Refurbing For A Friend
 

I have a friend that is training for a Tri and is needing a bike and experience with the riding part of it. He found an '88 Cannondale Crit and I am doing the refurbing which includes service on both hubs, BB, basically going throughout the bike until it looks like one of mine. Hours to complete will probably come in around 7 or 8 tops.

My question is to those that do this sort of thing on a rather frequent basis....what would be a fair price (not including tires, cables, bar tape etc)?

Dinner and a 6 pack.

Around Ann Arbor, a full LBS refurb with overhaul and cleaning/polishing is about $175-$200 + parts. Share that info with your friend and let him decide, that approach has always worked well for me.

http://www.sictransitcycles.com/services-repair

That helps, thanx. I'm definately putting a great deal of extra's into the package and I stand behind my work as I should. I just dont want to be on the high end of the tab.

This, since it's a friend.

I don't think I have gotten dinner. But multiple six packs, a couple bottles of wine, that sort of thing.

Two summers ago I refurbed my buddy's (not the same friend) PX-10 and he rode it twice and sold it. He's a horse trader kind of guy and had a hunch he was going to make money off me... But I did it anyway.

By the way, he bought this bad boy for 100.00. The paint is rough but it has all the C-Dale allure about it.

If oldscool friend can afford a couple of hundred for a C-dale and a bunch of new parts, the friend can afford cash, dinner and beer.

On the other hand, i've had personal and family friends who have been very generous, so I give their kids and grandkids bikes on occasion.

I had a thread on refurbing bikes for kids and giving them away. That's quite an experience.

well, I personally work on bikes as a hobby so asking someone I consider a friend for money to fix his bike wouldn't occur to me, irrespective of what they can afford. I don't even ask for the booze, they just deliver. Now if I had a flipper friend like OPs who sold a bike for profit after I'd fixed it, I'd expect to be offered some of the cash; if my friend didn't offer, I wouldn't work on any more of his bikes.

This guy isnt a close friend but could say we are homies. I've not known him very long but I consider him a friend.

Doing a repair at a shop is not the same as doing one in your garage. Rent, liability and labor all factor into a shop's costs. Micheal & Joe at Sic Transit, for example, need to subsidize a labor intensive professional flipping/custom rebuild operation, not the best example, IMO.

Charge for parts, and some beer/pizza whatever.

I won't do repairs for anyone other than a good friend, Bike shops make their best margin on repairs, and personally, I want all the LBS's to stay in business.

That's why I suggested to the OP to let his homie suggest compensation after being informed about retail charges. I've helped friends with AV wiring, saving $5,000 on appliance deals, and $500/month on a mortgage. I've not asked for anything, but have been rewarded with Mondavi Opus One ($175.00), Chateau Petrus ($1850.00), and a lot of steak dinners.

I've also installed icemakers, fixed kitchen cabinets falling off the wall, and assembled big box bikes for friends while enjoying weekends at their Cape Cod or Hamptons homes.

Helping a friend = free (note a good friend should reward you with similar barter materials).

A leach = forget it, send to a bike shop.

I never charge for repair work, but sometimes I will barter for it.

Someone who has me do repairs then flips at a hefty profit is not a friend.

I had a neighborhood leach ask me to do repairs on her kid's bike. I made a deal, since she always hit garage sales every weekend, just find me a skinny tire/drop bar road bike, don't pay too much for it, and we would be good. I used donor bike parts, got it back in good working order, and figured I would never hear from her again. But at least I figured, she would not be hitting me up for anymore free repairs, since she hadn't settled up the last deal.

Two years later, I come home one Saturday, and in my driveway is a pretty decent Cannondale racing bike (from her). Needless to say, I'll do repair work for her anytime.

I will also do repair work for former bike buyers, no charge. One brought me her boy friend's bike, it was a mess. Missing a left crank arm, rusty cables, rear wheel disassembled and no axle, etc. So I fixed it. Other than consumables (cables), everything came off of donor bikes, so I was not out very much. Robbed the parts bin a bit. Replaced the entire crank so it would match, new bb, etc. So she gives me two bikes that needed work that had been laying around, one a Peugeot mixte. And her boyfriend gave me a case of beer (works at a local microbrewery).

+1 On gifting kids bikes. I see better kids bikes cheap at thrift stores a lot. I'll pick them up, clean them up, and give them away. I bought a nice girl's Trek once for $8. Needed air in the tires, and a good cleaning. Made her day (my big payoff!)

I've done it a few times, just handed them the bill of the consumables/replacement parts. Most had the decency to thank me profusely me and douse me in alcohol :)

What also works well for me is just invite the person in question over on a nice spring/summer evening, and wrench while chatting and drinking away.

I once fixed a beautiful Gazelle for a very talented singer - she showed up with a bottle of wine, got behind the piano and sang to me while I trued the wheels and adjusted the brakes!

I rarely work for cash. Last week I gave my sons friend his mountain bike that he outgrew. His dad asked what he owed me and the Ice cream truck just happened to be coming by. Two strawberry eclairs and it was all his.

Tune ups are always free to freinds and family, but I usually end up getting anything from a plate of cookies to a bottle of Jack. I am just happy to see it when someone dust off their old bike and rides it at least once in the summer.

Free to friends and church family. I repair ~10 bikes each year for friends at church, supressing the weakness to expect something in return. This is a gift I've been given - so I share it.

I fully restored a 1981 Univega for my wife's friend's husband, as her surprise gift to him. I only asked that she reimburse for consumables and donate to my wife's mission trip fund for Africa last summer. I later located and refurbished a 1977 Fuji S-10S (in green with chrome socks) for the wife's friend. They bought the bike and reimbursed for the parts I had to buy (a stem, good brake pads, tires). Now they both ride vintage bikes.

One of my riding friends has an aluminum frame/carbon fork Tiagra-equipped Schwinn of some sort. It was in bad need of servicing. Over several evenings/mornings this year, we've replaced all cabling, front derailleur, new chain, new bar wrap, kool stop cartridge pads, and did a wheel truing session (on brake day). I've been teaching him along the way. No charge, of course, as this way he can learn to take care of his own maintenance and better understand how his bike works.

Same here. This friend wants a good deal and good work. That is how this came about. He knows I am an avid biker, we are both past 40yrs old and he wants to start road biking. He also knows I will throw some custom twists on the bike tailored to his training for a specific course, keep an eye on the state of tune for him....and that is what I do for this great sport and friends.

Sounds like you have friends in high places. I'd be lucky to get a 40 of Mickey's!

$60/hour

As long as they don't then light a match, you're good! ;)

If you can get my Saab 9000 running again, I will gladly pay you.

+1, if this is an actual friend and not a friend of a friend type situation.

I fix up bikes for friends all the time. They pay for parts. I will give them parts if it's something I don't need that I have in a bin. I also enlist them to help so they can learn how to do maintenance. One previously totally inexperienced friend now knows how to build wheels!

Sometimes you don’t even get dinner and/or a 6-pack.

Recently at a friend’s request, I located and updated a hybrid for his spouse and sold it to him without a mark up. He paid me what I disbursed for the bike and parts.

He liked the bike I got for his spouse so much, he wanted me to find him a hybrid as well. I had a low mileage Italian hybrid in my stash. I hung a brand new set of front and rear V brakes on it as one of the brake arms was bent, added a bell, cleaned, and tuned the bike. The FMV for this hybrid would be around $250+/-, and since he’s a friend, I’ve asked for an amount about 70% of FMV.

We went for a ride, then to dinner. I was surprised when he took up my offer to split the check rather than showing any gratitude for helping him out. And I haven’t collected payment for the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] bike yet.

He’s given me a bunch of collectibles and sports gear to sell after which we’d split the proceeds in a yet to be determined formula.

Just an update while we are at it...my friend loves the Crit and we will soon be having some rides together so I can check over the bike. It's all good.