Free 1st Service: Worth the Effort?

I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I've often wondered if they're just a marketing device to get you back
in the shop, spending money on the extras you didn't buy before.

Anyone know if that's the case?

Michael

wrote:
I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I've often wondered if they're just a marketing device to get you back
in the shop, spending money on the extras you didn't buy before.

Anyone know if that's the case?

With a decent shop, its a check over of the bike - brakes correctly
adjusted, slack in cables, bearings correctly adjusted, slack spokes, loose
bolts, etc.. Mostly a safety check that nothing has gone wrong in the first
few weeks.


My last two new bikes, both expensive, didn't go back for their check-overs
due to the time/distance/hassle factors. But I have a decent understanding
of bike mechanical bits and would spot even trivial faults pretty early.


- Nigel



--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

wrote:


I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I've often wondered if they're just a marketing device to get you back
in the shop, spending money on the extras you didn't buy before.

Anyone know if that's the case?

Depends on the shop/franchise .. call them to get the real answer!

--
Paul - xxx

'96/'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi
Dyna Tech Cro-Mo comp

On Wed, 27 May 2009 00:35:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:


I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

If you can check the adjustment of brakes, gears, tyres, etc. yourself
then why bother? It's not like a car where lack of dealer servicing
may be used to avoid future warrantly claims.

wrote:
I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I've often wondered if they're just a marketing device to get you back
in the shop, spending money on the extras you didn't buy before.

Anyone know if that's the case?

Michael

Usually, most people no very little about basic bike maintenance. The
cause of cheap (and other) bikes needing repairs aftwer a few months is
down to cables stretching which puts gears and brakes out a bit.
More importantly it's the gears that suffer most. A small adjustment can
stop the chain rubbing against the cogs and drastically reduce wear on
the chain and the gears.
Mine never went back to the LBS for a check as I like to keep things
running silent. They frequently see the bike - safest bike parking
around is in the shop and are always interested in how thier customers
are getting on with thier purchases.
If you are happy with the way the bike is running and are not scared to
play with cables and small adjustments I don't see any need to take it back.

I just wish it was possible for all those who buy cheap bikes to take
them back for a check - but I've yet to see anyone I'd even let near a
bike working at Toys-R-Us. People buy flat-pack bikes and have very
little experience with tools, let alone bikes.


--

Come to Dave & Boris - your cycle security experts.

wrote:
I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. *To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. *What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I'd be tempted to just take it to a decent bike shop that's convenient
for you and pay them to give it the once over. I doubt it would cost
much and saves all the hassle. It's worth finding a decent bike shop
that's local to you anyway.

--
Nige Danton

"Nigel Cliffe" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I've often wondered if they're just a marketing device to get you back
in the shop, spending money on the extras you didn't buy before.

Anyone know if that's the case?

With a decent shop, its a check over of the bike - brakes correctly
adjusted, slack in cables, bearings correctly adjusted, slack spokes,
loose bolts, etc.. Mostly a safety check that nothing has gone wrong in
the first few weeks.


My last two new bikes, both expensive, didn't go back for their
check-overs due to the time/distance/hassle factors. But I have a decent
understanding of bike mechanical bits and would spot even trivial faults
pretty early.


- Nigel



--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/
I had a Condor Agio through the cycle to work scheme in January. Bit of a
bummer now that I've been made redundant, leaving me to pick up a £600+
remainder off my final pay packet

Anyhow, I live ages away in the West Midlands, so obviously I wasn't going
to send it back for a check over since I do all my own mechanics anyway. I
also have reason to doubt Condor's attention to detail. The tyres are Deda
Grintas which have a dedicated direction of rotation. I spotted that they
put both tyres on backwards. I can't say that it makes much difference, but
if the tyre manufacturers say 'put them on this way' I expect them to be put
on 'that' way.

With the usual cleaning and lubricating, the Agio has performed faultlessly.

On May 27, 10:12 am, Ace wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2009 00:35:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:



I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

If you can check the adjustment of brakes, gears, tyres, etc. yourself
then why bother? It's not like a car where lack of dealer servicing
may be used to avoid future warrantly claims.

I have heard of it used for that purpose before, by a local LBS with a
"mixed" reputation.
The gist of what the shop said was that: X is now broken. If you'd
brought it back to me after Y weeks, I could have spotted that and
adjusted it then, and it wouldn't have broken since, so I'm not
repairing it under warranty now.

Don't think any reputable shop would try it on though.

Regards,

bookieb

On Wed, 27 May 2009 02:56:32 -0700 (PDT), bookieb
wrote:

On May 27, 10:12 am, Ace wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2009 00:35:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:



I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

If you can check the adjustment of brakes, gears, tyres, etc. yourself
then why bother? It's not like a car where lack of dealer servicing
may be used to avoid future warrantly claims.

I have heard of it used for that purpose before, by a local LBS with a
"mixed" reputation.
The gist of what the shop said was that: X is now broken. If you'd
brought it back to me after Y weeks, I could have spotted that and
adjusted it then, and it wouldn't have broken since, so I'm not
repairing it under warranty now.

Don't think any reputable shop would try it on though.

One would hope not, but I (as a competent bike mechanic) have never
been in that sort of situation anyway. Things don't just break for no
reason, and if there were any possibility that my own lack of
maintenance had lead to a component's early demise then I'd not expect
a LBS to be responsible for it anyway.

In fact, TBH I don't think I've _ever_ taken a bike back to a shop and
said "Oi! It's broke, fix it." It just wouldn't ever occur to me.

writes:


I bought a new bike (Condor Fratello) a few weeks ago & it's time for
the standard, free first service. To be honest, it's a hassle for me
to get there; I'm going to have to take a very long lunchbreak, then
schlep half way across London & back again. What I'm wondering it is
whether these first services are worth it?

I've often wondered if they're just a marketing device to get you back
in the shop, spending money on the extras you didn't buy before.

Anyone know if that's the case?

I didn't go back for my free 1st service for a number of reasons. One was
the hassle: I could cycle in to them, walk back to work in about 30
minutes, and then do the reverse in the evening - except that in the past
they have been pretty bad about sticking to a planned schedule. It may be
a cultural thing: in the NL I was used that you plan bike repairs as you
do a car service. You agree on a day and time, drop it off in the morning,
and it should be ready in the evening, or they call you if there is an
unexpected delay. So when I tried to organise this with them with my
previous bike I thought I had planned a day with them, and when I dropped
off my bike the response was "Oh, we'll get around to it sometime next
week". Their focus is more on leisure bikes and I don't think they really
understand commuting - I don't want to be without my bike for more than a
couple of days if I can avoid it.
Another reason was that I had already swapped the gear shifter for a
different one so I had worked out how to adjust the hub gears anyway so
was confident this was fine. As they didn't seem that knowledgeable about
hubgears anyway I wouldn't expect any further service from them there.
I suppose the only things which would have been good to get done was
tuning the spokes.

Roos