Help with building custom bike thru LBS (long)

[Thorn]

I'm building up a second Waterford this winter. On neither did I get a detailed quote. The price was within the ballpark of what I expected so I just trusted the shop that the prices they quoted me are fair.

Perhaps I'm just naive, but trust is important. As I've dealt with this LBS over the last year, I've more and more stepped to trust and away from questioning prices. Sometimes the price I pay for a part or serverice seems high, but other times I wonder how the shop is going to make enough money to be in business next summer. It all works out, I've learned a lot along the way, and they really treat my bikes well.

If it makes you feel better with a detailed quote, do it, but, my opinion is that if the overall cost is within your ballpark estimate, go with it.

[indysteel]

I'm building up a second Waterford this winter. On neither did I get a detailed quote. The price was within the ballpark of what I expected so I just trusted the shop that the prices they quoted me are fair.

Perhaps I'm just naive, but trust is important. As I've dealt with this LBS over the last year, I've more and more stepped to trust and away from questioning prices. Sometimes the price I pay for a part or serverice seems high, but other times I wonder how the shop is going to make enough money to be in business next summer. It all works out, I've learned a lot along the way, and they really treat my bikes well.

If it makes you feel better with a detailed quote, do it, but, my opinion is that if the overall cost is within your ballpark estimate, go with it.

Thanks for the insight, ladies. My gut tells me to go ahead and question--politely--the cost of the bars, but to otherwise let the other issues go. I agree that trust is important and the shop has been very fair to me in other ways. I've priced everything included in the quote and the markup is about what I expected. If I included shipping in that, the price difference is even less. It sure adds up though. I prepared myself for the sticker shock, but it's still a lot to take in. The irony is that if he hadn't mention the $100 price differential, I would have thought nothing about paying $200 for the build.

I will say that, while getting a new bike is fun and exciting, it's also kind of stressful. I really hope it works out in the end.

[ilima]

Don't feel guilty about saving yourself money. The shop sure doesn't feel guilty about jacking your money.

You should get quotes for individual items. Otherwise, they just pulled the quote out of their a##.

I find it truly obnoxious that you a buying a boutique brand of bike and that they will not give you the build discount of $100. What if you already had the parts sitting around?

I had my LBS build up a bike of parts that I got on ebay, craigslist and discount online stores. I decided that the several hundred dollars I would save was just too much. I think I paid $130 for the build earlier this year; the cost of the build didn't differ if I bought the parts through them or not.

Do not let the LBS steal your money. And if you get really fed up, contact Carl Strong about having a custom bike built. Folks over on RBR rave about his work.

[indysteel]

I think it's obnoxious, too, that they're not giving me the discounted rate, but I'm also trying to keep the bigger picture in mind. One moment, I'm pissed off. The next, I'm zen about it. There are other things the shop has done--like refit me at no additional expense on my Bianchi after changes I made to it months earlier through another shop caused some biomechanical problems--that make me want to cut them some slack. But then again, I'm throwing them a big chunk of business at a time when a lot of people are cutting WAY back on luxury items.

Argh. There are times that I feel like my most complicated relationship in my life is with my LBS. I usually reserve that role for my mother!

[Biciclista]

and the truth of the matter is that even great bike shops don't always deliver the bike you wanted.
in some ways, by going custom, you stand a greater chance of it not being exactly what was planned.
my husband had chroming done on his bike. It went back to the chrome shop 3 times. In the end, he did not get what he asked for.
Another person i know wanted plenty of fender clearance for his tandem. frame came back with enough room for 25mm tires and fenders, but no bigger. They were pretty upset.

good luck.
oh, and they are never done when they say they'll be!

[SadieKate]

Another person i know wanted plenty of fender clearance for his tandem. frame came back with enough room for 25mm tires and fenders, but no bigger. They were pretty upset.

Was the frame replaced? A max size of 25mm tires on a tandem is just stupid.

[Biciclista]

that's max with fenders. And i don't know how it was resolved.

[dachshund]

My advice is to politely question any obvious mis-quotes. They could have just made a typo or innocent mistake. I didn't get a price breakdown other than a general difference in total price based on specific upgrades. But this isn't to say that you shouldn't ask for one.

My experience taught me to ask anything and everything about what they're putting on the bike. I made mistakes by not asking enough questions or getting confirmation about the parts and the schedule. I would recommend being overly assertive on this, to prevent misunderstandings. Some of the "odd" part recommendations could be choices they make for the average customer. Wheels are really important - if you want something different, then push for it. It can all be redone, but it adds to delays in getting your bike. We had several verbal agreements that were forgotten, and then I made sure we had written or email confirmation of everything.

For what its worth, my LBS includes a 90 day free pass on making changes, where they only charge the difference in the price of the components. No labor charges, in other words, to swap out something I didn't like after riding the bike for a while.