| Re: you have to be kidding
On 3 Mar 2005 12:08:03 -0800, "Peter Cole" <peter_cole@comcast.net>
wrote:
>Mary wrote:
>
>>
>> I spoke with the manager today. He said the guy I spoke with didn't
>know
>> what he was talking about and the total bill will be $160 or there
>abouts.
>> He had a second machanic (the one I really trust) go over the bike
>and they
>> found that the chain, chainring and cassette needed to be replaced.
>> Bearings fine etc. They have to order the cassette but otherwise no
>> problem.
>
>$160 is still a really healthy price (for the LBS). For calibration
>sake, I'd replace that stuff with mail-order components for about $50
>and less than an hour's work. My point isn't that everyone should do
>that, or that bike shops are overpriced, but routine maintenance should
>be reasonably priced relative to the bike. The average bike/customer
>doesn't need high-zoot parts or craftsman-artisan wrenching to swap out
>chain/cassette/rings. $160 is the high side of reasonable, $300 was
>nuts.
But not everyone knows what they need to know to procure the correct,
or compatible parts. Nor does everyone have the correct tools, or the
knowledge of their use to do the work. Nor does everyone know which
pedal, or bottom bracket cup has the left-hand thread.
The LBS has all of these, in a place that is accessible, which
incidentally, has to be paid for, as well.
The suggestion that Mary buy a new bike by reason of the obsolescence
of her current bike's components seems to have been misguided. But
even at that, if the group was very low-end and wasn't working
properly for her, and she is "coming into her own" as a rider with
ever increasing goals and objectives in her riding, then maybe it was
not so very misguided.
I am very cynical of much I see and experience in the retail business
world today. None of this cynicism has grown out of any experiences
with bike shops.
Cal
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