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Overhauls
at BratBike
Brattleboro
Bicycle Shop will accept service jobs through the end of July,
2025. From August though the end of 2025 we will service only
bikes we have sold.
Imagine
what happens
if you smear some grease onto a plate and leave it on a shelf
for three or four years. That smear will dry out, harden,
and be much less useful as a lubricant. The same thing happens
to the grease in all your bearings, only with the added stresses
of moisture, dirt, and microscopic bits of metal worn off
from the bearing races. Grease gets used up and it needs to
be replaced.
Then
again, everything is wearing in proportion to how much it
gets used and how often it is cleaned and lubed. Here's a
listing of things that wear out, with the short-lived ones
at the top and the longer-lasting ones toward the bottom:
Mountain
bike
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Road
bike
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- brake shoes
- gear cables/housings
- brake cables
- chains
- rear cogs
- tires
- rims
- chainwheels
- wheel, crank, & head bearings
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- gear
cables/housings
- brake
cables
- tires
- chains
- rear
cogs
- brake
shoes
- everything
else
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You
are either doing preventive maintenance or damage
control. If your bike rides OK and you're coming up to
your third (mountain) or fourth (road) tuneup, you should
spring for an overhaul if you are in preventive maintenance
mode. Many people just keep riding until something is completely
shot, then bring it in for a complete rebuild. This kind of
damage control results in us replacing most or all the above
parts at the same time.
An
overhaul includes:
- Disassemble
the bike down to the bare frame.
- Thorough
cleaning and inspection of frame, fork, and all parts.
- Repack
or replace wheel, crank, and head bearings.
- Rebuild
bike with new parts as necessary.
- Tune
it up. Same as a regular tune up (see).
Should
you decide to have this work done, please mention to the service
write-up person that you have read this web page. That will
save you having to listen to this explanation all over again!
All
this costs $240 plus parts.
As
a very general example, a typical job on a $500-800 mountain
bike could be expected to run $350-400. If it really needed
everything down to chainrings and wheels, we would strongly
advise you to buy another bike. We more commonly do complete
overhauls on high-quality road bikes than on mountain bikes
becuase the harsh conditions experienced by mountain bikes
just grind everything up in a matter of three to five seasons
of hard use.
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