame is aluminum and shouldn't need the rust proofing.


Rupert, if you haven't already, check out the shop's Yelp reviews. It seems as though people either love it or hate it, and those that hate it hate it because of the owner.

Thanks! These are some really polar reviews, I'll have to check out the other shops in Seattle and get a feel for the different shops.



[COLOR=navy]Actual final cost is really important these days and they're being stupidly greedy (i.e. if you can drop a grand on a bike, you can drop some more to fatten their wallets...). This smacks of the notorious added fees for rug mats, cupholders and rust-proofing at car dealerships....

That's a pretty funny comparison. After reading some of the posts I started wondering if they were selling me "snake oil." Reminds me of the used car dealer chapter in the "Grapes of Wrath"

What a rip....Sounds a lot like buying a motorcycle. There's one advertised price PLUS freight PLUS assembly PLUS other junk fees.
Is some of that markup sales tax?

Where I work, the bikes are torn down out of the box and rebuilt. While we don't usually face the bb and head tube, alignment is checked/corrected, bearings repacked and greased properly, wheels tensioned and trued, all fasteners torqued to spec and loctite applied as needed. Usually takes an hour or two for each build and we don't charge more than the msrp. It may cut in to the margins a bit but our warranty return rate and thier associated costs (significantly lower building this way) more than makes up for it, and we have a pretty happy customer base. The prices that buddy charges are what we would charge for a frame up build. I think hes gouging.

Is some of that markup sales tax?

No, both the prices I gave were before tax, it's 200 bucks more because of the assembly.

No, both the prices I gave were before tax, it's 200 bucks more because of the assembly.

Its a rip off!

Where I work, the bikes are torn down out of the box and rebuilt. While we don't usually face the bb and head tube, alignment is checked/corrected, bearings repacked and greased properly, wheels tensioned and trued, all fasteners torqued to spec and loctite applied as needed. Usually takes an hour or two for each build and we don't charge more than the msrp. It may cut in to the margins a bit but our warranty return rate and thier associated costs (significantly lower building this way) more than makes up for it, and we have a pretty happy customer base. The prices that buddy charges are what we would charge for a frame up build. I think hes gouging.

This sums it up in a nutshell. It would be good if bikes were shipped in a better state of assembly, but they're not, and you do what you have to do to rectify that. A good bike shop owner probably couldn't bring himself to let bikes go out unless he knew that they were assembled properly. His dividend for this attitude is a happy, loyal group of customers who put the word around. He deserves to prosper. The other type of LBS owner couldn't care less, as long as the tills are ringing. When the inevitable complaints come back, his customers get fobbed off or intimidated. Nobody should tolerate this latter type of establishment. Walk away, and tell everyone you know who might conceivably go there one day. I'd suggest the OP write a polite letter to the shop who quoted the extra assembly charge, telling them that it's unacceptable to him, and that he proposes to source his bike elsewhere. If they get a few of these, it just might make them pause to consider their business model.

Nor does one need a rustproofer in a carbon, aluminum, or titanium frame. Do they sell steel only?
They appear to mention doing this to steel frames specifically.


Replace the lower bearing with loose balls? Really? Why? So if I have them build a bike with a Cane Creek headset, they're gonna toss my cartridge bearing and put in loose balls? No thanks.
They are talking about removing the ball retainer in headsets that use them. They aren't talking about cartridge bearings (since you'd likely have to replace the entire headset to use loose balls!).

==================

Cannondale/Trek are LBS-only brands. The MSRP should include a competent build.

I don't know why your bike shop is charging $210 for a job they are supposed to do for the cost of the bike. I deal with a first class bike shop and they check out all the bikes they sell. When you get to the $1000+ bikes, they check them out in detail. It's expected. No, I would not pay the extra, and I would think twice about using that shop.

I bought a reasonably expensive bike from a theoretically reputable shop and: every piece of cable housing was a little too long; the front derailleur was mounted an inch too high, the rear deraileur tension screw was nowhere close, the bottom bracket cups were not tight; the headset was not properly compressed. They appear to have done a fine job with the bar tape.
They do offer free adjustments, which would be useful if I were willing to let them touch the bike ever again. Luckily, I'm willing and able to build the thing from scratch myself, since that's pretty much what I had to do.

Point being, if they charge $200 more than some other guy, and their excuse is that they hire competent mechanics, it may be true. If you are generally happy with them and trust them, I'd say stick with them. Yes, any shop should put the bike together competently. Some don't.

personally I think they are ripping you off. while I have not purchased a new bike in years, I do hear the schpeel at most bike shops while I am shopping *I always listen in, it is a great way to learn about all the new stuff* most shops seem to offer 'lifetime adjustments' and assembly is included in the price.

I would write or call cannondale and ask why this is the only shop that 'properly' assembles their bikes prior to selling them.

Do we have a consensus here yet?

I know I'm jumping into this a little late but.....

There are 2 ways to assemble a bike:

1. Bike is taken out of the box and assembled. Make whatever brake, derailleur and wheel truing adjustments are needed.

2. Bike is taken out of the box and assembled as previously mentioned but a few extra steps are taken. All bearings are properly adjusted, seatposts and stems are greased (as needed) and any threads that need lubing get lubed.

It should take any skilled mechanic less than 30 minutes to assemble and properly adjust a bike as described in #2. If it takes more than 30 minutes there's a mechanic that needs to find another job.

Assembly prior to sale has always been mandated by the manufacturer and as far as i know no manufactuer advocates an additional assembly charge. Remember, your bike is being assembled by a mechanic that makes $8/hr. You can look at how much it costs a shop to assemble a bike 2 different ways. first is by how much they pay to have it assembled. $8/hr equals $4 for assembly. The second is by looking at 'shop cost'. Lets says shop cost is $60/hr then it costs $30 to assemble the bike...sort of. Thats assuming all shop revenue is from assembly only and your relying on assembly costs only to pay all bills.

In my opinion it only costs the shop whatever they're paying the mechanics per hour. If the shop has a full time mechanic they pay to sit around all day doing nothing until a bike needs assembling thats the shops fault. Call it 'bad mangement' if you must.


If a shop tried to charge me an assembly fee I'd tell them MSRP minus $10 for being stupid.

Seriously, they make it sound like they're going to f'ck up your bike unless you pay them not to.

Rupert, if you haven't already, check out the shop's Yelp reviews. It seems as though people either love it or hate it, and those that hate it hate it because of the owner.

After checking out that shops website, this doesn't surprise me. Sounds like the typical "I am the only one who can do it right" business owner. Some stuff he may be right about, but that looks like a whole lot of work to do to EVERY bike aside from the fact a lot of it is debatable if its needed! Hes basically saying Cannondale and whoever else dumps crap out their door and expects the LBS to fix it when in reality the put it together as best as possible to ship so the LBS can finish and fine tune it as every build is a little different.

Buy it elsewhere.