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#1
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you have to be kidding
six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500
miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. He recommended I come in and look at a new bike in the 600 to 700 $$ range. I thought this was the last bike I would have to buy. Didn't bikes use to last like forever? Your opinion...should I fix the bike I have now for 300$ and buy new when I come to that bridge or purchase new now? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I ride daily when the temperature is over 40 f. Longest ride each year is a century with 20 mile rides each night and many 30 to 40 mile rides on the weekends. |
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#2
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He's trying to screw you.
Call him up... tell him to take his ****ing hands off of your bike and take it to a reputable shop.... Or... honestly, changing a chainring, a cassette, and a chain is NOT that hard. Hell, I'll talk you through it over the phone. I imagine you have an older 8 speed drivetrain. You can find parts for that easily for less than $100. That guy should at least buy you dinner before he tries to **** you. |
#3
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Mary wrote: six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500 miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. He recommended I come in and look at a new bike in the 600 to 700 $$ range. I thought this was the last bike I would have to buy. Didn't bikes use to last like forever? Your opinion...should I fix the bike I have now for 300$ and buy new when I come to that bridge or purchase new now? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I ride daily when the temperature is over 40 f. Longest ride each year is a century with 20 mile rides each night and many 30 to 40 mile rides on the weekends. I agree with VeloPsycho, although I wouldn't express it as brutally as him. Chainrings (the gears in front) and cassettes (the cogs in back) plus a chain can be purchased for $100 or so. And the part about these things becoming obsolete is simply not true. (New drivetrain parts are still being made for 30 year old bikes with 5 speed freewheels). Once you do get your bike repaired (by a reputable shop or by yourself) you should replace the chain more often. Your chainrings and cogs will then last for a long long long time. Tom |
#4
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Mary wrote:
six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500 miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. He recommended I come in and look at a new bike in the 600 to 700 $$ range. I thought this was the last bike I would have to buy. Didn't bikes use to last like forever? Your opinion...should I fix the bike I have now for 300$ and buy new when I come to that bridge or purchase new now? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I ride daily when the temperature is over 40 f. Longest ride each year is a century with 20 mile rides each night and many 30 to 40 mile rides on the weekends. Stay far, far away from that bike shop as he is obviously trying to get more money out of you for a new bike and then will probably try to sell the old bike. People like that should 'hopefully' be out of business very soon. If he is an old timer that just attests to the amount of stupid people with money. Bill Baka Still riding an old Huffy with over 10,000 miles and a Wal-mart Mongoose aproaching 5,000 with less total investment than your 'tune up'. |
#5
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"Mary" wrote in message
.. . six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500 miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. He recommended I come in and look at a new bike in the 600 to 700 $$ range. I thought this was the last bike I would have to buy. Didn't bikes use to last like forever? Your opinion...should I fix the bike I have now for 300$ and buy new when I come to that bridge or purchase new now? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I ride daily when the temperature is over 40 f. Longest ride each year is a century with 20 mile rides each night and many 30 to 40 mile rides on the weekends. No reputable or knowledgeable bike dealer would try that load of garbage. That's what it is. If you're riding 4,500 miles a year, you should probably be changing your chain once or twice a year. Your rear cassette may need to be replaced every year, too. Your front chainrings should be checked out, but they may be OK for another six months to a year. Those items can easily be replaced, and I'd bet you could do it through internet shopping for $100 or less. It shouldn't take a decent bike shop mechanic more than 15 to 20 minutes to replace all that. So maybe it will cost you for 1/3 of their hourly rate on top of the $100 (though my LBS will install about any part you buy from him for free). Don't tolerate this rip-off. Don't tolerate ANY rip-off. It will only encourage the theif to continue in his wicked ways. Take your business elsewhere! -- Bob C. "Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts." T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) |
#6
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On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 17:17:58 -0500, "Mary"
wrote in message : He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. The authentic ring of bull****. I know people who are riding bikes forty and fifty years old - when parts wear out (which, amazingly, they rarely do - cassettes with a service life measured in yards seem to be a recent innovation) you can get parts from eBay, St John Street Cycles, Harris or many other fine emporia. Guy -- May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk 85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound |
#7
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I think it might be fun to print out this thread and show it to the guy when
you pick up the bike. |
#8
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On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 18:18:59 -0500, "psycholist" wrote:
"Mary" wrote in message . .. six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500 miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. He recommended I come in and look at a new bike in the 600 to 700 $$ range. I thought this was the last bike I would have to buy. Didn't bikes use to last like forever? Your opinion...should I fix the bike I have now for 300$ and buy new when I come to that bridge or purchase new now? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I ride daily when the temperature is over 40 f. Longest ride each year is a century with 20 mile rides each night and many 30 to 40 mile rides on the weekends. No reputable or knowledgeable bike dealer would try that load of garbage. That's what it is. If you're riding 4,500 miles a year, you should probably be changing your chain once or twice a year. Your rear cassette may need to be replaced every year, too. Your front chainrings should be checked out, but they may be OK for another six months to a year. Mostly this is true. Those items can easily be replaced, and I'd bet you could do it through internet shopping for $100 or less. It shouldn't take a decent bike shop mechanic more than 15 to 20 minutes to replace all that. So maybe it will cost you for 1/3 of their hourly rate on top of the $100 (though my LBS will install about any part you buy from him for free). WHOA! We've got a bike with 27,000 miles on it and we don't know a damn thing about its maintenance history. Do you really think that any bike with that kind of mileage is going to get fixed in twenty freeking minutes? Especially since the owner doesn't seem to have any perspective on replacing cogs or chains. One of the shops in my area is advertising their overhaul which they recommend for any bike over two years old at $192. Now maybe you think that's too much, I don't want to pay it, but sometimes it costs a lot to have someone else do the things you should learn to do for yourself. Whether that's a lot or not, that is what people are charging for this kind of work nowadays. I'm not going to begrudge them. Don't tolerate this rip-off. Don't tolerate ANY rip-off. It will only encourage the theif to continue in his wicked ways. Take your business elsewhere! I think the sales pitch especially on the future availability of parts rings badly. That is not the same as a rip-off. If it turns out that this bike has been well maintained with annual repacks and chains and the cogs were replaced every other year, then the price starts looking excessive. But if, as is certainly possible given the description, the bike has been riden enough miles as to circle the globe without frequent maintenance, the bill may be very reasonable. What would you charge to spend a day with this bike? This group is full of bitching about how there are so few real, professional bike mechanics, and bitching about how much the shops charge. Gee, do you think there's a relationship there. Ron |
#9
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I took the bike in once a year for a full tune-up to the shop in question.
They also did all of the maintenance and repairs on the bike over the last 6 years. "RonSonic" wrote in message ... On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 18:18:59 -0500, "psycholist" wrote: "Mary" wrote in message ... six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500 miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. He also said that many of the parts on the bike have become obsolete and that in 6 months it will be hard to find parts for the bike. He recommended I come in and look at a new bike in the 600 to 700 $$ range. I thought this was the last bike I would have to buy. Didn't bikes use to last like forever? Your opinion...should I fix the bike I have now for 300$ and buy new when I come to that bridge or purchase new now? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I ride daily when the temperature is over 40 f. Longest ride each year is a century with 20 mile rides each night and many 30 to 40 mile rides on the weekends. No reputable or knowledgeable bike dealer would try that load of garbage. That's what it is. If you're riding 4,500 miles a year, you should probably be changing your chain once or twice a year. Your rear cassette may need to be replaced every year, too. Your front chainrings should be checked out, but they may be OK for another six months to a year. Mostly this is true. Those items can easily be replaced, and I'd bet you could do it through internet shopping for $100 or less. It shouldn't take a decent bike shop mechanic more than 15 to 20 minutes to replace all that. So maybe it will cost you for 1/3 of their hourly rate on top of the $100 (though my LBS will install about any part you buy from him for free). WHOA! We've got a bike with 27,000 miles on it and we don't know a damn thing about its maintenance history. Do you really think that any bike with that kind of mileage is going to get fixed in twenty freeking minutes? Especially since the owner doesn't seem to have any perspective on replacing cogs or chains. One of the shops in my area is advertising their overhaul which they recommend for any bike over two years old at $192. Now maybe you think that's too much, I don't want to pay it, but sometimes it costs a lot to have someone else do the things you should learn to do for yourself. Whether that's a lot or not, that is what people are charging for this kind of work nowadays. I'm not going to begrudge them. Don't tolerate this rip-off. Don't tolerate ANY rip-off. It will only encourage the theif to continue in his wicked ways. Take your business elsewhere! I think the sales pitch especially on the future availability of parts rings badly. That is not the same as a rip-off. If it turns out that this bike has been well maintained with annual repacks and chains and the cogs were replaced every other year, then the price starts looking excessive. But if, as is certainly possible given the description, the bike has been riden enough miles as to circle the globe without frequent maintenance, the bill may be very reasonable. What would you charge to spend a day with this bike? This group is full of bitching about how there are so few real, professional bike mechanics, and bitching about how much the shops charge. Gee, do you think there's a relationship there. Ron |
#10
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"Mary" wrote in
: six years ago I bought a Trek 1200. I love the bike and have put about 4500 miles a year on it. I took it in for a tune-up last week and to have the chain and chain ring in the back replaced. I just got a call from the mechanic. He said that the front ring is worn out and that total cost of replacing everything that needs to be replaced will be about $300. Are all your front chainrings worn out or just one? New chain = $15 New cassette = $30 New chainring = $30 Labor will be less than 30 minutes. Either you misunderstood or something doesn't add up. |
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