My husband-and-wife run LIBS is building my one and only bike (a Homer) from parts and charging me $100 for it, the price they charge for a full tune-up. They also charge $60/hour for a la carte services, as you point out. I am happy to recommend them to anyone in the Boston metro. They tastefully rehab older steel frames with new[er] parts and sell them for $200-$400; they only sell steel frame bikes and operate out of a used car lot's garage. Their inventory is like 3 new Surlys and maybe an All-State or two. The rest are rehabs and they are absolute professionals about everything they do. Mine isn't the first Riv they've built from parts either. Perhaps the bike shops around you are a bit less affordable or have to charge more to account for higher overhead, etc.
I'm not saying that Riv is *gouging*, I'm stating facts that there are more affordable places to buy the exact same parts and more affordable shops to build a bike. That is no way a slight on Riv, it's just facts. That said, I'm glad they promote and make a great margin on those good-cheap parts and builds because I'm grateful for what that has allowed them to do for bicycling as a whole. I appreciate their bikes and ethos, or else I wouldn't be on this forum. On Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 5:44:26 PM UTC-4 Bill Lindsay wrote: > "Your LIBS can likely assemble for ~$100 or less rather than Riv's $300 > charge" > > I'm going to call BS on this. I sincerely doubt that there is a bike shop > on earth, with a mechanic experienced-enough that I'd want them building my > bike, who would quote under $100 for a frame-up bike assembly, when I've > bought none of the parts from them and didn't buy the frame from them. > It's a 3-4 hour job. Any mechanic worth their salt is billing $1 a minute > for the shop to keep the lights on. > > There are bargains to be had out there, to be sure. If you luck-out and > find wheels on sale, good job. If you know how to find used parts for > cheap, terrific. The existence of cheap used parts does not make Rivendell > a price gouger, though. It's especially ungenerous to imply that, > particularly when Rivendell is unique in their praise and promotion of > good-cheap parts (like the Acera rear mech). That's my opinion. > > Bill Lindsay > El Cerrito, CA > > On Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 11:26:21 AM UTC-7 Robert Calton wrote: > >> I'd order the parts and then have your local independent bike shop >> assemble it, because ordering everything yourself is going to save you a >> considerable amount of money if you want the *exact* same parts build >> that Riv would put on. If you decide you want to spend the same amount of >> money as a Riv build package, you'll get *much* better parts. Your LIBS >> can likely assemble for ~$100 or less rather than Riv's $300 charge. Check >> out the builds on Blue Lug and have fun shopping. >> >> I don't want to diss Riv's part pricing, but you can find better prices >> elsewhere even for the same components. For example, Riv is selling the WI >> MI5/Atlas wheelset for over $1000 >> <https://www.rivbike.com/products/wheelset-white-industries-mi5-hubs-bto?variant=41760074498159>, >> >> then tack on a shipping fee and tax. I bought the *exact same wheelset* >> (with >> DT Swiss double-butted spokes) for $750 hand-built by ProWheelBuilder (they >> had a 15% off WI sell last month). No tax in my state, no build fee, free >> shipping. For Riv's cost for an Acera rear mech, you can get a gently used >> Deore XT. And so on. >> On Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 1:42:20 PM UTC-4 John Dewey wrote: >> >>> Patrick and others surely remember this one…unless rewritten mostly way >>> out date now. But that’s about where/when we started. >>> >>> It’s a long road full of triumphs and disasters. Add ‘em, more triumphs >>> for sure. That’s how/why we’re still here 🤪 >>> >>> Jock >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Tue, May 28, 2024 at 8:32 AM Michael <mcant...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi all, >>>> Ordered a Sam as my first Riv but unsure whether or not I should tackle >>>> building it up myself or just let Riv have at it. I have never built a >>>> bike >>>> before but I do have a workshop and am good with tools/mechanically >>>> inclined. >>>> >>>> Are there any specific steps that you would absolutely not recommend a >>>> beginner attempt? By the time i purchase specialty tools, it may have been >>>> wiser to just order it complete? >>>> >>>> Let me know what you guys think, I really don't want to do something >>>> stupid! >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>> 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-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/25e3bad5-587a-4d8f-bd29-8ca1f70295aen%40googlegroups.com >>>> >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/25e3bad5-587a-4d8f-bd29-8ca1f70295aen%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- 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 on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a73633e5-dba2-45da-b502-21b84b55ecden%40googlegroups.com.
