VeloFix prices are absolutely ridiculous. $229 for ebike assembly? Are they crazy?

[AZOldTech]

I suggest for those that can not do the assembly themselves to call your local bike shops in your area and ask them how much they will charge you for an ebike assembly. I bet it will be a lot lower than VeloFix. Also there is another company called Velotooler that looks to only charge $90 but I don't know if that is for a bike or an e-bike.
My local bike shop will charge $90 no matter if it's a regular bike or e-bike.
https://www.velofix.com/services/build/
https://velotooler.com/mechanics

 

[indianajo]

Velofix is national including high cost areas like NYC Boston & LA. Lots of taxes in those areas. Also high insurance costs and delays in traffic. Risk of theft of tools or of the van.
Running a truck is expensive anywhere. $40000 for a pickup or more for a high roof city van. I have skills to do a local piano/organ service business, but refuse to buy a truck or van with these fixed costs. Have to work your *** off to pay those costs.

 

[Ken M]

I think it's pretty clear that it costs to bring the assembly service to your location. Getting a shop to do it for $90 and having to drop off the bike and later having to drive back and pick it up may end up costing you more than $229.

Personally I think this is a sad reflection of just how stupid and lazy our society has become. Finishing the assembly of a bike is not that hard yet so many can't do it. I deal with that with my own company - I sell a product that requires a couple minutes to install and then a couple minutes to service about once a year and virtually non of my customers can do either without being hand held thru the processes. Maybe we should all look in the mirror and admit we are becoming uneducated and lazy and do something about it. Don't beat up Velofix for doing the best they can to fill this "skills" gap.

I'll now get hammered by those that say they are so busy watching the Kardashians and organizing their food stamps they can't possibly find the time to learn anything.

 

[Ken M]

I think that one of the challenges for mobile services is going to be servicing cheap bikes that people buy at Walmart that are going to expert service costs to be less as well and that is simply not possible. People that buy cheap bikes will likely find out that more service will be needed and the cost of ownership will quickly exceed just buying a quality bike in the first place.

I remember some service techs telling me that cheap bikes owners could not understand why the hourly rate for their service was the same as if the bike was a $10,000 high quality bike. Service providers need to charge a reasonable rate but they can't vary that rate based on how much the bike originally cost.

 

[Merc]

I live in Los Angeles and I received a quote of $139.00 for assembly which included a follow up from Velofix. I chose not to use them and assembled it myself after watching instructional videos for my ebike and using this wonderful forum as my resource.

 

[bob armani]

I suggest for those that can not do the assembly themselves to call your local bike shops in your area and ask them how much they will charge you for an ebike assembly. I bet it will be a lot lower than VeloFix. Also there is another company called Velotooler that looks to only charge $90 but I don't know if that is for a bike or an e-bike.
My local bike shop will charge $90 no matter if it's a regular bike or e-bike.
https://www.velofix.com/services/build/
https://velotooler.com/mechanics

Yes you are correct. There are a couple of local companies like Velofix that will perform mobile service and assembly on any bike for less than half the price of Velofix's price list. They may get priced out of the market if customers continue to find competitors at much more reasonable rates. I am sure Velo is great, however, at those price points they can't be that much better IMO. Perhaps it depends where you live??

 

[bob armani]

I live in Los Angeles and I received a quote of $139.00 for assembly which included a follow up from Velofix. I chose not to use them and assembled it myself after watching instructional videos for my ebike and using this wonderful forum as my resource.

I concur. YT has saved me loads of $$$ with DIY bike stuff opposed to bringing the bike into my LBS. I have even rented expensive bike tools for a few hours for the bigger stuff. A lot easier than expected if you take your time and re-watch videos when needed. However, LBS is great for other stuff that is beyond my area of expertise. They seem like they are always willing to help with small or large jobs. Good to build a rapport with them.