My full suspension Cube XC mountain bike has done quite a few km now and needs a service (I know of no dealer for this brand in Zürich area). It has all round Shimano XT gear and brakes and Rockshox forks and rear suspension unit. My question is this: what is a normal service in the bicycle sense ? Do they strip the thing down (eg shocks) or simply replace cables, oil and adjust. I was quoted 200chf by elesner before parts. But I can't tell if this is expensive or normal. Do I need to go to a specialist, or are most bike shops geared up to service Shimano for example ?

dave

Cant help with too much detail. Firstly, Shimano components are on about 90% of MTB's, so any shop must be able to do it. Secondly, chf200 seems on the lower side of a top to bottom tune-up cost, see the example in the link (in German). Doesn't include suspensions!
http://www.backyard.ch/pdf/BY_Serviceuebersicht.pdf
http://www.backyard.ch/serviceuebersicht.html

With costs like these I understand why non DIY Swiss just buy a new bike and run the old one into the ground as a city bike.

Did you not get a tune last night Dave?

Geez, at those prices I am glad I can do 95% of stuff myself. It probably shouldn't cost too much more to get the oil in the forks changed, which is definitely worth doing. Servicing the shock usually involves sending it away to a specialist. Either the shop can do that for you, or you can check out http://www.tftuned.com/.

Remember to factor in some prices of parts ontop of the 200Chf. If you have done a lot of work on the bike with plenty of off road then you may be looking at new chain, cassette, chainrings and brake pads. If it has been used mainly on the street then the drive train may still be fine.

EDIT: Get back to work Tash...

I second Woodsie.

You can expect to pay about 90CHF an hour for labour. A general check-up will definitely cost a fair bit north of 200CHF when you factor in the parts the shop recommend you replace which may still have a few KM left in them.

I personally recommend that you clean the bike as well as you can yourself. You'd be surprised how much a good cleaning can do if the bike has been exposed to some muddy environments. Then do what you can yourself and bring the bike in to the shop to have only specifics done on it.

If the gears run smooth and the brakes stop you with no rubbing on the disc, then I would just get the shocks and wheels done. I have been advised that it is really only necessary to get the rear shock done once a season, and if you keep the bike fairly clean then the front shocks will do a good amount of distance without requiring a service.

Basically keep the bike clean and you will spend less time and money with it in the shop.

Only in the Dark-City sense that the world stopped and the buildings appeared to be moving by themselves - then that may have been the vodka.

dave

Why is it necessary to change the oil in the shock? Isn't it a sealed system ?

curious,
(Mr)Wibble.

Shock oil doesn't need changing as frequently as fork oil. But there can still be some contamination from wear and tear. The shock also gets hotter than forks do, causing degradation in the performance of the oil over time. The service will also check that all the seals and the bottoming rubbery thingy (technical term) are all good. Every year is probably not necessary unless you are doing a lot of hard riding and demand that your equipment is at the highest standard. But every 2-3 years and you will definitely notice the difference when you get the shock back.

One for Eire:

I need to get my Rockhopper FS serviced. Anywhere in Uster I should try?

It's pretty old so I don't want to spend a fortune.

Guys the prices being quoted in this thread are way to high. I've taken my bike to this bike shop twice now and each time for a full service (brakes, cables, oil etc) and got new parts added on and i've never paid more than chf 80. I'm picking up my bike from there today after its pre summer service.

www.seppfuchs.ch

I think most of us who have posted here do our own work, so haven't had to actually pay. Sepp Fuchs is an older traditional bike shop so probably does charge a little more realistically.

Anyways my new tool of the week is the "pipe cutter". Nothing like a new tool that makes a job so easy. Installed my new forks on the MTB this week

Places I have used in the past are:

Chälbli bike shop: in Uster but expensive and I wasn't happy with the quality of the work.

Sport Plausch Wider in Wallisellen, expensive and reasonable quality of service.

Tower Sports in Rapperswil expensive but I feel I have gotten good value for money from them.

Mountain Thrill in Horgen, Top quality service. I have had him build wheels and complete bikes for me. Great service and what I consider to be brilliant value for money (for Switzerland!). I know its a bit of a trek from Uster, but its where I will be getting most of my work done from now on.

I believe you get what you pay for. If your bike is older then maybe take it to a small side street shop, which will probably be a little cheaper. Generally I do all my servicing myself and the only things that I get done by the bike shop are suspension and wheel services. I am willing to pay a little more for this to make sure the quality of the work is good. Last thing I want is a steerer tube separating from the fork crown which is what could have happened after bringing my bike to Chälbli. Luckily Tower Sports spotted the problem and replaced the crown and steerer tube under warranty for me.

yeah its definitely your more traditional shop with husband and wife team working in there. Very nice people though.

Whats a pipe cutter?? i'm guessing its more than the obvious?

Did you really need to cut your steerer tube?

I presume thats what the pipe cutter is for. Unless you are getting up to something we don't want to know about in the privacy of your own home!

For customising the crack pipe...... for pre EFMTB ride dutch courage.

Steerer tube needed 5cm off. I still have some spacers on there, but another 5cm of spacers would have been crazy.

I don't think that I own a bike of which I haven't cut the steerer tube. Bikes should be sold with 4 cm of spacers below the stem, but I normally want a more aggressive position and so chop off 2-3cm (if you just drop the stem and move the spacers up then you risk injuring your groin on the exposed fork column). In addition, if you buy a new fork then it has to be drastically cut down to size. I wish I had something to make my hack-sawing more accurate and straight, but some serious filing afterwards normally straightens up the cut nicely.

EDIT: My latest tool is a piece of plastic pipe that cost me 2 CHF. I needed it to install the crown race onto a new fork this week. An internet search revealed the trick of sliding the crown race as far down the fork column as it will go, then sliding a 1 1/8-inch plastic pipe on top that is longer than the fork column, then turning the whole thing upside down and whacking the pipe on concrete or something else solid - the crown race then gets pushed nicely into place without being damaged. Sorry for being so far off topic, but it made me very happy.

This is how I did it before. The chf25- pipe cutting tool from Jumbo has paid for itself already IMHO.

Wish I knew this earlier in the week OK my self-made tool was a some steel tube from a broken pump that I used to install the star fangles nut

We really need a dedicated cycling department on EF!

I know it's off-topic to the original post, but speaking of cycling, it's far too nice outside to be sitting at a desk, so I'm heading out for a ride right now.



HM

Why would you need a pipe cutter for Bicycle maintenance?

I have a couple of angle grinders that would do for cutting pipes etc..

The best place I've found (and the only place I go for servicing now) is http://www.veloatelier.ch/

It's on the more expensive side (as are all the bikes in his shop) but if your bike is worth 2500chf+ then I think it's worth it. The guy there has always done a quality job for me.