Cyclepath

I just had two 700s overhauled & one of them trued. Cost was $88, $78 of which was labor. Is this par for the course? (been a while since i had this done).

Pete Hamer

What kind of truing did they do? That labor charge only makes sense to me if they had to detension all the spokes, retension, then tension balance or do some extra work like straighten a bent rim. I'm guessing hub o-haul was $20-$25 of the labor which means that the wheel truing was about $26 per wheel. That's might be acceptable depending on the amount of work they did but not all wheels truing jobs are the same.

waterrockets 

Well, it could mean bearing replacement if they were sealed. So that could be like $30 for the rear and $15 for the front depending on the wheel.

Still, for that money, you'd better be able to pluck spokes all the way around and hear the same tone. They also shouldn't have done the popping and creaking you sometimes hear on the first revolution under load.

mycoatl

For reference: my LBS charges $30 to overhaul both hubs (clean, new bearings and repack), $15 to replace 1 spoke and true, and $75 to relace both wheels (+cost of spokes).

I could see $88 as reasonable to overhaul both hubs and true a wheel if the wheel was severely out of true. Might be a little high if the truing was only a little tweaking, but not astronomical.

Halfast

I just had my first wheel trued at my LBS, cost $8. Their fee is 8-12 depending on he work, mine was not bad.

Cyclepath

Only one wheel was out of true, probably less than 2mm. The hubs are not sealed. All in all it seems maybe a bit steep judging from the above, but then we have only one bike shop in the area. The manager told me the rear bearing was essentially on its way out & can't be replaced ('90 Shimano 105). I'm thinking of getting a new rear wheel if i can, but its a 7 speed so i don't know if i can get one...does this bike have a future? & my 70s-80s Puch? I know older bikes are still on the road.

seely

Can't be replaced? Shimano hubs are all loose ball setups with replacable cones...

waterrockets 

If you have tracks or pits in the cups, it's done.

OneTinSloth

could be that the cup portion of the cup and cone loose ball setup was trashed. that definitely cannot be replaced. the balls and cones can be though.

we charge $20-$25 for hub overhauls, $20 for front, $25 for rear, then $10-$35 for wheel truing. "less than 2mm out of true" can mean a lot of different things. if the wheel is particularly old, the tension could be really inconsistent and mean that more labor is necessary to bring it into true than a brand new wheel that is "less than 2mm out of true." nipples could be frozen which complicates matters further.

so potentially, including new bearings and cones, $88 could be completely reasonable.

your old bike is totally still road worthy, and you can fit 7-speed cassettes on 9-speed hubs no problem with a spacer. depending on the quality of the frame, it might even be worth it to upgrade everything on the bike to 8 or 9 speed. it wouldn't take much, new wheels, some barcons, or downtube shifters that will be compatible with the number of gears you want and you'll be all set for around $400, depending on the parts you want and where you shop. if you've got another road bike and you're up for it, you could always convert it to a single speed relatively cheaply.

at any rate, if you're feeling a little hinky about paying that much money, nicely ask them to explain exactly what they did and why the bill was so high. i wouldn't expect them to give you a refund, but hopefully, their explanation will help put your mind at ease.

matimeo

You should have done it yourself.

Cyclepath

Thanks, Tin, i think the cup was worn. For me getting a new wheelset or at least a rear wheel would be the way to go, nothing wrong with the front. 7 speed clusters can still be found, i believe.The wheels are Mavic Reflex SUPs, about 5 years old & ridden gently. This is the first time one needed truing.

I don't do a lot of work myself because I have stiffness in my hands. Even wrapping tape can be frustrating.

Zouf

7-sp cassettes are still available, certainly on eBay (bought one a few months ago). '90s 7-sp 105 is generally cassette, modern-day rear-wheel spacing as well, so you have a lot of upgrade options, the cheapest being to replace the hub with new old stuff on eBay and have the wheel rebuilt. Unless you can find a complete wheel on eBay for even cheaper.

Cyclepath

Do i need to replace the cassette just because the cups are worn? It's almost new.

OneTinSloth

no, you don't but we're thinking about what happens when the 7 speed stuff wears out, parts availability in the future.