As I bought a new triathlon bike frame, I am moving my old bike parts to the new frame. The new frame has internal cable routing.
I received a quote from my bike mechanic for the following tasks: Move TT cockpit/crankset/chain/derailleurs from old frame to new frame and reinstall cables.
His quote is 335 dollars which includes new cables (because of the internal routing), new bar tape (he says he can’t reuse the old tape) and a bottom bracket adapter for the crank (BSA to PF30).
Do you think this is a fair price or is it steep for the job?
I would say thats def on the steep side…he’s basically charging you 200-250 for labour on top of the parts…
Do you not have any riding buddies who know how to assemble a bike? You could buy the parts, have the shop press in the adapters (takes 5 minutes), then have a friend do the parts swap…buy him beer.
.02
I would say thats def on the steep side…he’s basically charging you 200-250 for labour on top of the parts…
Do you not have any riding buddies who know how to assemble a bike? You could buy the parts, have the shop press in the adapters (takes 5 minutes), then have a friend do the parts swap…buy him beer.
.02
I don’t have any bike friends with mechanic skills, unfortunately. I wish I did.
He says he is charging $168 for the labor, cables are $85, basic adapter is $35 and the rest I guess is the bar tape and part to make the adapter fit properly.
As I bought a new triathlon bike frame, I am moving my old bike parts to the new frame. The new frame has internal cable routing.
I received a quote from my bike mechanic for the following tasks: Move TT cockpit/crankset/chain/derailleurs from old frame to new frame and reinstall cables.
His quote is 335 dollars which includes new cables (because of the internal routing), new bar tape (he says he can’t reuse the old tape) and a bottom bracket adapter for the crank (BSA to PF30).
Do you think this is a fair price or is it steep for the job?
I would say it’s ball park for the job especially with internal routing. If the frame does not have cable sleeves installed, then there’s a huge black hole of time to run the cables through the frame.
Dura Ace shift and brake cable sets are $83 retail. Some bikes need the slipperiest cables necessary to make them shift correctly.
If they are using standard cables and casing the full retail is around $40.
If there’s full internal cable routing in the frame and handlebars then there’s a fair amount of work involved here. Finicky aero brakes on the new frame will only add to the labor time. This could easily be 2-3 hrs or more.
I would say thats def on the steep side…he’s basically charging you 200-250 for labour on top of the parts…
Do you not have any riding buddies who know how to assemble a bike? You could buy the parts, have the shop press in the adapters (takes 5 minutes), then have a friend do the parts swap…buy him beer.
.02
200-250 for labor to swap parts from one tri bike to another is fair. Standard labor rates at the shop I manage is $75/hour. A parts swap for a tri bike with internal cabling cabling is at least a 3 hour job.
Need to strip the old bike
Parts need to go into the parts washer
3.new frame needs to be prepped, mostly aligning derailleur hanger and inspecting new frame
Run cables for new frame. If liners aren’t installed, this is could be a huge black hole for labor
Dura Ace shift and brake cable sets are $83 retail. Some bikes need the slipperiest cables necessary to make them shift correctly.
If they are using standard cables and casing the full retail is around $40.
If there’s full internal cable routing in the frame and handlebars then there’s a fair amount of work involved here. Finicky aero brakes on the new frame will only add to the labor time. This could easily be 2-3 hrs or more.
Is there a big difference between the standard cables and the Dura Ace set? The shop obviously recommended the more expensive cables.
Would you recommend having the shop install the cables and cockpit, and do the crank/derailleur/chain swap myself or is it not worth it in case I screw up?
I would say thats def on the steep side…he’s basically charging you 200-250 for labour on top of the parts…
Do you not have any riding buddies who know how to assemble a bike? You could buy the parts, have the shop press in the adapters (takes 5 minutes), then have a friend do the parts swap…buy him beer.
.02
200-250 for labor to swap parts from one tri bike to another is fair. Standard labor rates at the shop I manage is $75/hour. A parts swap for a tri bike with internal cabling cabling is at least a 3 hour job.
Need to strip the old bike
Parts need to go into the parts washer
3.new frame needs to be prepped, mostly aligning derailleur hanger and inspecting new frame
Run cables for new frame. If liners aren’t installed, this is could be a huge black hole for labor
Install parts
Fine tune adjustments.
Adjust cockpit
I’d say it’s fair as well. It’d probably take me more than 4 hours to do all of that depending on the bike and make everything perfect.
I’d say strip the bike yourself then being the parts in. That way it’ll save at least an hour in labor charges. Hell, bolt on the new derailleurs and tell them to not install bar tape. I bought some years ago and was going to have the lbs install it but they said something insane like $15 for install.
Do the work you can do then have them do the rest.
I think it’s a fair price, as you say he’s your mechanic so you must trust him to work on your bikes. I know we all want to save a few bucks here and there but in my opinion a complete build is not the place to try to save $50. In the grand scheme of things it’s mice nuts.
Get it done by someone capable who you trust and you will have no worries.
What bike do you have now and what frame are you having the parts installed on?
Regarding the Dura Ace cable question, the more expensive cables have a coating on them that makes them slide easier and when you have full length cable housing like many Tri bikes have, the bike will shift better with these types of cables.
cables are $85, basic adapter is $35 and the rest I guess is the bar tape and part to make the adapter fit properly.
2-3 hours of work to tear down your current bike and put the components sounds pretty reasonable to me. …and I’ve been building bikes pretty regularly.
$85 for cables and housing is just SilLy stupid. I’ve had all kinds of bikes with various internal cable routing jobs. Quite frankly, the quality of shifting comes down to the ‘installation’ process (getting the right housing length, not creating any awkward bends in the cable path), and has very little to do with the cables themselves. I pay $2.50 for stainless steel shift cables and ~$1/foot of cable housing. That’s around $10 to replace the shift cables and housing. For a while I was buying the $5 teflon coated shift cables until I realized that I could NOT perceive any improvement over the regular cable. I’ve also bought some bikes with fancy Gore cable/housing installed and found them to work well, but not really in any way that justifies the $.
Most of the stuff you are having done is available on youtube. Look them up as see if it is something you are capable of. I have run cables on a few of my bikes and it is not that difficult including the internal. Good cables, I use Jagwire are more expensive. I am not sure they are worth the upgradefrom Shimano but I use the mid level Jagwire, not their high end stuff. For both the shifter cables and brakes I did buy them for about 60 dollars I think. I already own some tools so I did not need to buy anything.
Buy the bottom bracket form him and have him install it. Keep him your friend.
cables are $85, basic adapter is $35 and the rest I guess is the bar tape and part to make the adapter fit properly.
2-3 hours of work to tear down your current bike and put the components sounds pretty reasonable to me. …and I’ve been building bikes pretty regularly.
$85 for cables and housing is just SilLy stupid. I’ve had all kinds of bikes with various internal cable routing jobs. Quite frankly, the quality of shifting comes down to the ‘installation’ process (getting the right housing length, not creating any awkward bends in the cable path), and has very little to do with the cables themselves. I pay $2.50 for stainless steel shift cables and ~$1/foot of cable housing. That’s around $10 to replace the shift cables and housing. For a while I was buying the $5 teflon coated shift cables until I realized that I could NOT perceive any improvement over the regular cable. I’ve also bought some bikes with fancy Gore cable/housing installed and found them to work well, but not really in any way that justifies the $.
Listen to this guy. I do all my own wrenching from bar tape to building my own wheels. The slick lining is a bunch of BS. After you have ridden a few hundred miles it makes no difference. But if you can’t switch your components you can remove the old ones yourself and save some cash.
Agreed, I just swapped framesets, and spent something like $10 for 10ft of housing and about the same for all the cables.
To the OP, I had to put an aduro bar on my new bike, so there were more then a few extra steps in changing things over…that and making sure all the details were in order took quite a while (and probably would have cost a lot at a shop). I guess it depends on the switchover, and how complex the new bike is to set up.
), then its moot, gotta get it done.