"As I am sure most of you are aware, Rivendell sends complete bikes mostly built with the exception of the stem, seat tube saddle and pedals"
This is a true statement about two VERY different things: 1. A pro at Rivendell, like Mark Abele, personally pulled together your build, did the entire build like the pro he is, and THEN handed it over to Antonio or somebody else who professionally boxed it up by removing the parts you list. 2. You bought a Riv Complete, which came in a box in a container from Asia and was partially assembled at the factory. Which of the two cases are we talking about? If it's #1, then I concur that it's not a huge job. You've already paid Mark to do "the build" and paid Antonio to do "the boxing". The job you are paying a shop for is not "a build". It's an "unboxing". Sure, if it's an unboxing, do it yourself. If it's #2, then to do it right, a lot of what has been "assembled" should really come apart so it can be done right. A $150 quote is roughly 2.5 hours of work, and that's about right for a good mechanic to execute a proper build on a Riv Complete, in my opinion. If you've never done any of that before, if you were determined to do it right, then budget for 2-3x that time. If you were determined to leave the pre-built stuff exactly as it is, and not re-do anything, that's another approach, but it's not a substitute for the $150 job you'd get from a good mechanic at a good shop. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 10:37:54 AM UTC-7 Dan wrote: > So my beautiful Appaloosa has arrived. I am practically foaming at the > mouth as I type. As I am sure most of you are aware, Rivendell sends > complete bikes mostly built with the exception of the stem, seat tube > saddle and pedals. I originally planned on bring my bike to a shop to have > them complete the build for me but after some shopping around, the shops > will charge a full build fee which averages around $150. That is far too > much for such little work in my opinion. > > I am no bike mechanic. I have always enjoyed tinkering though so I have > half a mind to attempt to put the rest together myself and then bring it to > a shop to be tuned, which would cost much less than a "full build". > > Should I go ahead and give it a shot? I have access to the proper tools, I > just do not know where to start and obviously do not want to damage > anything in the process. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1efd3ada-169f-4e6f-b7b6-8a1ec5918ebcn%40googlegroups.com.
