UKC

Hi all - my wife just took her road bike (Specialized allez triple) for a service at evans after about 18 months of not being serviced. They reckoned it would be cheaper to buy a new bike - mentioned both wheels replacing, chainset, etc. I told her to bring it home and we'll take it somewhere else. Any experiences with evans in London? Is this normal? She's slightly worried now but I can't believe the work can be that expensive!?

Any advice appreciated.

In reply to Jim Houghton: Sounds like they are having your eyes out, if it was a service I assume it was riding ok before hand ? I would take it to a recomended indipendant bike shop. Hopefully someone on here can recomend a good shop near you.

In reply to Jim Houghton:
Don't have any particular experience with Evans in London, but seems extortionate to me. I'd maybe try to find an independent bike shop and see what they come up with.

In reply to Jim Houghton:

Evans at Waterloo wanted to charge me a fortune for replacement brake system - I only went in for new blocks and cables and said I'd fit them myself. They advised against a) replacing some parts but not all and b) doing it myself.

Did it myself in half an hour - and they work great thanks very much!

Brixtob Cycles gets my recommendation - it's a co-op and is very friendly.

In reply to Jim Houghton:

Sounds like a rip-off.
However, if the rims are dished, brake blocks are worn, the chain is stretched and the teeth on the front chain rings are like hooks it won't be cheap.

E

In reply to Tony the Blade:


Brixtob is obviously a colloquial spelling for Brixton.

In reply to Jim Houghton:

On your bike - London Bridge. Maybe not the cheapest, but always seem fair.

Cycle surgery - Great Portland Street. Great service.

Brixton cycles - brilliant, but very often booked out for a few weeks ahead.

In reply to Jim Houghton:

Even if the wheels and drivetrain are totally trashed you should be able to replace them for way less than the cost of a new bike. You can get decent spec parts for £250, and your local bike shop should be able to fit them in an hour, or spend £50 on tools to do it yourself...

Wheelset £90

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/20802/Shimano-R500-Road-Wheels-with-B...

crank £95

http://www.totalcycling.com/a-z/cranksets/cranksets_road/fc5603.html

chain £18

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=51844

cassette £30

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/SearchResults.aspx?Search=cassette+105

leaves a few quid spare from your £250 for brake blocks and cheap generic cables from the LBS

In reply to Jim Houghton:

How much?

Used much through the winter on gritted, mucky roads?

In reply to Jim Houghton: http://www.evanscycles.com/uploads/File/servicing/LeedsCity_ServicingPriceL...

I particularly like the "bronze" service at thirty quid - which is more or less what I do every time I go out on my bike...

In reply to jleong:

Evans are expensive, especially branches in the City, as they know their clientelle are made of money but short on time.

Neil

In reply to andy:

my gf took here bike into Evans and they tried to flog her the Silver service for a bike that was only 6months old and had not done too much mileage.

BTW I think there is a promo on Servicing at the moment at Evans - 50% of Bronze, 20% silver (if all of the above has not put people off).

Evans seems to get mixed reviews form people at work who have had thier bikes serviced, but consensus is that it better than Halfords...

cheers

In reply to abh:
Talk about damning with faint praise!

In reply to abh:


that's a pretty low bar!

In reply to Jim Houghton:

I have a Specialized Allez, strangely enough purchased from Evans at Gatwick, that is five years plus old.

I have ridden it in all weathers over thousands of miles, in that time it has gone through two sets of brake blocks and four sets of tyres. I have changed the wheels as I wanted a lighter set that standard but other than that drivetrain etc. is all original.

In light of this I think the Evans quote is a bit steep.

In reply to Jim Houghton: Evans' prices are exorbitant and youd be better off learning how to do the simple tasks yourself and taking more faffy ones to your LBS, who i try to support whenever I can.

In reply to Jim Houghton:

That's a pretty blatant rip-off!

Unless she's been particilarly hard on it, nothing should really be much past wearing in on that bike, let alone wearing out!

Spend a bit of the money on a few basic tools and some cleaner and lubricant and do it yourself one evening.

In reply to andy:

I'd fit bottle cages for a tenner a go. Blimey.

Tim

In reply to andy:

Our local shops prices. Pretty similar.
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/comms/site_about/bike-repairs-servicing.htm...

Although I think the repair & fitting prices are probably discretionary, I bought some pedals recently and mentioned in passing that I'd trouble getting the old ones off. They replaced them on the spot for free.

In reply to Green Porridge:

do you want to go in to partnership ? you fit water bottle cages i will fit cleats and we can share the pedal fitting

In reply to Jim Houghton:

Putney cycles are very good and less expensive.
As others have mentioned, a lot of work can be done yourself for less with the help of a good book (I use Zinn's).

In reply to Ciro:

I'm only playing devils advocate here but I'm not sure I'd pay 300 quid to repair a 500 quid bike which is 18 months old.

E

In reply to Enty:

I'm sure the triple Allez is 9 speed and a lot of the bits quoted are the more expensive 10 speed.

To be fair unless the bike has done loads of miles I'm not even sure it would need all those bits and Evans are trying it on!

In reply to Enty:

Well, I was really just illustrating a worst case secenario, I don't expect all those parts need changed and I was assuming it was a tiagra/105 spec bike - if it's sora or below obviously the parts should be cheaper still.

Saying that, if I was happy with my 18 month old bike I'd still rather pay £300 to bring it back to as new condition than pay £500 for a new one!

In reply to Jim Houghton:

I have a Specialized Allez.

I like it a lot.

That is all.

In reply to Jim Houghton:

From a few painful experiences including:

telling me in order to change the bearings (under warranty) on my hubs they would need to remove the hub from the wheel and then rebuild it

attempting to clamp my reverb seatpost to put bike on a service stand

being unable to resolve sticky brake calliper piston

I have come to the conclusion that Evans cycles should be avoided like the plague. The only reason I will let them touch my mtb is for warranty issues. I won't let them touch any of my other bikes.

I'm sure they have a few good mechanics/staff, but I would guess the good ones get out pretty quickly and find a decent lbs instead