$50 fork installation in LBS > good price?
 

I ordered me a Dart2 online...wanted to install it on my TREK 4300...seems complicated so Im shopping some LBS service and I was quoted $50...
-cut tube
-align brakes

is this a good price? or should I just do it myself?

I recently took my fork to the LBS to get the steerer cut. They did it for free while I was wandering around the store. I was fully prepared to pay for their work, but the owner just handed me back the fork and said "enjoy".

yeah good price (about £25 squid..) cutting alone is best done properly, i take it this includes headset bearings & star nut fitting also? i do this myself, but for piece of mind...

We charge $45 at our store/shop.

The question is CAN you do it yourself?

you can do it yourself but I'm pretty sure a tube cutter is more expensive than that.

The vise is the expensive part. Hacksaws are cheap.

Hmm, just checked out. The saw guide costs 20-25$ Then you'll need a hack saw if you don't have one. I have no idea what a hack saw costs, let's say 10$.

You don't mention if you have a threaded or threadless headset. Both are fairly easy to install without tools. Threadless usually need a tool to set the headset in place, but I've managed to do it with a rubber mallet and a lot of patience and care, which is like 5$ (patience not included). I dunno if it's recommended tough.

All in all, if you don't have the wrenches too plus a bit of other tools, you really don't save anything.

It's probably cheaper for you to just buy a bunch of additional spacers and install it yourself as is*, rather than paying the lbs to install all the components, measure the steerer tube, dis-assemble everything, use a bunch of shop tools to cut the steerer tube off correctly, and then re-install and align/adjust all the stuff.

*That is if you thought to buy the fork with the star nut installed.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you're pretty tall...

Borrowed hacksaw = Free
Online instructions = Free
Borrowed punch and hammer to drive off the crown race = Free
Bolt to drive in the star nut = Included with headset
Damaging the crown race either removing or installing= Cost of new headset
Bending the bolt driving in the star nut = Hour searching the parts bin for a replacement
Driving the star nut in crooked or too far down = Trip to LBS for a new one
Cutting the steerer too short = New fork
Paying the LBS = $50, work guaranteed.
Buying the fork at the LBS = Often free installation.

Are you familiar with the term, "Wink, wink, nod, nod..."?

I'm having an old threaded headset removed, a new one set, the headtube chased and faced, and a threaded fork cut down at my LBS. I'm picking it up today.
I'll let you know what the bill was.

I've had a headset installed and a steerer cut for free at my LBS. It's a quick and easy task given the right tools (which any LBS would have anyway) and if you have any kind of relationship with the store, they should be doing it for free. IMO.

Free? That's expecting a bit much. You'd have to be a *really* good customer or a friend of the owners to get that kind of service. Tools cost money, mechanics time cost money. This sort of attitude is almost insulting. IMO.

Ive got a machine shop at work...so...I can cut this tube just need to make sure I follow instructions

Re:star fangled nut
I was thinking of using a sette headlock...good?

It's the policy in my LBS that if something takes less than 10 minutes to finish, there is no charge.

Tools and time cost money, but it's not like installing a headset and cutting a steerer needs expensive tools and it's a quick task.

It helps of course to buy the headset in the shop, but I even went with a frame and fork that I had purchased elsewhere.

IMO, doing small jobs like this for little or no charge helps encourage repeat business. $50 is a crazy price for it.

^^^^
yea but your in IRELAND....

'a nod's the same as a wink to a blind bat'

I have too but I bought the parts from the LBS, I didn't show up with parts bought on-line and expect free service. And, I brought in a bare frame and fork so the LBS had to do only the installation, not dissassemble the bike and replace parts.

My original question to the OP as to whether he could do the installation himself had to do with more than just having the right tools. I asked if he had the knowledge and experience to avoid ruining both the fork and, possibly, the frame.

There's an irony at work there...

The customers that wouldn't bat an eye at paying the $50 for your work are the most likely to get work thrown in at no charge...the customers that gripe and complain about prices and always demand a discount are the ones that will rarely get anything for free.

The difference is relational: some customers you know will come back, others will try to bring in a box of eBay parts and have the entire bike assembled ten minutes at a time to take advantage of a courtesy policy.

Free flat fixes at penexpers shop!

The few overpriced-bikeshop-defenders here, likely workers or owners, are awfully bitter.

Anyway, most of the shops make the bulk of their profit from sales, so charging their customers reasonably for labour can only help them.

You seem to know a lot about where a shop derives profit from. Are you a worker or owner, or are you just guessing?

I don't think anyone disputed what price is reasonable, but the statement that "quick and easy" jobs should be free. I wonder at people that suggest such things about another business, yet don't seem to ever look at it with the shoe on the other foot. If someone felt your job was "quick and easy", would you be willing to give up part of your paycheck?

I'm certainly not an "overpriced-bike shop-defender" and even more certainly not an owner or employee of one. However, bike shops make a very significant part of their income from repairs so shop time has to be used wisely. Doing free work only makes sense if the customer buys the parts at the shop and the required time is commensurate with the value of the parts. Yes, shop labor should be priced reasonably but what's "reasonable" depends on how much you know about the business.