Assembly labor price variations

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?

The bicycle market is moribund. Look into 'capitalism' and 'commercialism'
to find the reasons.


"Goldenset" wrote in part in message
om...
Hi all,


Can someone please shed some light and understanding on such varying
rates?

"Goldenset" wrote:
Aside from the obvious, what sets
aside a $300 dollar assembly vs. a $100 dollar one.

At least one shop in my area charges $100 just to "prep" a frame (chase BB
threads, face BB, prep fork crown and head tube to receive headset, etc.) If
one shop is doing all those things, and another is just assembling
components, there should be a difference in price. Other things that may or
may not be included in "assembly" a Tension/true/stress relieve wheels,
add grease to hubs and adjust, etc.

Of course, some shops may just resent the fact that you didn't buy from
them, and try to gouge you.

If a shop is charging $300 for assembly, I think the least they could do is
include a "free" fitting.

Art Harris

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
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"Goldenset" wrote in message
om...
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?

Mike and Arthur,

Thank you very much on your feedbacks. I particularly appreciated
Mike's details. Some frame prep was mentioned and I didn't know how
important that is. Since the last time I built something from scratch,
it was a BMX in the mid-80's. I don't recall doing any kind of
frame prep then. As you can see, my experience is limited for any
comparison since the last (road) bike I had was already assembled.
Plus, shimano and campy were just coming out with shifters a the
brakes then (yeah, it's been that long).