Manc33 wrote: ↑3 Jun 2023, 5:35pm
The only thing I can see in that list where you'd save a lot is on the cables.
You have cables listed at £40 but then have a separate labour charge as well?
Are they really charging £40 for four cables? They are £1 each on eBay if you know where to look, usually if bought in a pair.
At least, they used to be a few years back, it's 2023 now.
Prices can't have gone up that much though. Maybe they are £2 each by now.
The rest of it... with prices going up, I can't see much difference if buying the part and doing it yourself.
Long gone are the days (pre-2020) of getting rotors for £7.99 and so on. I remember getting a pair of BB7 calipers with rotors back around 2018 for under £40 (albeit from Hong Kong, but as far as I can tell they are real). Today (at least at Tredz) they are over £160 for the same thing.
You can do a bit better than £40 for 4 sets of decent quality inner, housing and all end caps, but not £8 or anywhere near these days, and cables are one of the things not worth cheaping out on. You want at least stainless not galvanized.
I agree on the other parts too, it's not an unreasonable quote, plus the bike shop will not make beginners mistakes in terms of ordering all of the correct compatible parts. (This forum can help with that).
There are quite a few bike specific tools needed if not owned already, off the top of my head; cable cutters, crank puller, the correct BB tool/s plus a large enough spanner to use it, cassette lockring tool, chain whip, pedal spanner, chain splitting tool, plus all of the general tools. Of course they are a good investment if you're in it for the long term but if money is short then the initial investment is high, especially when added to the cost of the parts needed to fix the bike. Learning yourself also involves mistakes which can add to the cost.
I do think that the best bet for the OP is to find a community bike project as has been suggested where he can use the tools, (this will also require a fair investment in time). Some projects basically allow you to pay to use the tools/workshop space for a low price. They may not all have funding to be able to provide the wages for a mechanic to teach people how to fully service their bikes, so may only be able to provide minimal personal attention. It's certainly worth finding out what is available.
Another good option is to buy a used bike in good condition, Ideally one of those bikes that has been bought but never used, as many people don't have an idea of all the problems/worn parts on their used bikes they're selling.