New Ethan post // Bicycle Sport Shop service experience

I'm posting this thread because it's apropos to those of us who build (i.e., fillet braze steel) bikes for a living, as well those of us who appreciate a terrific LBS experience from time to time.

Long story short: My wife gave me a complete blank check to take my 07 Durance to Bicycle Sport Shop in Austin, Texas for the complete spa treatment. (Those of you who don't know me please note that I shattered my left tib/fib in 7 commutated fractures last March and am just beginning to get back on the trails again.) So I felt pretty OK letting someone else work on my bike as a treat to myself.

Items of work were:
Overhaul DUC32 (I had all new spares supplied to the shop)
Overhaul rear strut (again, had all new spares, including seals and o-rings supplied to the shop from my personal inventory)
Front and Rear wheel true (Chris King / Mavic 819 USTs)
Front and Rear brake bleed and new organic pads (my own pads still sealed supplied to the shop)
Headset adjustment

After a bunch of line items later, and chatting with Ethan on the phone it totalled a whopping $409 in service: and everything but the brake fluid and shock oil was my own.

I've always done my own bicycle maintenance. Not because I don't trust other people, or for the price, but because I love to work on my bike. When I screw something up, I instantly know it on the trail and can fix it immediately.

During the course of my conversations with BSS there were a lot of items missed: I replaced my BB spindle with a Ti spindle 15 months ago. They never even removed the crank arms to reapply Ti anti-seize. I keep my rear cassette lubed in-between the cogs withh Phil Woods. It was just as dirty when I brought it home as when I took it in…. Still creaky. I took it apart and regreased it (15 min) and it's like brand new.

My headset has creaked from day 1. Chris King doesn't make an integrated HS for my bike (although they DO make a 24/7 front hub) and so the FSA Carbon Orbit still creaks after several hours of shop tweaking — this is especially troublesome since I specifically told them to change to a Cane Creek or another FSA or Campy HS if the problem continued. The problem continues.

Front and Rear 203mm Rotors are tweaked. No kidding? Have you ever ridden a mountain bike across 11 states and gone from 100º F to −10 Fº in less than a week? rotors warp. 2 finishing wrenches and a handsome touch is all it takes to re-align them if they aren't grooved.

The kicker is this: BSS had to send my DUC32 into Maverick for a complete overhaul service. In the past I have sent my DUC to Ethan on 1 occasion when I couldn't replace a damper bolt. It was fixed, tuned and returned a day later. I paid all the shipping charges, but Maverick picked up the rest. AWESOME.

So BSS can't seem to work on my DUC32. It's a routine job, but they send it to Mav anyway. I talk to Ethan on the phone and the damper tube is blown. He gives me a screaming deal on a refurbished tube and sends it back: quote to me is $35 bucks + shipping. Awesome! Just what I expect from Maverick. The BSS gives me a bill for $205 + $9.95 for the work Maverick performed as part of their "20% markup on dealer returns". Where then I question a big WTF!!?

I mean, it's one thing if I send the DUC to Maverick and get a bill for $35. But it's a whole different deal when the SS marks it up 200%.

Finally, I got a chance to ride my bike tonight. It rides better than the day it was new. Was it worth $400? I could have spared myself a lot of heartache and even given myself some full-frontal therapy doing the work myself.

Lesson learned. Perform your own maintenance if you're capable. It will make you and your bike feel better about each other. BSS did a good job, but at a price that's out of the stratosphere.

— Font9a