I’m on both sides of the fence...I do most of my own maintenance now, but I take my bikes in enough that the LBS knows who I am and appreciates my business. Everything you listed is pretty simple (changing a chain and cassette, adjusting derailleurs, etc), and neither of those require expensive tools, but they do require a small investment in things like a cassette lock ring tool and whip, the wrench to turn it if you don’t have that, a chain breaker tool, and then the time to learn how to do each. Running cables (brake or derailleur) can be very easy or somewhat frustrating, but I wouldn’t call it difficult on most bikes. If it was me, I’d take that $300 and buy some Park Tools, settle in with YouTube and get to know your bike a little. Definitely wouldn’t pay that much for the maintenance you listed.

The biggest red flag to me is tying a mileage to a chain or cassette. They’re either worn or they’re not. I change chains often and ride several different wheels, so they don’t wear at the same rate. Additionally, for me, when I’m climbing/descending and shifting a lot, chains wear much faster than just constant flatland wattage. That may say more about my shifting habits, but I doubt 1,000 miles is a standard that applies to everyone in every situation.

Good reply, thanks. Do you have any resources, youtube video links (or the like) for the fixes and tools? I thought $300 is a lot too. I mean I get that professionals need to make a living but dang that's a lot just to keep my bike basics running.

"Apparently the chain needs replacement after 1000 miles"


They lied to you.

"Do you have any resources, youtube video links (or the like) for the fixes and tools? "


Any time you have something to fix, just do a search on youtube.

If you haven't got any, then you're probably a good candidate for buying one of those basic tool kits with all the bike specific tools you'll commonly need. (Typically they'll suit mechanical gears and brakes, and Shimano compatible stuff, just in case you're hydraulic/electronic/Campy). But you might already have some basics at home (eg hex keys, screwdrivers, etc) so you can end up doubling up a bit.
e.g. https://www.wiggle.com.au/...e-tool-kit-37-piece/

But if you want to do it one tool at a time like the rest of us, start with a chain checker and go from there. Then a chain tool, and a cassette tool and chain whip if you need to do the cassette. And so on.

Lots of Youtube videos, just dive in.
Park Tool website is also great.
Sheldon Brown for just understanding the basics (in fabulous detail).

 I went through this very thing myself 2 years ago.

I would say:

It's fine to let the LBS do it, even though you'll pay through the nose for their services. Turns out most bike repairs that cost that much ($300ish) are sporadic and they'll typically do a pretty good job. I can do that stuff myself for a lot less, but you'll be surprised at the amount of headache and stress you can get as a newbie when you make all sorts of bizarro world errors since you're teaching yourself.

That said, I actually WOULD recommend you buy the tools, watch youtube videos, and learn how to do those things you mentioned yourself if:

1) You have an entry level bike with EXTERNAL cable routing. Meaning the cables are on the outside of the bike, not run internally through the frame. The external cable routing is uglier, but wayyyy easier to deal with and with wayyyy less risk of complication as all frames differ in ease of internal routing. (My Cervelo P2c is a royal pain in the rear for this!)

2) You have space to do the repairs. Meaning you don't live in an apartment with a GF or spouse who will get mad that your bike is conquering an entire room for a few days or even weeks.

3) You are willing to go with a WAXED (not regular wet lube) chain. For the main reason that it as a noob, you will get so annoyed and mad at the incessant chain tattoos you'll get since you don't know how to do things optimally, that you'll hate it. With a waxed chain, this is a non-issue - you can manhandle the chain, no stains! Just search the forums on how to do a wax setup with a $15 small crockpot.

4) Or you are diehard about learning this stuff because you want to keep your bike tiptop, and are willing to sacrifice time, money, and space to learn it. Then of course, go for it.

My guesstimate if you actually do the repairs yourself is that you'll end up close to $300
Cassette $50
Chain $25-45
Shifter cables - $20-30
Tools $50-$100
Bike grease $10
Bike stand (not required, but highly recommended) : $75 to $$$$
Small parts (like shifter wire caps, masterlink chain, etc): $10-$20
To do it like a true pro, you will need a derailleur hanger adjustment checker (DAG) that's $75-100 but essential if you're doing this more than once

And yes, you'll spend wayyyy more than $300 of your time learning and screwing up how to do all this, even if you study the youtube videos and Park tool website in great detail.

Secret hack: a cheap rear wheel's axle will have M10x1 threads on it, same as a derailleur mount. Detach derailleur (leave it hanging), screw in spare wheel, measure distance between the two rims. Align the valve stems to eliminate wheel warp.



It's only $300 of your time if you would have otherwise been doing paid work. Otherwise it's just hobby/de-stress/learning time.

What kind of cassette and chain? That matters, on a side note every shop should probably have a chain checker at the cash and do a 5 minute pre check with the customer.

But 2 years, 10k miles and 300$? That doesn’t sound too bad.

Not directed at you, but I work at a shop 1-2 days a week and I would honestly say that 1-2 in a hundred people do basic drive train cleaning...close to zero wipe/clean/upkeep.

For 10-15 minutes a week most people could double the life of their drive train, most prefer just to run to fail and pay us to do it though.

Maurice

Someone already wrote about the Park Tools YouTube videos. Art’s Cyclery is another. If I watch both of those and still have doubt in my abilities, that’s when I go to the shop. Of note, both do a pretty good job of telling you all the tools needed before you start a particular job, so that could get your list of tools started so you can gauge how far $300 can go.

Also, very very likely your shift and brake cables do NOT need to be replaced (unless they are visibly frayed), they just need some adjustment, which is super easy to do.

Your chain might need replacement, but a whole new cassette after a few thousand miles? I very very much doubt it.

About your chain, don't just assume that it is worn, confirm it with a tool. But not any tool. Use only the shimano TL-CN41 or Tl-CN42 or Park CC-4 tools to check. All other chain checker tools are fundamentally flawed in their designs and give erroneous results. No kidding.

If you are at all mechanically inclined, learning how to work on your bike will be fun, it will be good for you as a rider, and you will save a big chunk of change in the long run. Tons of info and videos are available on the interwebs, so go for it!

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all frames differ in ease of internal routing. (My Cervelo P2c is a royal pain in the rear for this!)

Cervelo's are typically pretty easy for internal routing, I've never had any issues with any of them from the P2K onwards. Now, my old 1999 P2, which they released before they came out with the improved cable routing system, was a true pain in the ass, as is my Klein.

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get a basic maintenance kit, lots of options there (Park, Pedros, etc). Learn to do basic adjustments on your RD and brakes, how to swap brake pads, etc. Changing a chain is really easy to do and only needs a couple of basic tools. (chain breaker is essential and master link pliers are recommended).

To me, it's not so much about the money saved as the time needed to load up the bike, take it over to the shop, wait for them to fix whatever needs to be fixed, go back and pick it up, etc. It's much more convenient for me to just replace the cables or chain or do whatever needs to be done at home. It's a relaxing evening for me to do that stuff, I usually just do it in my man cave / pain cave with something playing on Netflix or Disney+.

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park tools and art's cyclery are two of the ones I have used the most. There are probably a few others that I can't think of right now. But I always recommend people be a little cautious with random people maintenance videos. It's safe with park tools and art's but there are some random people putting maintenance stuff out there on youtube that give really poor advice or just generally weird ideas of doing things.

He's logged 10,000 miles on the chain. I'd say it's time.

Maybe you have a easier one than my P2c.

On my P2c, the Front derailleur wire goes down thru the frame on the bottom (not too bad to thread), under the BB, but then goes back into the frame and exits near the front derailleur through a hole that is literally less than 4mm wide. And there is no guide to thread it into there. And a magnet actually makes it worse to thread, as the wire then hugs the wall where it has no chance of threading. And the hole is so small that the Park tool internal cable routing kit is utterly useless as none of the pieces of the kit remotely fit into the hole. And you can't even do the trick with sliding thin cable housing around the pre-existing wire because the hole is so small.

If you think this is easy, would love to know your trick for getting that wire into that hole after the BB!

I don't recall, I've only worked on one once, and IIRC I got the cable through easily. Maybe it is actually hard and I just got lucky? I don't recall the details cuz it was a long time ago, but I'm guessing that it had a liner for the cable routing through that area, like on this one.

https://www.theproscloset.com/...o-p2c-58cm-bike-2008

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Another vote for investing in the tools and learning to do the work yourself. I learned from a Zinn book years ago and have since built up every bike I've owned from the bare frames, but with all the online resources out there now there isn't much you can't figure out how to do.

Even though the initial outlay on time/tools may seem high for this particular set of maintenance work, the investment pays off over the longer term by allowing you to do things like thorough drivetrain cleaning, swapping out cassettes to change gearing for different courses, annual recabling etc.

Better knowledge of how the various components of your bike function can also mean the difference between being able to make a repair out on the road - or in a race - and having to call for a ride home.

That's the exact bike I have - P2c.

The hole I'm talking about near the FD is so small that even Jagwire cable liner barely fits into it over an installed preexisting wire. I finally got the cable liner over it, but it was so tight that the new cable wouldn't exit the hole anyway, so it was useless!

If that FD hole were 2x the size it would be MUCH easier. Some frames just suck for internal routing.

The bike shop told the OP that a chain needs to be replaced after 1,000 miles, which is a lie.

(easy method) The trick is to plan ahead and slide one of those cable sleeves over the wire as your pulling the old cable out of the frame. As soon as the sleeve pops out of the BB hole, you're good to go. Hold the sleeve in place temporarily by taping it to the frame.

(not-so bad method) If you no longer have the cable in place (they can easily fall out if not taped in place), grab a scrap cable and thread it down from the top of the FD cable hole down towards the bb and fish-hook the cable out of the frame with a bent paper clip. Slide on the cable sleeve and you're good to go.

(more difficult method) If you don't have a cable sleeve (and are too lazy to get one), you can thread an old cable through the top of the FD cable hole, fish it out, and then use that as a point of attachment (with glue or tape) to help guide the new cable up.

Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention to get a headlamp so that you can see what's going on in there. I have found that a headlamp and bent paperclip are priceless tools to help the process of internal cable routing.

Not necessarily a lie and absolutely possible that a chain needs replacing with as little as 1,000 milesgiven (poor) care, maintenance, and riding condition.

You're also making an irrelevant point of contention given the mileage on the bike.

Yep, I tried all of that - FAIL for my SPECIFIC P2c due that friggin tiny FD hole! (Your advice is otherwise very good for other bikes with bigger holes)

1 - CABLE SLEEVE - Bought a cable sleeve beforehand specifically for this purpose. As said, that hole near the FD is SO small on the Cervelo P2c that the sleeve barely fits through it over the preexisting cable. Which means that when you pull the old cable and insert the new cable, it gets caught at the hole where the cable sleeve is squeezed, making that already-tiny 3-4mm hole now a 1mm hole, which would not thread even with the cable sleeve sticking completely through the path. Totally sucked.

2. SCRAP CABLE FISHING EXPEDITION - Also total fail - you cannot even thread a fish-hooked cable tip through that 3mm hole. I tried - it's impossible.

3. GLUE METHOD - I tried using an old cable entering through that tiny hole, got it to come out the BB, and I even tried supergluing it to my new cable. Also failed - in my case the superglue wouldn't hold, and taping+superglue the ends made it too thick to go through the hole.

The most successful way (by far) was ironically to not use anything - not use a magnet, not use guides, and just aim it straight at the hole, hoping for the best. Takes me 5-15 minutes to get it, with no rhyme or or reason, but at some point it magically pops out the hole.

I spent over several hours messing with all of the fail methods above, as well as other ones, before finding this. Again, this is specific to my P2c's utterly tiny FD hole - I'm sure all of these methods above would be very helpful for any other frame with larger holes (which most newer bikes seem to have).

My LBS offers an early season discount on bike maintenance in the spring. I like to take it in once a year for an expert opinion and check-up. One time, the mech found a hairline crack in the carbon that I would have never found on my own. The LBS went ahead, contacted the company, and got them to replace the frame on a bike that was many years and miles past warranty. Then they went ahead and change over all of my components from my old frame to new frame. I paid for the tuneup and some minor labor charges and basically got an upgraded bike for free. Therefore, my bike will continue to make it's annual visit to the doctors office, err lbs, for a physical.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
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Looks like you have a unique frame. I'd 'guess' that you have a gob of paint obstructing some of the opening. I'd open up the FD hole a little bit since it's clearly too small if a cable sleeve and cable can't fit into it.

Tririg shows how to drill holes in frames here (https://www.tririg.com/...rage_Bosses_Tutorial). The relevant info starts a 1 min in.