Why so bleeding expensive......

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My LBS has done bleeds, shortened hoses and trued a wheel for free as I have bought bikes from them. They also replaced a freehub at trade cost only. Another time he loaned me a brake off his own race bike whilst mine was back at Avids service centre.

As a result I shop there first and only resort to the internet if I want a wider choice.

He must be doing something right judging by the number of empty bike boxes outside his shop or the customers inside. I'll keep going back there for life.
 
That's sounds like a great little lbs you have there. I wish my local ones were as good as that one sounds.
 
Funnily enough my Lbs were going to charge me £35 to put a longer hose on a magura hs33 for me!

I sold it on eBay and an now on the look out for another with the right length hose!
 
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is that 35 including the hose though? also, magura rim brakes aren't really as common these days, were they buying the bleed kit to do the job? (£22ish i think for rrp), might have been worth it if you got to keep the bleed kit.
 
As mentioned, VAT has to come off that, as does corporation tax at 20% and that brings it along way down. Couple that to your hugely ridiculous assumption that the chap is sat there bleeding brakes none stop 8 hours a day and you may realise that your £300 ph labour rate is likely to be a long way off.

Sure the shop may one day get enough bleed jobs to fill 1 hour of nonstop bleeding action, but once those are done what do they do for the rest of the day? What brings in the money to pay the rent and the staff after that jobs done?

It may seem pricey to you but you don't see many lbs owners driving around in luxury cars do you.
 
The irony. At least one of my lbs owners does just that!

Of course, driving a flash car does not equal ripping people off. I do think there is some wiggle room in this debate. Perhaps the real issue is the fixed pricing.

I used to be in the trade, thankfully a short lived excursion, and if a job turned out to be easy/quick I would lob a bit off the general price.

That approach has served me well in every business I have been involved in. Take fencing, which we are in the middle of a long run at the moment. As we are tooled up and at it, we have taken on the job for a few neighbours and as a result are making some money as well as saving a lot of money. It is generally a fast job, but when you hire professionals they will normally cost on a fixed basis regardless of how quickly they can get it done, always looking towards their bottom line. We have the option, working on a small scale and on a personal basis, to treat our 'customers' much more fairly. We will get the call when it comes to any further work thanks to being more flexible.

You will find small bike shops tend to give you a good price the more work you throw them. That works with most small businesses. I do think it is steep to be taking £30+ as a fixed price starting point though.

At that price I would be looking for a mate who is tooled up and familiar with my brakes to do it for a few beers.
 
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I've also been surprised quite recently at just how expensive it can be to take a bike to your LBS for a servcie or work done to it.... no wonder people are always asking me to have a look at their bikes! (I only charge a notional 4-pack of beer fee ;) ).
Last trip to the LBS I calculated their labour costs at £30 per hour, and the parts used were double the price that I could find them available online. :facepalm:
Needless to say I avoid Bike shops at all costs now, and to be honest if you have the time and the inclination, there's very little on bikes that can't be done at home, its just a case of having the right tools for the job.
 
Agreed, and I have always worked on the basis that tools are worth investing in if you need to do a job twice. Understanding what you have done is priceless.
 
Serviced a colleague's trek for the price of parts. Another paid £110 for one. Nothing major done. Seems expensive too.
 
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