Discussion
Do you clean your bike regularly? I find cleaning my bike, including degreasing the chain and cassette helps to make things last a lot longer. My 2015 bike has done over 10,000 miles and its still on the same cassette and chainrings, its had a couple of chains but they're cheap compared to everything else.
Why not try and service the bike yourself? As long as you don't overtighten something on a carbon bike its all pretty basic and youtube is great if you get stuck.
Worst case scenario you end up taking it to the shop in bits but I guarantee you will get all the basic bicycle related tools you need for less then £200!
As a percentage of the bikes value paying £200+ on a service must be like the equivalent of running a Bugatti 🤣
Why not try and service the bike yourself? As long as you don't overtighten something on a carbon bike its all pretty basic and youtube is great if you get stuck.
Worst case scenario you end up taking it to the shop in bits but I guarantee you will get all the basic bicycle related tools you need for less then £200!
As a percentage of the bikes value paying £200+ on a service must be like the equivalent of running a Bugatti 🤣
Had a groupset swap done and the left shifter somehow stopped working. That cost 180 for ultegra in April. They saw absolutely no reason to change perfectly in order right one.
Would say there's both something off , but the general cost of your maintenance seems a bit over the top too, so dunno how battered the bike gets.
I have a best and commuter bike and similar lack of DIY skills. do a weekly-ish baby wipe down & oil. Probably same distance but half on each. probably only changes chain & cassette every other year. No chainset changes.
Did have issues with pads constantly stopping working on commuter. Figured it was London oil. Have swapped to gorilla 'sintered' pads which have been good, and only a fiver online.
Would say there's both something off , but the general cost of your maintenance seems a bit over the top too, so dunno how battered the bike gets.
I have a best and commuter bike and similar lack of DIY skills. do a weekly-ish baby wipe down & oil. Probably same distance but half on each. probably only changes chain & cassette every other year. No chainset changes.
Did have issues with pads constantly stopping working on commuter. Figured it was London oil. Have swapped to gorilla 'sintered' pads which have been good, and only a fiver online.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I’ve got a 2016 105 group set with hydraulic brakes on one of my bikes and those look like the same levers.Re servicing costs, you do seem to be paying over the odds, your latest quote is what it cost for my mtb to have forks and rear shock serviced (special tools), wheels trued (witchcraft) and new bottom bracket fitted (push fit nonsense)
A chain and cassette take about 10/15 mins to change, brake pads about 5mins, headset is quick too. Stuff you can do whilst the kettle’s boiling for a cup of tea in the morning…
Those ones you linked from sigma are for cable operated discs I think yours might be hydraulic after a quick Google
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-ST-R7025-105-Hydr...
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-ST-R7025-105-Hydr...
Daily commuting in all weathers can be punishing, a friend commutes in London and does seem to get through a lot, although I don't think brake discs need replacing more than ever 3 or so sets of pads? For the shifters, I'd expect a mechanic to explain a little about what has gone wrong in the shifter/lever and why it can't be repaired (quite a few parts are available for most shifters).
Also if it's a commuting workhorse then I can't see why you'd want to replace the other shifter if it's working fine - sure they won't match but for £200 I'm sure you'd put up with it! If it was a "race queen" then sure...
Also if it's a commuting workhorse then I can't see why you'd want to replace the other shifter if it's working fine - sure they won't match but for £200 I'm sure you'd put up with it! If it was a "race queen" then sure...
Gareth79 said:
Daily commuting in all weathers can be punishing, a friend commutes in London and does seem to get through a lot, although I don't think brake discs need replacing more than ever 3 or so sets of pads?
Missed this was the discs as well as pads. Assuming you are not screaming down the Alps on the daily commute, they should last ages. Even more than 3 sets of pads if those are getting Contaminated rather than wearing down.Took my new ( 6 months old) bike to a dedicated, independant, bike shop where i had waited 6 weeks for an appt to do a gear alignment check (long story). After bringing it home and riding it the mechanic had realligned my front derailleur badly that the LHS of the chain was rubbing against it in the 5 smallest gears.
When i picked it up, before i knew how incompetant they were, i asked about a full service and replacing my sealed bearings (when they are due) and i was told £60-80. seems you are being charged too much
When i picked it up, before i knew how incompetant they were, i asked about a full service and replacing my sealed bearings (when they are due) and i was told £60-80. seems you are being charged too much
Jimbo. said:
I hate to say it but you’re being shafted.
This. New headset? I have an 18 year old MTB that still has the original headset.My road bike I used to use to commute on the s
ttiest or cycle paths, and has covered 20k km, and I wasnt exactly on top of maintenance (you just couldn't be unless you wanted to clean your bike everyday), and I wasnt swapping parts at the rateThe price of the service is high, but look at the amount of components you are having replaced. Remember when you book a service, or any other repair for that matter you are not only paying for the mechanics time, but also his knowledge and experience, after all you can't do it yourself, can you?
I would say however, learn to do some basics on your bike as it seems like you a getting through parts pretty quickly. Do you clean and lubricate your bike often? How often do you check your chain for wear + replace it? Do you make sure to disperse water out of places where it shouldn't be with some GT85 (ie your headset bearings) - little things like keeping your drive train clean and bearings dry can really prolong the lifespan of your parts and more importantly, save you some money.
I've done 7000 miles on my bike this year and replaced the pads and chain twice.
I would say however, learn to do some basics on your bike as it seems like you a getting through parts pretty quickly. Do you clean and lubricate your bike often? How often do you check your chain for wear + replace it? Do you make sure to disperse water out of places where it shouldn't be with some GT85 (ie your headset bearings) - little things like keeping your drive train clean and bearings dry can really prolong the lifespan of your parts and more importantly, save you some money.
I've done 7000 miles on my bike this year and replaced the pads and chain twice.
I don't think those costs are over the top.
If those components need replacing then they need replacing. Some will be one-offs like the shifter.
I would estimate that that is a good 1 x hour work when you include admin time ordering the parts, booking in/out etc, so GBP120 sound reasonable to cover all overheads.
It seems a lot, because it is all in one go, but I can GUARANTY, that plenty of us will spend that much on parts alone, but spread out through out the year.
I've said this before, but I'm convinced I spend more on bike parts than servicing my car, but because it is something I enjoy, I mentally suppress the real outlay.
If those components need replacing then they need replacing. Some will be one-offs like the shifter.
I would estimate that that is a good 1 x hour work when you include admin time ordering the parts, booking in/out etc, so GBP120 sound reasonable to cover all overheads.
It seems a lot, because it is all in one go, but I can GUARANTY, that plenty of us will spend that much on parts alone, but spread out through out the year.
I've said this before, but I'm convinced I spend more on bike parts than servicing my car, but because it is something I enjoy, I mentally suppress the real outlay.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I'm sorry but that is absolute rubbish. I have a Canyon Ultimate and it's no worse for parts than any other bike. The 'parts' he's presumably talking about are from the group set anyway, which is the same Shimano set up as found on millions of other bikes.With the shifters, I had an issue with some Ultegra shifters, basically one of them seemed to be jamming. I took them to a LBS and they had a quick look and said they were shot. They were hardly used, and I had been transferring them from one bike I built to another. I looked through some diagrams (Shimano are very good for supplying diagrams of all their parts) and found there was a little piece missing, turns out it must have dropped out while I was switching it over between bikes. I had a search and found the exact part I needed from a parts supplier up in Scotland I think it was. The moral of this particular tale is don't believe what one mechanic says on face value, maybe take it to a couple of other places for someone to have a good look at. Have a look yourself and compare the shifters, is there anything that is obviously different about the two?
I hear what you're saying about not having the time or inclination to do it yourself, but if you are using it to commute every day then it would be in your interest to do any little bits you can. Chain for example is a good one, you can get a chain wear tool for about 5 quid that will easily tell you exactly when your chain needs replacing (it has a reading for 75% worn and 100% worn) and then if you get chains with the Shimano Quicklink then putting a new chain on is far easier than changing a tyre! Re-cabling and re-greasing everything is probably a bit more work so maybe worth getting an expert to do. Indexing gears is annoying, but satisfying when you can do it yourself.
When I started cycling, I realised I knew little about how the bike worked so I decided, using YouTube, to build my own. Best thing I ever did and recommend to anyone with the time and the desire to learn about it. Probably save myself a fortune in bike servicing in the long run by the sounds of it!
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff