Average cost of Tektra calipers/install
 

Had a quick question that a lot of googling and forum searches did me no luck with. I recently got a fixed speed bike with a flip flop hub for exercise. I was going to assemble it myself fully but still needed the assembly checked by a shop to activate the warranty. Well- it made more sense to just have the shop assemble it since it was going to be the same price regardless, and I decided to add a rear brake since I'll be riding it freewheel for quite sometime.

Question though- I'm being quoted about $50 for a rear caliper install, I think. Not sure if that's the cost of the caliper alone or the caliper, line, and handles plus labor. If it's everything, I'm good with that, but if I go in and find that's just the cost of the caliper, does that sound rather expensive? It's a tektra brand which is one of the better ones they have in stock, they were mentioning, but I don't know if it's a top of the line Tektra..? I want to give this LBS a chance since it's more of a mom an pop store, but some yelp reviews have me worried I might get price gouged. Regardless, pickup is Thursday so I'll be heading in there in about an hour or two to check out and verify prices (or however long it takes me to paint this bathroom).

Any input?

Not really .. I have done the work in a bike shop myself, But, I dont set the Prices .
$50 for parts , brake, lever, cable housing and cable .. That does not sound like too much


a Computer service shop will charge that much an Hour just for Labor.

Don't forget that you're talking about a caliper PLUS a lever and cable. So price the components and compare with the difference being the labor.

You might want to install the brake yourself, and see if the shop will consider it part of the "check your work" price.

Meanwhile, on a more important note: adding a REAR brake to a fixed wheel bike is of little benefit. You already have some braking capability on the rear wheel through pedal resistance, and rear wheel braking alone is very inadequate for adult bikes. Consider buying a front brake instead so you have the ability for short emergency stops.

Calipers can easily cost hundreds. You're not going to get top of the line anything at $50 installed. You're going to get functional gear and that's it. $50 installed would include a caliper, pads, cable, housing, lever, and labor. Labor is probably $10 at least, cable and housing is $5-$10, lever is probably $10 at least. Caliper and pads for $30 isn't terrible. I've found tektro calipers, no pads, in clearance for $10 each or so, they retail for more. I'd say you're good on price.

Okay, thanks. I was just wondering because as I was checking prices on amazon, I was seeing almost only pairs of calipers for the same price as a single price tag on their one caliper and that was at the more upper end of their prices. And I'm not sure yet if the price includes the rest of the parts but the person helping me who I think is one of the owners seemed like they wanted to help. Also- I know a rear brake is of little benefit on a fixed speed bike, except for the fact that it's going to be freewheel, meaning I WILL be coasting for parts until such time as I decide to swap it to fixed speed. That said- I want the rear brake because I know the speeds I ride at will have a chance of flipping me over if I do an emergency stop with only a front brake which the bike already has- and I'm not keen on wanting to replace my helmet again any time soon like the last time I went over my handlebars.

As long as the 50 doesn't sound crazy. I knew there were much higher end brake calipers out there, but this is just a cheap fixed speed with a higher spoke count on the wheels to support me until I lose enough weight to start larger distances while riding my more expensive and lower spoke count road bike. I don't want to break the bank as I don't have much in the bank but I wanted something that would just help me stop in an emergency. I'll upgrade it in the future once I have the financial security to do so.

Agree totally.

Again, to make sure you a least hear it.

An added rear brake is next to useless for an emergency stop. If you only have one brake on a bike, you want a front brake.

Now that you have something to consider, do whatever you prefer, at least I told you.

The OP mentioned he has a flip-flop hub and is considering riding it as a freewheel part of the time so both brakes are necessary. I think (hope?) I interpreted from what he wrote that he already has a front brake and is thinking of adding a rear brake in addition to it.

As to what that $50 covers, he is better off to ask the LBS as we have no idea. If it covers the caliper, lever and complete installation, that's a bargain.

ID put 2 brakes on if I were You , but i was never into .. Fixies..

Boy I really worded this whole thing terribly.

1. Yes, it is a so-called fixie. No, I am not a hipster, I despise them but this bike mostly looks like a road bike with a single speed (also going to get the non-bmx handle when I have a chance- bullhorns or drops).

2. Yes it has a flip flop hub which I am leaving in the freewheel position to mimic my road bike.
3. Yes it came with a front brake and I am paying to add a rear brake so that it has TWO brakes and in an emergency I won't slam on the only single possible brake and flip myself, but rather be able to slow everything down accordingly.

Additionally, my emergencies are not when I am going that much over 20mph and usually just trying to avoid people, less so cars as I won't be on the streets for awhile til I get used to biking again. That said- yes, I understand a rear brake alone is pointless and even if I'm going fast enough and if the brakes completely stop the tires, momentum carries on. Lastly, I'm on the slightly heavier side at the moment so I will be moving a lot slower. I'm not some hipster/nyc courier who can fly through traffic at 25-30mph. The last time I flew over my handlebars was from my own error. I thought I was going to hit the driveway skirt up out of the street at enough of a perpendicular angle that it would be no issue, but I didn't account for how high it was and my front tire slid along the curb instead of going straight on and up.

Do you mean Tektro? I have new pairs of Tektro dual pivot caliper brakes on two of my bikes now, and am quite happy with them, for what it's worth. Much better braking than the old single pivot Dia Compe from the era when the bikes were made.

If it's the brake, cable, lever, and pads, I wouldn't begrudge a shop 50 bucks for the job, especially if it also includes the warranty inspection. I honestly can't remember if the brakes came with a set of pads, or if I had to buy those extra.

I'll bet that the $50 is just for the labor.

Yes, can't you just call the shop and find out exactly what you were quoted for? How hard is that?

Sort of hard to offer you any assessment without knowing what the 50 dollars includes. If that's just labor - then that translates to about 100 dollars/hour for labor! Installing a brake caliper, wiring it up, and tuning it shouldn't take even a beginner more than half-an-hour!

Yes, sorry, I mis-typed. Tektro is what I meant. I also had planned to stop in today but one thing led to another and another with work and I wanted to actually talk to them in person vs the phone to find out some other stuff. Just wanted to see how they plan to run the brake line to the back since I didn't even think about it, and I don't know if the frame was pre-set for it. I know it had the bracket in the back for a brake attachment but it's a white frame so a black line would also stick out. Going in the morning to check and re-evaluate my brake decision if they didn't get to the bike yet. It's supposed to be ready end of Thursday, so maybe I'm good. I'll know better tomorrow. It's all this dumb unknown stuff that I'm learning about that has me double, triple, quadruple doubting myself.

On a side note- are the Tektro reviews accurate- in that the brakes aren't terrible but the pads should definitely be replaced? I read that most of the pads don't offer great stopping quality.

$50 with parts is an excellent price.

$50 for labor is a fair price, but it's easy to do a front brake yourself ... i ride a FGSS ... so I know.

Also, I lost the rear brake as it was next to useless. However, I keep the front one in good shape :)

Learn to Brake Properly...
 

You've heard from others. I'm recommending that you throw out your misconceptions and learn to use your brakes correctly - depend on the front brake, weight back and low, arms resisting forward motion... The harder the stop, the more you have to bring the rest of your body into play. Braking doesn't throw you from the bike, impact does.

The front brake is your best friend for this...

...the rear brake is only a distant acquaintenance.

I stand very, very much so corrected. It's been 3+ years since I was biking regularly or even on a bike, and so I only have certain very strong memories in my head. I believe I forgot or didn't pay attention to several things, physics included. After your most recent comment I had to double check myself and for some reason, physics and everything else weren't clicking with me. I remember a long time ago when I went mountain biking one time on a friend's bike, with disc brakes and flying over THOSE handlebars (while going downhill) because I was new to it and wasn't aware of the braking power they had to actually stop the wheel as until that point I had been on super cheap Target-store style bikes. This mental picture from when I was younger left that big misconception in my head that it related to all bikes in general and that memory over powered my others. I totally forgot about how the physics of my weight being higher than the bottom of the bike would make the back tire want to lift off the ground and the front is what would dig into the ground for better stopping power. I remember now about all the times I came to stops while cycling on my road bike in San Diego and how the rear would lock up, skid as my momentum lifted my body enough to disengage rear traction. I do have a lot of remembering to do.

And on a side note, the $50 for the rear brake was parts only. I was still paying $45 for the tuneup/assembly of the bike and that included the labor of installing the brakes. Turns out the bike was ready a day ahead of time so I picked it up. Pretty good deal as far as I'm concerned. Thanks to all of you for trying to point out my erroneous thinking in regards to rear brake/front brake superiority, sincerely. I was way out of it. You guys all rock!

Another reason to have a rear brake on a fix gear: two brake hoods for your hands. Only a help going up hill, but do any substantial hills and you will be very glad you did it. (Assuming you are going with drop handlebars, again, by far the best for climbing.)

Ben

Riding at all without hoods would annoy me. I'd rather have them.