Repairs & services
Two jobs are most of my work. The rest of the list is what I do when the bike needs more than a once-over — still at your place, still quoted before I start.
About 80% of the work. Usually one visit, usually under a couple of hours.
The whole-bike once-over: brakes, gears, chain, tires, and the bolts that rattle loose.
New tube or a proper patch, and the thing that caused it found and dealt with.
Less often, more involved
Longer visits, and I quote them first. If it turns out the bike needs less, you pay less.
Squealing, grabbing, or a lever that goes nearly to the bar.
Brakes get set properly: cable tension, pad clearance, rotor straight where it is bent, and worn pads replaced where they need it. Disc or rim, the work gets tested on the stand and again in your driveway before I pack up.
For the bike that shifts like it is thinking about it.
Chain, cassette and chainrings off the grime and back to metal, then re-lubed properly. Shifting gets checked through the whole range afterwards, because a clean drivetrain that still skips is only half a job.
A wobbly wheel is usually a spoke or two out of tension, not a wheel that needs replacing.
The wheel goes in the truing stand, the tension gets worked back to even, and the rim and hub get checked while it is in there. If the rim is cracked or worn past saving, I will tell you that plainly instead of truing a wheel that should not be ridden.
The bike comes apart, gets cleaned and rebuilt. The long job, and the one I do least often.
The one I do least often and the one that takes longest. The bike comes apart — bearings out of the hubs, headset and bottom bracket, drivetrain off — cleaned, re-greased, worn parts replaced, then rebuilt and set up from scratch. Best for a bike that has sat for a while, or one that has done a lot of miles with nobody looking at it.
Honest bit
A tune-up on a well-kept commuter and a tune-up on a bike that has sat in a shed for six years are not the same job, and I’d rather quote you properly than list a number that turns out to be wrong. Tell me what the bike is doing and I’ll give you a price before anything is agreed.