What type of service should be included buying new from LBS?
 

Looking at both a Trek and a Fuji from two different LBS. The Trek dealer offers lifetime annual tune-ups to include adjustments, wheel truing, bearings repacked if not sealed, cassette and chain cleaning. All included in the price (full retail of course).

The Fuji dealer offers unlimited brake and derailleur adjustments for the life of the bike but wheel truing, cleaning, etc. are extra cost.

Both offer initial setup, 100 mile adjustments and obviously manufacturer warranty service.

This will be my first "real" bike purchase, last one was an inexpensive hybrid online which really didn't need anything except brake and derailleur adjustments, chain lube (and of course, several flats fixed) all of which I was able to do myself.

Do you all negotiate extended service into the sale, DIY, pay the shop annually? I ride 40-60 miles a week, every week and hopefully more with a nicer bike.

Thanks and hope this is in the right section -did search and couldn't find a similar discussion.

DIY. Less work than transporting your bike, faster than waiting for the shop to get around to it, and you can guarantee the work will be done right although you'll spend longer on it than a mechanic which does that every day especially the first time.

That said there isn't much work.

Properly built wheels don't go out of true unless you bend the rim on something.
Derailleurs retain their adjustment once things settle down (housings set in their ferrules, and I think something happens with the spiral-wound cables).
In many environments (not Seattle) brake pads take a long time to wear and dictate cable adjustment.

Repacking loose cup and cone bearings should happen periodically, although quality hubs apart from Shimano and Campagnolo/Fulcrum tend to use cartridges which don't need it.

How do they know how many miles are on it if you don't have any mileage tracker?

Most bike shops I've been to offer 1/3/5-yr or lifetime tune-up/adjustment. They didn't specify in detail what kind of adjustments. Negotiation doesn't sound likely. Some nice folks adjust it for free even after the term expired, others try to rip you off even within the term. Lifetime tune-up sounds great only if the bike shop will stay in business for many years to come. :)

IMO, more important than what services they offer included in the price of bike is:

1. Do they have the exact bike you want? I don't mean the same bike but one size up, or in a different color, but the very one you've had your heart set on? I don't know about anyone else, but when I'm gonna drop a lot of cash on something, I'm not willing to settle for less than exactly what I want, and I'm not going to let someone talk me into something else unless they have a really convincing argument.

If they don't have the exact bike you want will they order it without making a big production out of the deal? Some shops are like "Sure, no problem" others are not so nice...

2. What is their return/exchange policy? E.g. if you decide on a different size of the same model is there a restocking fee? What if you decide you want something else entirely?

Also, I don't want to give any shop my hard-earned money if they start getting snooty with me because I want a pink bell or a basket or something like that. I expect professionalism and courtesy because that's really what I'm ultimately paying for. I could buy anything online, but I chose the shop partly due to the convenience and partly because I like the people that work there.

One out here, 6 monts of unlimited access to sort out any teething problems the bike may have,
the rest mirrors what the bike companies offer in warrantees..

Small town quite low costs on any work after 6 mos , sometimes gratis.

I thought everybody rode with a computer these days :). I think it's actually recommended by both shops 30 days or 100 miles just to take up whatever slack has developed from settling in. I suspect I can adjust my own brakes and know I can adjust inner and outer limits on the derailleur.

And very good point about the longevity of the shop - it's their lifetime, not mine.

The shop I bought my trucker at offers limetime tune up/adjustments on a new bike a year on used minor trueing is included on new bikes

That's what I think too.

Shop for a shop first. When you find the one with the right people - that's it. If you have a warranty issue, who do you want working for you? If you're looking for advice or accessories, who do you want to talk with?

Not me :).

Then they should offer a free bike computer :D

Leg massage with a happy ending is standard for us professional racers when we get our new team bike.

Some folks don't have a choice as far as bike shops go. The LBS in my area is the only one within ~50 miles.
As a matter of fact, there are more bike shops in Gainesville, Florida, than there are in the entire state of Maine.

Choose the shop you are most comfortable with. There are two LBSes in my town. I have bought from both in the past. I now only give my business to one. FWIW I have purchased over a dozen bikes in the past 30 years, and probably sent 50+ people to the one shop I support. I took a vintage frame in the other day to have the bottom bracket threads cleaned up, I was fully prepared to pay for it. They told me no charge. This is part of why you want to build a relationship with your shop. On the flip side of the coin, they have called me a couple of times asking where to get some obscure IGH parts or if I know how to deal with a particular issue.

FWIW I do 99% of my own work because I enjoy doing it. I only take stuff to the LBS when I need it in a hurry or it is beyond what my tools will handle.

Aaron :)

My regular recommendation for prospective recumbent riders is to take a road trip to a recumbent specialty shop. Unlike diamond frame bikes, there are several quite different recumbent designs and they all handle significantly differently. The only way to know for sure what's going to suit you is a test ride.

Mrs. Grouch and I have made two 1,000 mile road trips to test ride recumbent tandems. The more money you're spending, the more a long the test ride trip makes sense.

My guess is the Trek dealer is counting on not actually doing all the work he's promising. He may think you're one of 99.5% of buyers whose bikes won't see that many miles. Also, bearing repacks are a big labor item - maybe all the bearings on the bikes they sell are sealed. I started doing my own service soon after re-entering the hobby, after bringing a fine old bike, one with gentle low miles, one that just needed a lube refresh and spokes tightened, to a T*** dealer and getting wholly unsatisfactory service in exchange for good money.

All of this sounds great, but the "adjustments" involve knowing which way to turn an adjustment knob (it takes two seconds and shouldn't need to be done more than once), well built wheels should never require truing, finding an unsealed bearing on a bike could take some work these days, and if you don't clean your chain fairly often, you're going to have a short-lived drive train.

i.e., it looks like a great list of "free stuff", but it's really not that big a deal.

I was wondering about the whole "repacking bearings" issue. Would have thought by this day and age sealed bearings would be the industry standard.

There are a TON of LBS in Tucson, most with excellent reputations. Both the Trek dealer and the Fuji dealer (Performance Bicycles) have been beyond helpful offering extended tests rides including me leaving the premise with the bike on my rack and taking it to where I normally ride (with my credit card info left behind of course). I've met with the mechanics in each shop, talked to other customers while I was in the store, read the online reviews talked to a lot of other cyclist and so feel comfortable with the choices of shops and listening to the posts here, apparently I shouldn't be all that concerned/impressed by lifetime tuneups.

I'm learning towards the Fuji anyway since Trek, for whatever reason, makes a big jump in frame size from 20 to 22.5 - one feels too small, one too big whereas the 21" Fuji feels perfect (and what's been recommended size wise by several shops).

Sealed bearings ain't, self starters won't and rust free chains will...

Even sealed bearings and maintenance free batteries need to be worked on occasionally...what they are doing is telling you they will charge you if a bearing needs any work at all.

I personally prefer the old fashioned loose bearings and cones but that is just me.

Aaron :)