Price for carbon steer cut and crown race install

[jbreebs]

What would you expect to pay for this service? I just had one cut down and was charged $35 for 5 minutes worth of work. I get that tools are expensive, but I feel like this was a bit excessive given how straightforward a task it is. Am I just out of the loop on shop prices these days?

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[nmrt]

Unfortunately, yes, it looks like you might be out of the price loop. In Boulder, I pay anywhere from $20 to $40 for this job. $20 at my LBS who I have used for the past 15 years. And $40 for other bike shops I do not frequent. I think my LBS just gives me a good deal because I use him a lot.

Originally Posted by jbreebs

What would you expect to pay for this service? I just had one cut down and was charged $35 for 5 minutes worth of work. I get that tools are expensive, but I feel like this was a bit excessive given how straightforward a task it is. Am I just out of the loop on shop prices these days?

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[Peter P.]

There's a story about a G.E. engineer that retired.

One day, after his retirement, a critical piece of equipment broke.

None of their engineers knew how to repair it, so a manager begged
the retired engineer to come in and see what he could do.

He looked at the equipment for five minutes, marked an "X" on a
part and said "replace that". They did and the equipment was up
and running in no time.

When the department got the bill, it was for TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!
The manager who begged for the engineer's help called him up and said,
"How could you charge us ten thousand dollars for five minutes work?"

The retired engineer said, "I charged you five dollars for my time and nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-five dollars for knowing which part was bad."

You are paying for their tools and expertise (as in, they didn't 'eff it up.). If you price out a carbon hacksaw and a saw guide, that's $95. I say you got a bargain.

[adub]

Geez..

[prototoast]

Cutting a steerer tube is also one of the easiest jobs to screw up, and if the shop cuts it too short, they're on the hook for buying you a new fork.

So figure for $35 you're paying $10 for labor, $10 for capital, and $15 for insurance.

[AngryScientist]

Also; I am a pretty good mechanic. Unless I had all the tools set up and I was standing at the bench, cutting a steerer and installing a crown race is more than a 5 minute job.

As I tell my kids; a job is not over until all the tools are away and the space is cleaned up and ready for the next job.

The idea that you can deduce the labor cost of a job based only on the hourly rate is flawed. It’s not as if any mechanic can actually do twelve five minute jobs every hour.

[dddd]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Cutting a steerer tube is also one of the easiest jobs to screw up, and if the shop cuts it too short, they're on the hook for buying you a new fork.

So figure for $35 you're paying $10 for labor, $10 for capital, and $15 for insurance.

That's just it, you have to cover for the possibility, however slight, that a mistake gets made, or who knows, maybe a defective steerer were to crack/splinter, not to mention they have to handle/measure someone's precious frame, etc.

$20 I'd say if the customer walks in with the fork having a cut line already on it. But how safe is it for that dust to be getting released?

[Wunder]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Cutting a steerer tube is also one of the easiest jobs to screw up, and if the shop cuts it too short, they're on the hook for buying you a new fork.

So figure for $35 you're paying $10 for labor, $10 for capital, and $15 for insurance.

Yep agreed. It's also why I went to the local Cervelo dealer to deal with shortening a fork that already had the glued in aluminum reinforcement. Didn't trust myself or a shop that didn't work on Cervelo's to get it right. He said it would likely fall out when he tapped it down as 4 out of 5 times it did. He was right, so now that bike has a standard expander and not the glued in piece. From what I recall I think I paid about $30 five years ago for that service.

[polyhistoric]

There's a danger to understanding "how" a job should be done and justifying the cost for it (when you don't have the time or tools to do it). Agree with all posters on reasonableness of this cost.

That being said - had the "National Service Manager" of a large chain that routinely sells $10,000 bikes completely bodge a simple Wolf Tooth crown race install. I didn't have a race setter and it was going on a steel fork... was happy to pay for someone's time and tools... until they battered the living ***** out of the race, tearing the seal and shrugging their shoulders that maybe they needed a different drift... then had the audacity to charge me. Luckily it was going on a commuter bike so I shrugged it off... but will never, ever have one of my bikes serviced there or buy from them if that is the level of mechanic quality.

[gravelreformist]

Perfectly reasonable for all the reasons already given. You can't just extrapolate an hourly rate from what they charged you because they can't reliably do multiple small jobs like that in a row. Same reason it costs about $150+ to get anyone to even show up to a job at your house.

Sounds like you could have put that $35 towards the tools yourself though!

[fried bake]

Was quoted $60 for the same service from a local shop. Took to a different shop and paid $15. Somewhere between those two prices is reasonable, so I’d pay $35 if no other options existed but $60 would lead to me buying my own tools.

[Nomadmax]

I once paid a surgeon north of 100K for a job that took him and hour and half. But, he brought me back to life so I figured I was paying for what he knew how to do rather than how long it took. I'm not certain how long it takes or how much it costs to become pulmonary surgeon, but I'm guessing it takes longer than an hour and costs more than 100K.

[AngryScientist]

Sounds totally reasonable to me. I dont think you could get anything done at a professional shop for less than that.

[Waldo62]

What would you expect to pay for this service?
Now ask yourself what quality of service you might receive for the price you were contemplating?

[deluz]

I think it is not excessive buy maybe slightly high.
I bought the blade and jig and do it myself.