Bike Assembly
 

Can anyone tell me what the fair market value for assembling a high end road bike should be. Wheels are built and I have all components ready to go.
Thanks

Assembly is billed by the hour.
A box of parts and a raw frame to a bike can me lengthy.
A frameset that already has components on it to a bike takes less time.


Enjoy

Probably depends on if it's done by Bubba at Billy Bobs Farm implement and Bicycle Imporium in Buttcrack Arkansas, or the top wrench at a pro shop in Boulder Colorado. Bubba will sweat all day for a 6 pack of swill and a fresh young possum.

Thanks for that one!
Assuming the bike runs the same...I'm going to find Bubba.

Yeah, but Bubbas prime tools are a 5 pound hammer, monkey wrench and bailing wire.

Unfortunately, the bike probably WON'T run the same. You could end up with overtightened and undertightened bolts, cables too loose, badly adjusted headset, housing cut too short or too long, not enough grease in the important places, stripped threads. Sounds like a waste of a high-end bike to me.

These are exactly the reasons I am not building it up myself...I'll save that for my "rain" bike.
Thanks for the input. How much can a good bike shop cost anyway?? I'm thinking $100-$125, does this sound reasonable?

Probably too low. Are we talking "assemble a mail order bike" (usually just involves putting on the handlebar, stem, seat, cables, and adjusting things) or "build bike up from a frame and a pile of parts". The former I would expect to be less than $100. The latter could be several hundred, and might take nearly a day's work, depending on whether certain things had to be done or not (facing and reaming, pressing headset, cutting fork, etc.)

THis is something that has a huge, huge regional variance in my experience. Call around some shops local to you. My LBS would charge a tiny amount in spite of their abilities.

One LBS quoted a co-worker of mine at $200 to take all the parts off a mountain bike, and reassemble everything on a new, larger frame. I am glad to hear there are places that will do it cheaper!