Labor rates vary every bit as much as the quality between the service departments at various shops.
However, it's not always a one-to-one correlation; sometimes a very expensive shop may not do as
good a job as a less-expensive one. Your best bet is to obtain recommendations from friends who have
used the various shops and see what they think.
Regarding the type of components influencing cost, that can be relevant. For example, there's a lot
more involved in building up a mountain bike (particularly when dealing with disc brakes and fork
options) than a road bike. And even on road bikes, there are reasonable variations... if we were
smart, we'd be charging more to set up a DuraAce triple, for example, than Ultegra. Why? Because the
setup is considerably more finicky and they're much more likely to come back to us for further
adjustments down the road.
There will also be significant differences in how shops treat a frame when it comes in the door.
Some feel a need to reface and prep all surfaces (at considerable expense) even though this isn't
always needed. In this case, more work is being done (justifying greater expense), but there's some
question as to whether it actually creates a higher-quality product, or just makes the customer feel
better because they've done more.
Regarding fit, that's a tough one. A better shop will not just fit the customer statically, but take
care of things down the road as well (because what looks great on paper and feels OK initially might
not be so great as you get into longer rides etc.) That requires a sense of ownership on the part of
the shop doing the fitting (which is how we look at things when we sell a bike) *or* is something
that you may have to pay quite a bit of money for. In fact, a high-end fitting if often as much as
(or more than) the cost of assembly. In general, I'd first approach the shop you got the frame from,
as everything builds out from that base, and you'll be less likely to have someone tell you "Sorry,
you don't really fit this bike."
Finally, if possible, you're best getting as many of the components from the shop that will be doing
the work. That way you'll be in a better shape if something goes wrong, because there are fewer
responsible parties.
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗
"Goldenset" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Hi all,
I've been doing some research in the past few weeks visiting shops in the bay area about
assembling a bike that I pieced together. I received varying labor quotes from $100 - $300. The
odd thing is, some of the shops recommended here were among the highest. Even one of the places I
bought the components from said it shouldn't cost more than $100 to assemble everything together.
I do have some quality components (or at least, what's quality to what I can afford on my tight
budget). Aside from the obvious, what sets aside a $300 dollar assembly vs. a $100 dollar one. Is
such a hike justifiable? It's also odd that the shops in the San Francisco were among the lower
quotes, not exactly reflecting what I thought would be expensive leasing or rental costs for the
shop. The other quotes I got, though recommended, were located area more tuned probably to
customers with fatter wallets. I must say that I did get concerned when the quote depends on "what
type of components" I have. I mean come one, components do vary in quality but that shouldn't
necessitate a different labor charge right? I'm starting to get a little paranoid about the stuff
I bought won't actually be on the bike (visible parts, of course), after reading a few posts here
and a couple of other forums.
I'm set in paying for the fitting also, which is not included in the assembly rates that were
high. I'm not a (really) low-baller as I started buying some gear today from local shops (though I
could've bought this online). I'm just on a tight budget.
Can someone please shed some light and understanding on such varying rates?
