Etiquette and LBS
 

I have procured all the parts to upgrade the front end of my bike--new fork, plug, headset, bars, and stem. All bought from various online places (due to my desire to have exactly what I want and price). Mechanical idiocy prevents me from doing the work myself.

Can I just bring in the bike and parts to the LBS as say "please put it together for me"?

There are several steps you need to go through:
1. make sure all the parts are compatible with your frame and each other
2. decide on fitting issues (handlebar height, etc.)
3. assembly
4. finishing (cutting down the fork, adjusting cables, etc.)

This time of year, bike shop mechanics should have time to work with you on these things. Make sure you agree on exactly what work needs to get done and get an estimate on how much it will cost. Don't be surprised if they decline to use some of your parts because of compatibility issues or if the do not want to work with used parts (for safety and liability reasons).

Yea but get the wallet out- If I have to get the LBS to do labour- Then I expect to pay for it. For them to fit parts they have not sold- Up goes the labour rate.

Really? I didn't expect that one...bummer.

Everything is compatible. No doubt. And all is brand new.

before I learned to fix my bike, I would do the same thing--procured all necessary parts on ebay and ask the lbs mechanic to put them together for me. There are always a few catches to save my money with this approach:

1)...they ended up charging you ridiculous amounts for tiny parts (that may be missing from you have). Example: you have the whole headset but some reason miss the crownrace...$15 bucks for it
2) they do it...but with hesitation and do a cursory, lackluster job

Go on park tools and learn to install them yourself. You can always go to the LBS to ask for advice (and since you'd be buying tools from them), they are always glad to give them. That has been my experience.

If you're new, dam LBS always does this. If you know them, labor rate is not so bad for these jobs.

Expect to pay the full labor rate. It's clear to everyone that's the only way they'll make any profit off of you. And that's fine, the LBS isn't a charity. If they ask just point out you have particular tastes and a tight budget. And bring beer for the wrench. A good, but not necessarily extravagant, 12 pack of brew helps smooth things over.

+1...Assembling a bike isn't difficult, if you have the correct tools and some tips from knowledgeable people.

Beer solves many problems.

I may be too hard on myself. Mechanical idiocy is correct. But what are we talking about here? The headset removal and install is probably the hardest part of this job right? Taking out the threaded and going threadless.

When I was a shop dog, we would add a 15% "hassle factor" for installing parts that people bought elsewhere.

-Z

I have had some things installed by my LBS that I bought elsewhere and the labor rate stayed the same for me. I also brought in the bike right when they opened in the morning and was bearing coffee and donuts.

Learning by doing on fancy new parts is a bad idea. Learn by doing on older bikes in winter. Trust me. ;)

I'm guessing that's one of the more expensive operations that a bike shop does.

It depends on the shop. All the shops I frequent will with absolutely no problems, but I've heard of some that won't.

FWIW I get on quite well with the folks at the two LBS I frequent.

I actually purchased a frame and seperate bike, pulled all the parts off and took it to the LBS for installation as an "I'm sorry, I didn't buy from you" gesture. But this way, I had my CF bike (Pedal Force) and full Campy Record components (BD bike) and I still got out of the store for just over $2k. Smokin' deal I think.:D

Fixing a bicycle is not neurosurgery. I don't know what parts you're referring to as headsets come in various types.

Go buy Zinn and the art of bicycle maintenance and start reading. Use it as an instructional booklet and over time, the principles and mechanics of how bike part works will be clear to you. If you have trouble, go online, take pictures, and ask. You also have the parktools website as an additional aid. This is the information age so take advantage of it.

Do you really want to head to the LBS for every single maintenance/ assembly issue? It's a waste of your time and money, not to mention unneccesary physical and emotional abuse. There. I'm trying to teach you how to fish rather than just feed you once. Now go and spread the words.

One of the selling points from the LBS is that if you buy from, they will give you "free maintenance." Yeah right.:rolleyes: Parts are not free so they charge you "mandatory tips." I'm so disgusted with mechanics locally that I now fix everything myself. It costs $300 of tools and a lot of money to pay the mechanics to work on my bike and teach me at the same time. However, it's well worth it.

Shops will be more apt to work with you during the winter than during the summer. In the summer, some shops are so busy that they will only work on bikes that they sold originally. Gotta support the real customers first. Business slows down a lot during the winter.

My LBS's don't care about this, they just charge shop rates.

One of them has posted prices including "build complete bike, you supply the parts"

I'm sure there would be additional charges if there were missing parts, but I have no fear that they would gouge on that.

Why would a shop care about this? Sure they missed the sale on parts, but they get the repair business.

It is like the old urban legand that car dealerships treat you differently for warranty and other repair work if they didn't sell you the car. That's just false. A smart busines knows that it's future business that they want, the past is the past.

Out of the six bikes I have I used the LBS to do labor for the first time last week. I picked up an old steel frame and couldn't get one of the crank arms off or the BB out (some funky circle with parallel flats spots). With a one year old running around I coundn't be bothered with arsing around with it.

I've never had to pay for any repairs on my bike, which is why I try to support my LBS that I bought it from. I'm trying to ween myself from them and learn to do more. Whenever I ask them about a problem my bike is having I always hangout with them while the work on it so I get an idea of what/how they're fixing it. The guys are cool and i'm in there enough I don't think i'm hassling them. I'm still going to go to them for diagnostics though, they have so much more experience than me.

I am in the same situation. I buy my stuff online because its cheaper. My LBS has atmospheric prices! However he is a very good mechanic and very close to my house. I get charged higher labour costs but its still more affordable than buying from him and still paying labour costs even if its discounted.

Its nothing personal, everyone just wants to save with this expensive hobby. In the end, the LBS still earns money from you.

Isn't it it costs more for business to lose their repeat customers than the amount they spend to get new customers? Smart business in my opinion is trying to keep all your old customers/repeat customers while getting newer ones.
Cheers!