Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
What is the hourly rate for mechanical work at that LBS? The assembly of a boxed bike should require no additional parts and I can't imagine proper assembly of a typical boxed bike would take more than an hour; UNLESS the shop was trying to pad the bill (or chase away the customer) by claiming that any new bike with a Big Box Store provenance needed a complete overhaul right out of the box.
Are you saying that $100 is an unreasonable price to assemble a bike from a box? To me it sounds perfectly reasonable even if it it's a one hour job with absolutely no additional materials needed as you assume.
At worst, I'd call it a slightly padded price due to uncertainties and
maybe the attitude of "we'll do it, but we will make money on it". But certainly not a rip off. And like all things, if the customer thinks it is a rip off, he or she should just take it to a place with better pricing and equal quality of work.