HeIncreasesMe

This is what a LBS worker told me about another stores policy. I called to ask him if he had a policy that gave lifetime tune ups. He said no. We give 1 year. Any store that gives you a life time..usually wants to only make money off of selling you parts to fix the bike.

This sounds like they will purposely tell you something on your bike needs to be replaced in order to make money when you bring it in.

Is this true? Is this a common practice?

ShadowGray

Or, maybe they offer the service so you'd go in there and buy parts when you need to.

Personally that sounds more reasonable... they're offering their services but you'd have to buy the parts through them.

envane

I don't know if its a common practice, but after a year or two you will have to start replacing wear-parts such as chains, cables, and brake pads. Better to just learn basic maintenance yourself.

gascostalot

Thats what car dealerships do.

Mr. Beanz

After the intitial tuneup, maybe a second, the bike shouldn't need any further adjustments unless something is really wrong. Besides, takes only a minute or two to adjust at home. Read SheldonBrown or ParkTool.

apclassic9

on the other hand, if you crash alot, that's a nice policy to use!

tekknoschtev

Firestone has a "Lifetime Wheel Alignment" for cars to the tune of $130 (or it was a year ago) but in reading the fine print - if they "find" anything related to the suspension/wheels/tires that needs to be replaced, and you don't have them do it right then and there, the "lifetime" deal ends right then and there. That alone made me pass on it, but there were other clauses that made me skeptical of the whole ordeal.

I'd be inclined to believe that the "lifetime tune ups" deal is the same.

lgravityh

what is the average cost of a bike tune-up at the LBS?

Machka 

Do not, ever, go with a "Lifetime" tune-up policy.

They are only good for the life of the shop, or the time the shop owner owns the shop, or until you violate some little small-print clause.

I know people who have gotten lifetime policies for stuff ... and with a year or two, the shop, business, or whatever has closed.

twahl

My LBS offers free lifetime adjustments, and they will generally install small parts for free. I can roll in there any time and get brake and deraileurs adjusted, usually on the spot, as well as fit adjustments. They don't try to sell me squat.

They also extend manufacturer's warrentee to lifetime on defects. This doesn't cover crash damage or normal wear, but I have seen them replace broken parts for other people without charge. Only thing that comes to mind is a stem I watched them replace.

Some shops do this because it's good business. Mine has been in business for over 20 years. maybe it's because they treat their customers right.

tekknoschtev

I could be wrong here, but I think I see a correlation.

HeIncreasesMe

Yea one place where I might buy my bike has lifetime warranty on the bike as well. The have been around for almost 40 years. Family owned.

This lifetime tune up etc.. comes free w/ the purchase of your bike from the store. So it is an incentive to buy a bike from LBS instead of amazon or ebay.

Thanks for all of your input..everyone. I guess the policy doesn't really hurt.

twahl

Make sure you understand what is included. Where I worked (not the shop I mentioned) adjustments were free, but an adjustment is not a tune up. Tune ups include cleaning of drive train (well entire bike really) andother things depending on the level of tune. Adjustment is just that, and generally didn't require an appointment.

If adjustments are free, I just wouldn't want you to expect more than is included. Wheel trues are probably not included, nor cleaning, and certainly not any parts.

Wordbiker

While this is a standard business policy for many shops, it's not one I agree with.

As you stated, it could encourage the selling of replacement parts to make up for the loss in labor. While I'm sure most shops would show enough integrity to not replace parts that are not worn out, some will, and the customer will always be suspicious.

The reasons I disagree with it are:

Offering labor for free conveys that the labor is not worth paying for.

If the shop makes a sale due to offering free service, they're paying for it later, basically selling on credit. Sell enough bikes and they're in labor debt up to their eyeballs.

The practice doesn't encourage cyclists to learn how to do their own basic adjustments and maintenance.

ottawa_adam

My LBS offers free lifetime tune ups and service. I can also go in at anytime for adjustments and wheel truing. They never ever try to sell me parts. Of course, when I upgrade I usually go there because their prices are very reasonable and they don't charge labour for installation. With tune ups, I do have to pay for brake pads, cables, etc. I don't expect them to pay for incidental parts - their expertise is valuable enough to me.
What amazing, is my LBS doesn't even sell my brand of bike anymore, and they've changed ownership but they still honour their lifetime service. Not all bike shops are there to try to sell you stuff, some value their customers.

wayne pattee

I droped off a frame at my LBS a couple of months ago to remove a stuck BB cup and when I picked it up he didn't charg me for it.
That kind of service keeps me going back to buy the stuff that I need from him.

werewolf

There are some very good bike shops, like The Ordinary here in Tucson. But I agree with the man above - learn to do your own basic maintenance. I've never yet had a bike shop do anything for me in my whole life (not that i wouldn't have been better off on many occasions, but - duh - I'm stubborn and I like to do everything myself.

Retro Grouch 

So the LBS guy that you talked with - what does he do when a bike needs repair parts?

I've worked in shops that did it both ways. The "Free tune up" pitch is a good sale closer for a lot of customers. Every shop that I've worked at did a lot of free service anyway if, for no other reason, a lot of jobs can be done in less time than it takes to argue about the cost. I've never worked in a shop where anybody encouraged me to sell the customer on parts that didn't need to be replaced. A much more frequent happening would be replacing things like rim strips and not charging for them.

SoldierRide

My LBS provides free tune ups for the first year. Since I do most adjustments myself I don't take advantage of it. I think a good shop will at least make free adjustments for a year. Cables stretch, wheels come un true etc. After that if you don't know how you should pay for a good tune up which as others mentioned includes drive train cleaning etc.

I do have a great relationship with the guys (and gal) at the shop so if I show up with a broken cable they fix it on the spot and don't charge me labor. I even brought the manager along on a Soldier Ride with me. He fitted 35 persons with bikes in 4 hours, did on the spot repairs during the trip and had a great time hanging out (and drinking margaritas) with the wounded vets. If you live in the Claremont NH area check out Claremont Cycle Depot.

My $0.02

Keith99

That all depends on if yuo pay for it and if so how much.

As others have said tune ups are easy. A shop may reasonably give them for free knowing that they will make it up on purchaces (without preasure).

On the car end of the world the place I get my tires gives free repairs for any tire bought there and in my case my word was enough. Cost minimal to them, good will results in a good return for them.

telebianchi

Well of course they want you to come back into the store and spend more money along with your free tune-up. But I don't see anything wrong with that so long as they don't try to push parts that you don't actually need.

I've used the lifetime adjustments at Performance for almost ten years, two bikes and three PB locations. In fact, my first bike was from a different store which was bought up by Performance and they honored the tune up no questions asked. I have never had any parts replaced during the tune up other than brake pads and they only charged for the cost of the pads; no additional service. As mentioned above, this does not cover truing of wheels or fixing something that was damaged in a wreck, fall, transport, etc. But even though I can do most of my own work, it's been nice to drop off the bike, go on a week-long business trip, and then pick up a bike that brakes and shifts smoothly when I get home.

About the only thing negative I would say....and this is no big deal considering the tune-up is free....it seems like my bike will get pushed down the schedule by paying customers. So my wait might be 5 - 10 days while if I paid for the tune-up it might be 2 - 4 days.

conurejade

+1000

ATAC49er

Folks crack me up with this "lifetime" business. People -- a lifetime warranty on a bike does not mean it will last you the rest of your life; it means that for the life of the bike, if a MANUFACTURER DEFECT shows up, they will be responsible. Lifetime service? Like the man said, for the life of the shop, or the bike, whichever comes first.

YOU have a lifetime -- do your parents get refunds if you die early?

InTheTrenches

I bet you do a STELLAR tuneup in a minute or two.