invision

I finally took my bike to the bike shop well when I went there they asked if i wanted a tune up right, well i asked what a tune up was they said they would check my breaks and the wheels and make sure everything is tight. So i said yeah thats kool so that was 45$ and i asked him about cutting the bars abit and I think he thought I was crazy and he said that i didnt need to. I told him i wanted to take the gyro off my bike and get regular breaks he insisted that I keep the gyro I felt like he didnt know anything about bmx bikes so that sucked. Then I asked if they could put pegs on for me, and he said I dont think you can fit pegs on your bike thats when I was like wtf? I think iam gonna get ripped off we will see on wednesday yeah its gonna take that long iam pissed.

Ninshadow

What Kind of bike is it?

BMXTRIX

Yes, the bike shop is clueless about your bike. Go to a different shop if at all possible.

pnj

In my experience most bike shops are clueless about bmx.

I prefer to mail order my parts and do the maintanance myself.

I encourage others to do this as well, at least the maintanance part. even my non bmx bikeing friends I encourage to do their own work.

start small. take off your front wheel and put it back on.
make sure to not over tighten the nuts.
put grease on any threads.
take your seat out and put it back in.
adjust your bars forwards or backwards.

just small things like this will help you get comfortable with working on your bike. the more you do, the more confidence you will have for other things like taking tires off and whatnot. start investing in good tools.

If your dad has tools, ask him to help. it may be a bike, but it's really just nuts and bolts. sorta. don't forget to PUT YOUR DADS TOOLS AWAY, when you are done.

if you have questions about working on your bike, you can get all kinds of great answers here.

BMXTRIX

I agree with pnj... There is nothing on your bike (except perhaps weld it) that you can't do yourself.

A bike is nuts, bolts, and bearings. Bearings need grease, everything else basically needs the right kind of wrench. For that 45 bucks you could buy half the tools you need and get some good grease and a few rolls of paper towels... and some Simple Green.

Look at www.bmxtrix.com -> how-to -> fix your bike -> tools needed (sorry, none of the rest of that section is really done, except axle replacement & wheel building)

There are a few tools, most of which you likely already have in your home, that will really let you work your bike over nicely.

Then feel free to Google your question (first) then ask here if you still have questions (second). Take some digital photos and post them if you have something specific that confuses you.

But, for $45.00 a mechanic will spend about 30-40 minutes going over your bike. That's ALL! No extra work is done, no parts are replaced, it is just a once over to make sure things are smooth. He will spray some lube into cables, and may tighten bolt or two. But, he won't replace anything and will look for stuff that needs to be replaced. Your bike will come back to you a little more smooth than it was, but in a month it will be loose again. YOU on the other hand can sit in the garage/basement for two hours and really do some serious work to your ride. Including everything the bike shop did, but also regrease bearings if you need to, or replace your tires if they are bald.

Online shops, like Dans Comp, will sell you new parts for about 33% less than the store will, and you can use the extra cash for a good set of steel tire irons, or for some Taco Bell.

You CAN do it yourself if you want and you should ask questions before you begin a project so you will have all the parts you need ahead of time.

invision

Yeah I might just go there and pick it up maybe try a diffrent store at least just to get the breaks on. I have a poverty buck99 bmx bike I got from danscomp and he said you cant put pegs on it, also i have a question when you put the pegs on do you take of the chain tensioners off or do you leave 1 on the side you didnt put the pegs on? Thanks

BMXTRIX

If the axles are long enough, you can leave both tensioners in place.

Look at the pics of my bike on bmxtrix.com in the fix your bike section under bike basics. It shows pics all around the bike.

Ninshadow

Chain tensioners are a BIG help in precisely cenering your wheel between your brakes. Try to keep them on if you can. Usually basic bikes have longer axles but make sure your nuts go on most of the way or you will just strip them out.

mude

i have a buck 99...u can put pegs on...i dont take the chain tensioners off because i drilled a hole in the top of the chain tensioner for the anti spin pin

CMcMahon

Fixed.

liv_rong

Yes most shops know mainly about mtn and road bikes. But that guy you talked to just seems like hes totaly clueless. Gyros do suck in general, it just depends what your doing. Most people dont do flat land so gyros are mostly useless. Any smart bmx'er would tell you all you have to do is make your brake cable a bit longer to accomidate spinning of your bars at least one time around. You also dont need front brakes. But I like I said it depends on what kind of riding your doing.

You should call the guy from the shop and tell him what you want and just ell him to do it. Most likely he didnt even touch your bike yet. A lot of shops tell you it takes a week, but thats because thet have a lot of other customer bikes to fix. So they usualy dont work on your bike till the day before or the day of if they are backed up.

Also is wheel truing included in that tune up price? I hope it is. Where are you from and what shop is it?

JMC

shoot em.

sswarmachine

YEP HE SUCKS! THATS 45 BUCK FOR LESS THAN AN Hour. Read some stuff online and do it yourself.