Local Bike Shops and upgrade or repairs to Internet purchased EBikes
- Thread starter IOUZIP
- Start date
dodgeman
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Macomb, Illinois
My understanding is the Trek dealer we bought ours will work on other brands. We took ours back in for some minor maintenance about a month after we bought them and the mechanic said Trek gives quite a bit of support and help in helping diagnose problems.
Taylor57
Well-Known Member
I have a quote from Velofix to come to the house and fix the rear brake on my Espin Sport (brake bleed?) and the price is 100. Does that sound reasonable? Also, I have a broken spoke on rear wheel. I have the replacement spokes but how much would you expect to be charged for them to remove and replace the broken spoke? Thanks in advance. T57
Maybe $25 for the brake bleed? Given the rear hub I can see a $25 surcharge on anything requiring removal of the rear wheel. So add that to parts and labor if you need pads or a rotor. Similarly $25 for spoke replacement/truing and $25 for wheel removal is reasonable.
LimboJim
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Gotta add the travel fee
Taylor57
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I guess the 100 covers the brake bleed and installing one of the spokes I purchased. I agree, the convenience of them coming to the house is worth it in my case. The other option was wait until Dec 16th when the LBS had a repair opening. Then I would have to lug it 3 or 4 miles. (or ride it with only front brake) I will report on the Velofix visit after he comes next Tuesday...
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
I seriously doubt they spent much time trying.....
PedalUma
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Petaluma, CA
Interesting conversation. I just came upon this thread. LBS's are sending people to me. I just did work on a RAD. The guy was desperate. No bike shop would touch it. The rear brake cable had ceased inside the thru frame housing, the lever was jammed and the rotor warped. Normally there is only one thing wrong with brakes. Another bike went out today. The heat sensor on the mid-drive's internal mother board was too sensitive and it would shut the bike down at the 4k point on rides. The next day it would start perfectly. I was lucky to have a spare on hand. It is a bigger job than it sounds like. It means dismantling the motor, soldering and redoing the wires. The Mfg. is sending a new controller for free along with an order. Bike shops don't take apart motors and don't solder. They remove them and send them to a service center for 12-weeks.
SDGuitarMan
Member
- Region
- USA
Timely thread. I recently bought two Lectric XP 2.0s and one of the things that made me feel comfortable is they list two local bike shops in my area on their website that are supposedly in their "network." Turns out it's not quite that simple. One of them is pretty far from me. The other is a mobile service and they don't respond to emails or voicemails and don't answer their phone so I've found myself pretty much SOL as far as getting any warranty work done.
I've had to resort to DIY. I guess that's not too bad since I've been forced to learn basic maintenance and adjustments like disc brakes, derailleur adjustments, etc, but now I need to replace the derailleur cable on one of the bikes and I'm on my own. I've found a couple of local shops that will work on mechanical components of bikes they don't sell but I'd have to pay out of pocket and hope Lectric reimburses me. Not to mention they are booked out up to 3 weeks.
Bottom line, ebikes purchased online are fine if you're comfortable with DIY. Otherwise, consider spending more and buying from a local shop.
Better yet, Costco sells some lower-end Sondor bikes for about the same cost as Lectric XPs. Anything goes wrong, you can return it anytime. They use full-size wheels though so aren't as portable as the Lectrics.
I've had to resort to DIY. I guess that's not too bad since I've been forced to learn basic maintenance and adjustments like disc brakes, derailleur adjustments, etc, but now I need to replace the derailleur cable on one of the bikes and I'm on my own. I've found a couple of local shops that will work on mechanical components of bikes they don't sell but I'd have to pay out of pocket and hope Lectric reimburses me. Not to mention they are booked out up to 3 weeks.
Bottom line, ebikes purchased online are fine if you're comfortable with DIY. Otherwise, consider spending more and buying from a local shop.
Better yet, Costco sells some lower-end Sondor bikes for about the same cost as Lectric XPs. Anything goes wrong, you can return it anytime. They use full-size wheels though so aren't as portable as the Lectrics.
PedalUma
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Petaluma, CA
I just installed a $20 shift cable on a bike last night. I ran it through new premium housing with gun oil. Most internet bikes come with the fifty-cent grade cables. The $6.00 ones are ten-times better. I did this when I installed a new 11-50 cassette and derailleur on an electric cargo bike.
SDGuitarMan
Member
- Region
- USA
What I'm not seeing is how to open the shifter housing to pull the old cable out.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
the cable pushes out so there may only be a hole covered in a plug.
SHIMANO TOURNEY Thumb Shifter Plus 7-speed | SHIMANO BIKE-EU
The SHIMANO TOURNEY TY SL-FT55-7R is a thumb shifter for mountain bikes that features SHIMANO's OPTICAL GEAR DISPLAY, which tells riders what gear position is selected while riding.
bike.shimano.com
SDGuitarMan
Member
- Region
- USA
Thanks. That's the one. I'll have to take a closer look at it over the weekend. I didn't see any screws on it so like you said, it may just be a plug that pops out.the cable pushes out so there may only be a hole covered in a plug.
SHIMANO TOURNEY Thumb Shifter Plus 7-speed | SHIMANO BIKE-EU
The SHIMANO TOURNEY TY SL-FT55-7R is a thumb shifter for mountain bikes that features SHIMANO's OPTICAL GEAR DISPLAY, which tells riders what gear position is selected while riding.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
the cable wraps around the shifter so it will come out at the end of the travel
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
or its lost the first time you remove it
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
If I remember right, the shifter must be in either first gear or the top gear for that particular shifter (7th, 8th, or 9th), but it does push out from a little hole under the shifter arm.
I say hang in there. You've been fine to this point, why quit now? This is a little more difficult, but there are plenty of how to YouTube videos. Watch a couple to get a feel for how it's done and go from there.... Betting your going to find the price of that cable isn't going to be worth the hassle of dealing with the bike manf's refund policy....
If you aren't careful, you can be self reliant on that bike and tell the shops what they can do with their 3 week waits....
I say hang in there. You've been fine to this point, why quit now? This is a little more difficult, but there are plenty of how to YouTube videos. Watch a couple to get a feel for how it's done and go from there.... Betting your going to find the price of that cable isn't going to be worth the hassle of dealing with the bike manf's refund policy....
If you aren't careful, you can be self reliant on that bike and tell the shops what they can do with their 3 week waits....
I suppose if you own your own bicycle shop you are free to take or refuse any work you wish. I can understand them not wanting to do electrical because there are so many variations of systems out there. The run of the mill bikes except the frame are made of pretty common components that are brand names that the majority of bikes use. Why any shop would refuse to work on those things is a puzzle to me. Maybe they are just mad because you bought a bicycle somewhere else? If that is the case they need an attitude adjustment and it is best to let them stew in their own pot. Maybe this kind of attitude is becoming normal, case in point. The rear quarter panel of my SUV got dinged so I took it to the brand dealer and was told that they only do body work on cars you bought from us. I bought cars from them in the past but not the one that got dinged. Will I buy another car from them. NO.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
a lot of it is those really cheap bikes are a pain to work on. it costs the same to work on them but the parts are so cheap its hard to make them right. and if you buy a cheap bike are you willing to pay to have it repaired? working on cheap bikes can be very frustrating and actually cost more because so many things can be wrong with it.
jabberwocky
Well-Known Member
Lots of reasons.
-Cheap mail order bikes are a pain to work on. Shop may not be confident they can even repair it to an acceptable level without replacing components, and don't want to take responsibility for a bike that may not have been built correctly to start with.
-Shop work in general isn't hugely profitable, a mechanic repairing a mail order bike is a mechanic not doing something that could be making them more money (assembling entry level bikes for new customers, helping people in the shop select and purchase accessories, working on customer bikes, etc).
-Shops have been super busy the past few years, so why tie up a mechanic working on a bike for someone who they won't think will be a repeat customer. Shops have had way more work than they can handle at times.
Knowing people who own and work at shops, I'd say most of them will try to get anyone who walks through the door rolling again. But its understandable to me when a shop does opt out. If local support is important to you, its definitely best to buy from a local shop.
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