Cycle Service

A question about : Cycle Service

So my bike needs a good service.

It needs a new chain, a new freewheel, and a tune up to make sure the gears are where they should be.
The chassis, wheels, spokes, inner tubes, seat and everything else is fine. Brakes are okay, although I can see a new set of pads trying to be sold to me.

It's not a bad bike, but I'm not wanting to spend huge amounts on it.

Halfords have a Ј50 bike servicing, then parts on top, so perhaps Ј100 in all, but there is an independent bike shop in the town, which I am naturally drawn to, but worried about them also ripping me off a little (the local computer shops aren't selling computers at a good prices).
Then there is a bike shop sort of on the way to work (but a little out the way) that I could drop my bike off at, which currently has a groupon voucher.

Halfords Service: Ј50
Checking frame and other core components for wear and damage.
Checking that wheels are true and hubs, spokes, rims and tyres for damage.
Alignment of brakes and checking operation and effectiveness.
Lubricating chain and checking for wear.
Inspecting brake pads for wear and damage.
Setting gear stops and adjustment of indexing.
Checking front chainwheel, rear sprockets/cassette for wear.
Inspecting bottom bracket for play and adjustment
Checking alignment and wear of front and rear mechanics
Checking bearings, crank bolts and pedals for wear and damage
Inflating tyres to correct pressures.
Ensuring set up and positioning of the bike is the most comfortable positioning for you.

A Second Independant Cycle Shop: Ј55 Ј20 with groupon voucher
Headset Checked, Greased And Adjusted As Required.
Chain And Cassette Checked For Wear And Re Lubed.
Gears Checked And Adjusted As Required.
Wheels Checked For Damage And Wear, Bearings greased
Tyres Checked For Wear And Damage And Correctly Inflated.
Bottom Bracket Checked For Play Greased And Adjusted as needed.
Brakes Checked And Adjusted and all cables checked
Doesn't seem to be as much checked compared to Halfords, which is why I am weary of locals.

Don't know about the independent in the town as yet.

Any advice?

Best answers:

• Buy a chain and freewheel online and fit them yourself, then take it to the independent shop to get the gears tuned.
  Buy some pads from Discobrakes / ebay or similar - you should always have some as spares.
• My advice - use the money to buy some tools and do it yourself. There's nothing difficult about bikes and most people should be capable of routine maintenance with a little research on the net.
• Get the tools and bits yourself, then look on you tube regarding how to do things. If you get stuck come back on here or go on the bike forums for advice.
  Whats a freewheel? is that a rear cassette?.
  I'd have a look at the planet X toolkits if I were you.https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOJW13P...ntial-tool-kit.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c9de9_FUSU
• Neither of those services are much more than giving the bike a look over, pumping up the tyres and oiling the chain.
  They'll probably charge you more for actually fitting a chain and cassette.
• https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help
  All you need to do pretty much everything. Youtube has some good stuff too. You can even ask here too!
• if you look at the lists halfords have multiple entries for the same thing.check brakes, adjust as necessary.. where as the lbs has check and adjust brakes. Halfords tend to be a bit marmite, they are either very good or very bad. I would go to the local bike store myself.
• If you are not willing to do the service yourself use the bike shop at the reduced Ј20 price. Halfords list is longer but the work appears to be the same. The Ј30 saving should pay for the chain and cassette if needed.
  You seem unsure about working on bikes. How have you judged the chain as needing replacement?.
  If you're happy with your assessment that everything else is fine, why pay for a service?.
• Halfords are hit & miss with bicycle servicing, some of their guys are perfectly competent and trustworthy, but I'd guesstimate about a third of Halfords bike shop staff are less than qualified.
  And Halfords WILL rip you off. A couple of weeks ago I watched a woman bring in her kid's not-quite-crappy, but not-very-good Apollo MTB which needed a new brake caliper. The manager launched into his patter, and quoted her Ј50 labour + Ј15 for the caliper. The bike was worth Ј100 when it was brand new and she could have bought a better bike secondhand for Ј50. If I'd had the chance I'd have told her I'd do the job for free.
  Working on bicycles isn't as easy as some people make it out to be and it's probably not worth learning or buying tools if you don't plan on doing it more than once or twice, so an independent bike shop or local bicycle mechanic is your best bet in that case. But there are some great video tutorials on YouTube that make learning to fix bikes easier than reading from a book.
• Yeah, that's what I am thinking...
  I can't really afford to invest in a bunch of tools that I may only use once or twice. Even though it seems backward, I am thinking it would just be easier to push it all off to someone else to do.
  The cassette has a fair amount of surface rust, but for the price, I may as well replace it to have a pretty good working bike.
• My local cyclists have a facebook page, always someone that'll recommend a good cycle shop, how to service your bike or they'll come and give me a hand. Check out and see if there's anything like that for your area.
• Will my cassette have what type it is written on it?
  Or will any old 10 speed one do?
  Same with the chain. How do I know which one to buy?
  Halfords have an extra 15% off until Wednesday so I may as well buy now.
• Technically any cassette will do (just match the correct number of gears), the main difference with them would be the gear ratios.
  You could look at your rear derailleur, find the make/model of that and get a cassette of the same type.
  The type of derailleur you have could limit what cassettes will fit, if its only a short cage, then the larger cassettes might not fit.
  If its just a standard mountain bike, its most likely a long cage derailleur anyways.
  Also, if you are buying a new chain, make sure you also get the correct speed, so if you have a 10 speed cassette, get a 10 speed chain. (chains come in different thicknesses to match the gaps in each cassette).
  In future, regular cleaning and lubing the chain might be a idea to increase the life of it.
• Oh yeah! Of course :P
  This bike had been stored for about 4 years in a garage. Then in the house. Then in a shed and is now in my outhouse!
  It's a mountain bike but doesn't have the huge chunky tyres, more like a hybrid bike to be honest.
• If I was getting my bike serviced I would want them to take stuff apart. The halfords service seems not to do that whereas you appear to get more with the independent service.
  Having said that most jobs are pretty easy with a few tools and YouTube.