TOMAS
Senior Retro Guru
Cheers for the positive comments guys! In answer to the how do I set my rates - I took one look at what Halfords, Evans etc do for their money and nearly spat my coffee out! All my prices are 'from' - if I get there and discover it needs more work I will charge fairly and accordingly. Full service from £49.95 (this is pretty much a full tear down) - hubs, BB (where unsealed) & h.set stripped/regreased. Gears indexed, brakes tweeked, pads and chain checked for condition/wear, cables ran through with GT85, quill stem and seatpost greased, tyres inflated, bike washed down and chain degreased, every bolt on the bike checked. It takes me on average between 1-2 hours to do the above.
Mini service is from £29.95 and is as above without anything stripped or re-greased - just check preload of bearings and everything else. If the bike is particularly shit up, freewheel needs clean out/relube, punctures etc then I charge a bit more or if further out than on my doorstep, generally I cover a 6-7 mile radius. I also build my clients into runs, i.e like today I head out on a loop of approx 8 miles, dropped off 5 bikes and picked up 3, all in one run than took me around hour and half (plus a stop off a rural bakery I love as a treat lol).
It might be just me but I feel that there is a definite movement happening, it was happening well before covid but covid has cemented it, no longer do ppl want to deal with massive corporate giants that are helping fund a CEO buy his second super yacht etc, its all about local community now and convenievnce - why would someone want to drive to the city centre with a dirty bike in their car to have to pay for parking to visit the big brand bike shop, to be told to return to collect in 2 weeks time when I come to the customers doorstep and often have bikes turned around in 48-72 hrs where no new non-stocked parts are needed.
In terms of stock, im currently mainly using ebay but generally just shop about online - I actually find ebay is cheaper than CRC/Wiggle at present, which have hiked prices of parts over recent couple of months. I carry a fair bit of stock in (stored safely in the loft haha) and order accordingly i.e when I get down to just one left or if cables/pads/tubes when I have 4-5 left. I've been ordering some bits from Europe and incredibly it arrives within 3 working days and often as cheap or cheaper than UK at present (even with postage)! I havent event bothered trying for trade accts as im very small and have no trading history, besides I imagine the markup will be tiny anyhow - i'm only really in it to make money out of my labour, not really the parts I supply.
dazdc5 comment about gumption, it was a fairly simple route for me - when sat bored at home in lockdown as a self employed person with £ in the bank, a big garage full of tools and machines and every time I rode past the cycle shop down the road I saw a que outside, not to mention every tom dick and harry contacting me on social media about repairs to their bikes as im the local 'bike guy' it was fairly simple - as mentioned previously the industry I was in (court enforcement) has died a death at present - even if I went back into it I doubt I'd earn a lot and for very high risk - it was getting tougher and tougher out there and unless the pay started to reflect this (It was going the other way), then time to get out.
Mini service is from £29.95 and is as above without anything stripped or re-greased - just check preload of bearings and everything else. If the bike is particularly shit up, freewheel needs clean out/relube, punctures etc then I charge a bit more or if further out than on my doorstep, generally I cover a 6-7 mile radius. I also build my clients into runs, i.e like today I head out on a loop of approx 8 miles, dropped off 5 bikes and picked up 3, all in one run than took me around hour and half (plus a stop off a rural bakery I love as a treat lol).
It might be just me but I feel that there is a definite movement happening, it was happening well before covid but covid has cemented it, no longer do ppl want to deal with massive corporate giants that are helping fund a CEO buy his second super yacht etc, its all about local community now and convenievnce - why would someone want to drive to the city centre with a dirty bike in their car to have to pay for parking to visit the big brand bike shop, to be told to return to collect in 2 weeks time when I come to the customers doorstep and often have bikes turned around in 48-72 hrs where no new non-stocked parts are needed.
In terms of stock, im currently mainly using ebay but generally just shop about online - I actually find ebay is cheaper than CRC/Wiggle at present, which have hiked prices of parts over recent couple of months. I carry a fair bit of stock in (stored safely in the loft haha) and order accordingly i.e when I get down to just one left or if cables/pads/tubes when I have 4-5 left. I've been ordering some bits from Europe and incredibly it arrives within 3 working days and often as cheap or cheaper than UK at present (even with postage)! I havent event bothered trying for trade accts as im very small and have no trading history, besides I imagine the markup will be tiny anyhow - i'm only really in it to make money out of my labour, not really the parts I supply.
dazdc5 comment about gumption, it was a fairly simple route for me - when sat bored at home in lockdown as a self employed person with £ in the bank, a big garage full of tools and machines and every time I rode past the cycle shop down the road I saw a que outside, not to mention every tom dick and harry contacting me on social media about repairs to their bikes as im the local 'bike guy' it was fairly simple - as mentioned previously the industry I was in (court enforcement) has died a death at present - even if I went back into it I doubt I'd earn a lot and for very high risk - it was getting tougher and tougher out there and unless the pay started to reflect this (It was going the other way), then time to get out.
