Cost to mount tubulars

[thenewguy11]

I was in my LBS to pick up a new chainring and, on a whim, asked what it'd cost to have some tubulars mounted. Figure it'd save me some time as I'm traveling for work this week.

$50 per wheel was the answer. Does that seem excessive to anyone else? For that, I'll do it myself. Anyway, just curious. Good group of guys there - maybe they just don't like mounting tubulars.

[fogrider]

50 a wheel does seem a little excessive. but I guess if you count three layers of glue and one on the tires, stretching the tires, the glue, and drying time between each layer of glue, the time just adds up. if you want to save time, just use tape...

[DRietz]

$50 seems cheap to me as a mechanic. When I'm gluing tires at the shop, I'm taking your life into my hands.

If you want a piss poor glue job that may let go while you're descending at 50+mph, by all means, shop around for a cheaper price.

Sorry to be so snarky about it, but come on. The hourly rate at all the shops where I've worked is $80. Cleaning, stretching, and gluing a set of tubulars takes far longer hourly than the $55 we charge per wheel.

[Llewellyn]

:eek:

Sounds like they're trying to make up for some of the money they've lost to internet sales

[Bruce K]

That sounds about right for most of the shops around here.

Some charge $80.

When you look at the labor involved and then add in materials and expertise, the $50 each seems pretty much right on target.

BK

[gearguywb]

100 bucks for a set of wheels....ouch.

Tape and 10 minutes will get the job done just fine :)

[shovelhd]

I wouldn't trust tape as far as I could throw it.

Around here it's $50/wheel. but I do my own. I just picked up a set of used tubular race wheels. They had brand new tires that were "professionally glued". Since it's my skin that's going to hit the ground in a 32+mph corner, I decided to pull the tires, clean the rims and glue them up myself. The front wasn't as bad as the rear, but both had very little to no glue on the edges of the rim bed. Not good.

Just because you're paying someone to glue your tires doesn't mean they know what they are doing. Go to a shop that works with racers. Better yet, learn to do them yourself.

[yakstone]

Prices around here are $40 - $50 per tire plus the cost of the glue.
Like several have already said; learn to do your own. Its your skin on the line.

[AngryScientist]

"do you want it done cheap, or do you want it done right?"

[Jnnybrns]

$50 seems on the cheap side. But, the LBS that will actually take that on told me rationale for high price in time and I agreed. Considering the tires were going on a track bike for sprints I paid the higher price and the Mechanic graciously let me sit in to observe.

[oldpotatoe]

I was in my LBS to pick up a new chainring and, on a whim, asked what it'd cost to have some tubulars mounted. Figure it'd save me some time as I'm traveling for work this week.

$50 per wheel was the answer. Does that seem excessive to anyone else? For that, I'll do it myself. Anyway, just curious. Good group of guys there - maybe they just don't like mounting tubulars.

That's exactly what a lot of bike shops, including me, thinks also. Look, I don't think gluing on a tubie is really much of a deal but I will do it, do it all the time and instruct the customer at the same time, for free.

But I charge $45, I think a fair amount considering what has been mentioned...stretching, cleaning rim/tire, proper gluing, cleaning up afterward..takes some time($60 per hur labor rate at my house) AND any decent bike shop would look at the trueness of the wheel also, probably truing it for free if needed.

BUT it isn't hard, isn't a black art.

[oldpotatoe]

:eek:

Sounds like they're trying to make up for some of the money they've lost to internet sales

Righto mate...what do some service shops 'down under' charge and how many go under each year?

[terry]

you have to pay someone to mount your tubulars then you should be on clinchers.

[shovelhd]

But I charge $45, I think a fair amount considering what has been mentioned...stretching, cleaning rim/tire, proper gluing, cleaning up afterward..takes some time($60 per hur labor rate at my house) AND any decent bike shop would look at the trueness of the wheel also, probably truing it for free if needed.

You, sir, are a bargain. That has to be a loss leader for you, unless this is in addition to the margin of the sale of the tire and wheel.

[FlashUNC]

If I can glue a tubie onto a rim and not glue my hands together in the process -- or kill myself with a rolled tire -- you should be able to handle it easy enough.

But yeah, to answer your question. $50 per wheel sounds about right.

[54ny77]

if someone has no desire or interest to do it, 50/per sounds fine to me.

100 bucks for expertise to ensure your life won't end at least due to rolled tire? that's quite fair. :)

sweeping generalizations or deeming someone not worthy (the clincher comment) are just plain silly. i know a couple guys who are state/nat'l champs that don't touch sewup gluing, for a variety of reasons (mostly time/zero interest). they just focus on riding fast and working so they can pay their mechanic the going rate. fair trade if ya ask me.

[cmg]

cleaning off old glue and relayering on the rim and the tire are a time consuming pain. better to do them yourself. there's plenty of youtube videos.

[FastVegan]

I charge $30 to glue CX tubulars to new rims, and $20 to clean old rims. That includes glue, belg tape and supplies.
I am not a shop, but I do just as good of a job/better than as most shops in my area.
I have done 5 sets this season, people don't mind paying if the job is quality.

[Llewellyn]

Righto mate...what do some service shops 'down under' charge and how many go under each year?

My comment was supposed to be mildly tongue in cheek but obviously something got lost in translation. Sorry

No idea how many go under in other parts of Australia but here in the west they seem to be opening up, although I have heard someone in the business say that there are now probably too many shops for the size of the market. And there are plenty of them in Melbourne from what I've seen.

As an aside I had a shop that I have previously used charge me 20 bucks to replace a broken spoke and true the wheel. Took the bloke about 5 minutes total. Now in my book that really was a rip off, and I won't go back. But I fully expect to get ripped to pieces by some people here who will justify that charge. Maybe the bloke should have told me to come back in half an hour and done it while I was gone, then it might have seemed like fair value

[elliott]

^ You need to learn how to replace a spoke on your own if you think $20 is unfair. Good luck finding shop that will do it for less than $15, and the fact that he did it quickly while you waited gives you less reason to complain. :rolleyes:

[false_Aest]

I was in my LBS to pick up a new chainring and, on a whim, asked what it'd cost to have some tubulars mounted. Figure it'd save me some time as I'm traveling for work this week.

$50 per wheel was the answer. Does that seem excessive to anyone else? For that, I'll do it myself. Anyway, just curious. Good group of guys there - maybe they just don't like mounting tubulars.

Brah. It takes under 5 minutes for my LBS dude to install a tube. That's a $5 tube and $10 labor. People always say, "THAT'S STUPID!!!" then they pony up. They're paying for convenience.

You're paying for convenience. If you don't want to pay up, do it yourself.
----

My first set of tubulars were done by a shop. I paid roughly the same amount. The next set I did myself. By the time I was done, I was surprised that the LBS didn't charge double. I'm about 8 sets in now and much faster at it. I'm also sure my LBS is charging a fair price.

[Gummee]

My comment was supposed to be mildly tongue in cheek but obviously something got lost in translation. Sorry

No idea how many go under in other parts of Australia but here in the west they seem to be opening up, although I have heard someone in the business say that there are now probably too many shops for the size of the market. And there are plenty of them in Melbourne from what I've seen.

As an aside I had a shop that I have previously used charge me 20 bucks to replace a broken spoke and true the wheel. Took the bloke about 5 minutes total. Now in my book that really was a rip off, and I won't go back. But I fully expect to get ripped to pieces by some people here who will justify that charge. Maybe the bloke should have told me to come back in half an hour and done it while I was gone, then it might have seemed like fair value
You're not only paying for him to change out a spoke right then and there, do a good job, and probably touch it up if it goes out of true again, you're also paying for all those years of experience that allowed him to do it while you waited, quickly, and to have the wheel true and round *all while you waited for him.'

IMO you owe him a 6-pack on top of the $25.

...or DIY and see how long it'd take you to replace the spoke and get the wheel round and true.

I have a buddy that claims one of my glue jobs rolled. Tubulars don't just roll going straight ahead. :nono (its a story involving a MC and being towed) He had to have yanked the bars sideways, THEN the tire rolled. 'Cause I've *never* had a tire roll after I've glued it. In fact, I raced the wheelset in question before I traded it off to my buddy, so I know I did a good job.

The pot of Vittoria glue that was new at the beginning of the season? Half gone. I've glued a fair # of tires this fall...

M

[Ahneida Ride]

I can remember a time when 50 dollars was real money.

Now 50 central bank shopping coupons buys a hamburger dinner for two
at a nice restaurant.

[fuzzalow]

The cost given in the OP sounds correct for the service rendered.

However, there is a very big assumption and an egregious mistake for those that have defended the fee charged as the cost for having it done right. Charging a fee doesn't mean they are good at it.

Sure, some shops will know how and do the right thing. Those shops are the few and the proud. And then there are the rest. Caveat emptor and yet better still - DIY.

[redir]

IMO tubulars are a lot safer than clinchers. I've seen some glue jobs that were scary but still held in corners. It's really not that hard to do it your self and do it right. $50 seems reasonable to me, maybe $85 for a set or something like that. To stretch you mount, pump up, and let sit. Not a whole lot there. Prepping rims and then layering up and mounting followed by centering and cleaning up is where all the time goes.

[gavingould]

you're paying for someone to (hopefully) do it right so that your tires don't peel off the first time you take a turn. add the time needed to do it right, turns out $50 per is pretty cheap.

i think we charge $60 per at the shop where i occasionally work. except for the first set of track tubulars i've had (when i was scared of both carbon wheels and tubulars) i've glued my own.

[carpediemracing]

You're not only paying for him to change out a spoke right then and there, do a good job, and probably touch it up if it goes out of true again, you're also paying for all those years of experience that allowed him to do it while you waited, quickly, and to have the wheel true and round *all while you waited for him.'

IMO you owe him a 6-pack on top of the $25.

...or DIY and see how long it'd take you to replace the spoke and get the wheel round and true.

+1

Just because it took a short time doesn't mean it should be cheap.

In the IT days a guy that contracted to the company I worked for charged $300/hour and he specialized in one particular type of software. I thought it excessive until I saw a job estimation from an inside-our-company guy. He claimed that doing a particular project would take a week of work or something like that. The $300/hour guy did it in 2 hours and billed it as such.

Replacing a broken spoke may not seem like a big deal but having the expertise and equipment to fix it is worth something. Off the top of my head:

1. Do you stock replacement spokes for your wheels? Spoke nipples? Washers, if applicable?
2. Do you have a good truing stand?
3. Do you have a spoke wrench, maybe other tools for truing wheels (spoke holder, dishing tool if necessary, maybe stuff like a tensionometer)?
4. Would you know if the rim was done or if a simple spoke replacement would be okay?

Having been on both sides of the counter I value expertise. I do a lot of work on my own car but stopped short at doing my own timing belt. Axles, exhaust, brakes, even mounting/balancing my own tires. I understand what it takes for me to do it so I appreciate how much/little it costs to pay someone else.

I came very close to buying my own lift for safety etc. I would still do it if I was making an IT salary but now it's not a priority. I have a variety of other tools for working on my car already. I liken the lift to buying a wheel truing stand for a bike rider.

[FlashUNC]

+1

Just because it took a short time doesn't mean it should be cheap.

In the IT days a guy that contracted to the company I worked for charged $300/hour and he specialized in one particular type of software. I thought it excessive until I saw a job estimation from an inside-our-company guy. He claimed that doing a particular project would take a week of work or something like that. The $300/hour guy did it in 2 hours and billed it as such.

Replacing a broken spoke may not seem like a big deal but having the expertise and equipment to fix it is worth something. Off the top of my head:

1. Do you stock replacement spokes for your wheels? Spoke nipples? Washers, if applicable?
2. Do you have a good truing stand?
3. Do you have a spoke wrench, maybe other tools for truing wheels (spoke holder, dishing tool if necessary, maybe stuff like a tensionometer)?
4. Would you know if the rim was done or if a simple spoke replacement would be okay?

Having been on both sides of the counter I value expertise. I do a lot of work on my own car but stopped short at doing my own timing belt. Axles, exhaust, brakes, even mounting/balancing my own tires. I understand what it takes for me to do it so I appreciate how much/little it costs to pay someone else.

I came very close to buying my own lift for safety etc. I would still do it if I was making an IT salary but now it's not a priority. I have a variety of other tools for working on my car already. I liken the lift to buying a wheel truing stand for a bike rider.

Its like the apocryphal tale of the mechanic who charges $7,000/hr to fix cargo ship engines. The guy walks in, hits the engine with a hammer, walks out and asks for his $7k. "But you just hit it with a hammer and were done!" said the ship's owner.

"Ah, but I knew where to hit it." the mechanic said.

You pay for expertise.

[oldpotatoe]

My comment was supposed to be mildly tongue in cheek but obviously something got lost in translation. Sorry



As an aside I had a shop that I have previously used charge me 20 bucks to replace a broken spoke and true the wheel. Took the bloke about 5 minutes total. Now in my book that really was a rip off, and I won't go back. But I fully expect to get ripped to pieces by some people here who will justify that charge. Maybe the bloke should have told me to come back in half an hour and done it while I was gone, then it might have seemed like fair value

I charge $15 plus the spoke to replace a broken spoke. Take tire off, take cogset off, replace spoke, properly true/round/tension..takes this wheelbuilder more than 5 minutes.

We say 'do you want it done right or right now'?

[Jaq]

As a mentor once said: you can have it good, fast, and cheap. Pick any two.

I enjoy gluing up tires; it's one of those zen exercises that lends a bit of down-time and makes a rider stop and contemplate his wheel, his machinery, etc. It always leads to an inspection of the bike-as-a-whole.

But gluing up a tire (at home) is, more than anything else, time-consuming. Considering all the work required - setting up, getting out the solvents & rags, cleaning/prepping the rims, stretching the new tires, buying the glue & acid brushes, laying on the glue in stages, mounting the tire, cleaning everything up, cleaning yourself up, tossing the trash, cleaning & storing the rags, trekking to the LBS & hardware stores (or jumping on-line) for new tubes of glue & more acid brushes - if you make a reasonable living, you're way ahead of the game at 50 bucks per wheel.

Even taping is a chore; taking old tape off a rim can be a b--ch; much harder than glue if one uses solvents like white gas or goof-off. When I've used tape in the past, I used (on alloy rims) paint stripper to clean it off.

[Jawn P]

Jeez I think my shop is undercharging - I'll have to petition the bossman to raise prices.

$35 per wheel, add $10 if you want your cross tires glued and taped.

[C50]

When someone questions me why I charge them what I do (and I have to say the vast majority don't question because they have come to learn that the service performed corrected the problem which brought them in) because it didn't take very long or looked very simple I remind them of the Chinese fable of the artist and the painting of the rooster:

http://xuelian.deviantart.com/journal/The-Artist-A-Chinese-fable-243045279

It takes a long time to acquire the skillset to know what to do and to make what you do look easy.

[carpediemracing]

Its like the apocryphal tale of the mechanic who charges $7,000/hr to fix cargo ship engines. The guy walks in, hits the engine with a hammer, walks out and asks for his $7k. "But you just hit it with a hammer and were done!" said the ship's owner.

"Ah, but I knew where to hit it." the mechanic said.

You pay for expertise.

^ I like that story.

Regarding gluing tubulars - I've glued tires for just one person recently, and I glued the tires twice because I didn't 1000% trust my first glue job. He flatted mid turn just after he bridged to a break and the tire didn't roll one millimeter. He stayed upright because he had enough traction even will a fully flat tire. After that he decided that I'm the only person he trusts to glue a tire, and since it took him 4 hours to install derailleur cables (with a very patient me guiding him) I figured it'll be easier for me to glue than him to glue.

I've glued tires for customers back in the day but I charged $30-50 (I forget). This was in the mid-90s so the tire itself costed about $40-60, for a Vittoria CX.

What I do when I glue a tubular:
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-glue-tubular.html

About the fastest I glued a tubular:
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.com/2012/05/life-preparing-for-koichi-part-2.html

Because my posts tend to ramble on here's the pertinent part:

"Then, bam, I got the call, Thursday morning, the Thursday before the first Bethel.

"They're going to induce me. I'm going to the hospital now."

I went into shock. I couldn't really hear properly due the blood rushing through my head. I got into that survival mode, where I do what's necessary, no matter what it takes. I left work, drove home, and started preparing for the hospital visit.

First, because it was Thursday morning, and a birth would take, oh, like 12 to 24 hours, and Bethel was a good 72+ hours away, and therefore I could probably do Bethel, and I had a flat rear tubular tire (which I flatted last fall and never changed), I glued on a new rear tire.

Yes, you read right. The first thing I did was to glue on a rear tire so I could race on Sunday.

That took all of 15 or 20 minutes - I was working like I was defusing a bomb while under gunfire. Methodically and precisely executing each step. New tire, I hoped it had a good tube (it seems like one out of every 30 or 40 tubulars shows up bad and never holds air), and after carefully glopping on glue on the tire and the rim, I just monstered the tire onto the rim.

Presto.

No glue anywhere except between the tire and the rim. None on me, my clothes, the floor, nothing. Crazy.

I felt like a ProTour mechanic."

That tire lasted until the last race of this year (2012), a full season of diving into turns and such. I flatted at some point in that last race, discovered it only after I got shelled and decided to go to the car to change. The rear tire was flat.

[ultraman6970]

50 bucks?? this is one of the reasons you have to learn to do stuff like this yourself, once you learn oyu ownt forget and if it fails is you to blame not them, either way 50 bucks is too much I would have do it for free and asked you to give me the remnants of the glue of buy me a 20 bucks tubular.

And to finish I would have use that session to teach you how to do the obvious things.

Many shops charge a lot for stuff they dont want to do, this is the case IMO.

I was in my LBS to pick up a new chainring and, on a whim, asked what it'd cost to have some tubulars mounted. Figure it'd save me some time as I'm traveling for work this week.

$50 per wheel was the answer. Does that seem excessive to anyone else? For that, I'll do it myself. Anyway, just curious. Good group of guys there - maybe they just don't like mounting tubulars.

[Lionel]

I would never let any lbs glue my tubulars. I do this myself, no one cares about my security more than I do. It's really easy to do. The actual work involved without counting waiting time (!!) is 15 minutes or less.

[cash05458]

I became a decent home mechanic out of sheer financial necessity...my auto guy doesn't charge 60 bucks an hour, but my LBS does...not saying I blame them and they are worth the money...but when I got into rebuilds and having numerous bikes, I just had to learn how to deal with my bikes...and of course, even away from the finances ect it was a great thing to learn how to do...you feel much prouder of a build you did from the ground up...bare frame, no fork, nothing... (and of course I ended up investing about a grand into good tools over time....but I like that stuff around bikes)...and now I can pretty much fix anything via the bike within reason of course...and my friends come to me for the free work...never thought I could get there but really glad I did and not because of the money in the end...to me, part of the whole bike experience...

[shovelhd]

It's funny how that works. I bought my first house the day before foreclosure, in Massachusetts, in December. The previous owner let the oil run out and the pipes burst all over the place, flooding the basement. After I figured out how to turn off the water, I learned to braze copper real quick. With $500 to my name, I had no money for a plumber.

[Pete Mckeon]

For if you have a flat while riding, you need to know what to do with a tubular. For a recreational rider. (Me included). i use quality clinchers. 20 plus years ago I was a tubular sole user, putting my own on and carrying a spare. For me the highend clinchers put a smile on me for my type riding.

Have a good holiday. Pete

you have to pay someone to mount your tubulars then you should be on clinchers.

[Pete Mckeon]

I charge $15 plus the spoke to replace a broken spoke. Take tire off, take cogset off, replace spoke, properly true/round/tension..takes this wheelbuilder more than 5 minutes.

We say 'do you want it done right or right now'?

That is a reasonable price and not expensive AND GOOD SERVICE, Pete

[MilanoTom]

:eek:

Sounds like they're trying to make up for some of the money they've lost to internet sales

Sounds like the kind of thing an internet buyer would say.

[Llewellyn]

Sounds like the kind of thing an internet buyer would say.


Well I'm not ashamed to admit it.

[Ralph]

you have to pay someone to mount your tubulars then you should be on clinchers.

bingo

[bikinchris]

I also think most people missed the point. Even a good glue job doesn't guarantee that you can't roll a tubular, just that it's not likely. Part of the cost of a shop is liability insurance. I know it's not cheap for insurance.
I charge $60 IF the tire and rim are new. I charge by the hour to clean your old glue.
I had a customer who always came to me for e glue job. he tried gluing his tire the night before a race. In a hotel room. Red glue from under his shoe to his scalp. Glue in the bathroom on the pillow case and his luggage.
He paid me after that.

[93legendti]

Fwiw, I paid $45 for glueing a wheel set a few years ago. No clue what the other local shops charge. Our mechanic doesn't glue tubbies.

[HenryA]

you have to pay someone to mount your tubulars then you should be on clinchers.

This.

[enr1co]

This.

+100... Back in the day when I had my LBS build me a set of tubulars, the owner trained me on how to mount them. I recall him making a similar statement :)

[oldpotatoe]

I also think most people missed the point. Even a good glue job doesn't guarantee that you can't roll a tubular, just that it's not likely. Part of the cost of a shop is liability insurance. I know it's not cheap for insurance.
I charge $60 IF the tire and rim are new. I charge by the hour to clean your old glue.
I had a customer who always came to me for e glue job. he tried gluing his tire the night before a race. In a hotel room. Red glue from under his shoe to his scalp. Glue in the bathroom on the pillow case and his luggage.
He paid me after that.

Actually as insurance goes, it's not that bad. About $90 a month for me but it IS part of what goes into the fixed expenses in a retail place..what drives the charged $ per hour.

[jamaris]

Actually as insurance goes, it's not that bad. About $90 a month for me but it IS part of what goes into the fixed expenses in a retail place..what drives the charged $ per hour.

Are you a bigger or smaller shop, assuming CO? That seems relatively reasonable for insurance.

[oldpotatoe]

Are you a bigger or smaller shop, assuming CO? That seems relatively reasonable for insurance.

Small...My workman's comp is more than my liability insurance. But I don't look at gluing on tubies in any different light than say building a wheel. I do it cuz the vast majority of the other shops don't do either, glue tubies or build wheels, most don't even sell tubulars.