Pwnt

Can anyone give me a idea of how much I am going to pay to get my bike cabled and tuned? On a limited budget this week but I really wanna get it done.

9speed w/ 105 sti shifters (don't know if you need this info but....)

rmfnla

Less if you do it yourself (this is the mechanic's forum...).

Pwnt

OK.....maybe I misunderstood. I thought I was asking advice from mechanics. Not mechanics chuming with mechanics. My mistake. (seem to be stepping on toes at every turn)

Matt Gaunt

At my LBS it will cost you less than a tenner. That's £ sterling. Dunno what you can expect in Denver. Guessing $15 but that might be wrong. Don't worry about asking that question here, you have every right. I think rmfnla was making the point that if you're on a tight budget it's a pretty easy job, I don't think he was making a jibe at you for asking the question.

If you need advice on doing it yourself then this would be the ideal time to ask. A life skill if ever there was one! And a real money-saver! You can always look at Park Tool's site for repair advice, or Sheldon Brown's.

www.parktool.com
www.sheldonbrown.com

Hope this helps you out.

Pwnt

Thank you sir, very kind.

Matt Gaunt

No problem.

acape

If you mean installation of new cables/housing, I doubt it would be as cheap as $15 if you mean to include the purchase of the parts. For the cables and housing alone, I'd say you'll pay in the neighborhood of $3-5 per cable (x4) and more for the housing, but that seems to vary.

rmfnla

Sorry, that was meant in (mostly) fun.

Most inquiries here are along the lines of "How do I..." not "How much does it cost to have someone else do..."

Perhaps if I had included a

Retro Grouch 

I'd plan on $70.00 - $80.00.

Matt Gaunt

Ah, I thought the OP meant greasing and adjustment of cables, not replacement. Yeah, probably more like £15 in that case or $25-30.

Pwnt

It is a brand new build.

Thanks to this new site that Matt gave me I might try to tackle this myself. Whats the worst that could happen? (famous last words)

acape

If you do it wrong, your bike could explode.

seriouslysilly

@ my LBS, the basic tune up is bout $18-25. not sure exactly as i've just purchased a new bike and briefly saw it above the counter.

they also have a more comprehensive tune up where they overhaul everything and i think that's about $60-70

Matt Gaunt

It really is very straightforward. Just go through the method in your mind a few times, pick up the materials from the LBS and give it a go. Worst case scenario you go back to the LBS and ask them to fit the cables for you, which they will because you spent with them for the cables in the first place.

I assume you have access to some cable cutters...

acape

Go for it. A word of advice though, when cutting your housing, err on the side of cutting them too long at first rather than too short. You can always cut a little more off, but if you cut it too short then you may need to buy new housing.

Pwnt

or a housing stretcher

JanMM

You could toast your hard drive and lose all your data.

phoebeisis

For your 1st time just buy some cheap cables/housing together;the ones that are maybe $3-$4 each.
You can get some practice in with cheaper cables/housing. They work just fine for me. If you decide in the future to go fancy, you can just measure the cheapo cables.
Don't buy expensive cables and expensive housing for your 1st effort(they aren't that much better than the cheapo ones anyway-especially in respect to brake cables/housing)
Like they said above-cut too long initially-
Don't cut the cable at all until you have all the housing cut correct length.
Get a good cable cutter-the Nashbar one works ok-I suspect the Park one is better. Use the little fold out awl to round out the housing end after you cut it(even good cutters can kinda flatten/crush it a bit).Might not hurt to gently file the end of the housing flat post cutting-then awl it round.
Take your time-if you find you have cut a housing too short- don't toss it- put it on the side-it might be just fine in another place, or the other side(front/back).
Luck,
Charlie
PS -Do the rear 1st-it usually requires longer lengths/spans. If you screw up, you can use it on the front.

Pwnt

Thanks for the heads up guys. I am going to give this a "GO" in the morning, and let you know how it goes.

McDave

This is good advice. Wal Mart sells a Bell kit that includes all brake and derailer cables and housings and bits for under $5. Hard to beat!

PS One other tip, go ahead and raise your stem to the max line if it isn't already. That way if you decide to raise it later you will have enough slack. And if you happen to cut the housings too short you can at least drop the stem back down and possibly salvage the job.

cuda2k

Measure 10 times, cut once! I did my first attempt at STI/Egrolever cables last weekend and ended up having to make the trip to the LBS for a new housing set.

blamp28

A great place to save a few bucks on cable cutters is Menard's tool section. I used theirs for a few years till one of the kids wrecked them cutting spokes. The Park units have a nice little area to crimp the cable ends but these will work fine for a first set.

rmfnla

That's the spirit!

See, you belong in this forum after all!

(just in case)

Al1943

And then there's new handlebar tape and installation, that's actually the more difficult part of a cable and housing replacement.

Pwnt

LOL!

Ok got her cabled no problem. Tuning, now that's a different story. Kinda gettin my backside handed to me here. Definately need to do more reading.

*dives back in