Take it to the shop or DIY- a Poll

The price list is Lulz:
Fit lock - £5
Fit Quill stem- £14
Fit ahead stem - £7
....

Public liability insurance £400 p/a
Tools, park professional tool kit £5k, £3.5k trade if you are lucky
Van £3k
van insurance , not sure guessing £400 + min for business
tax £260 for small commercial I think
Fuel ???
time driving to and from jobs when you are not getting paid ???
time spent doing paper work when you are not getting paid.
self employied NI contributions
no sick pay
no holiday pay
carrying stock of cables, brake, blocks, chains, cassettes, freewheels, spokes £1000

plus I think the guy deserves a living.

Yes, Evans - I'm talking about you. Don't hold on to my bike for a week, only to tell me you don't have a press. And if I say I want the bearings loctited, it's because I actually want the bearings loctited.

Not sure why Evans is being mentioned here. We're talking about actual real cycle shops with real mechanics aren't we?

My fave Evans experience. 1 loose chain connector (bog standard 9 speed Sim fit) - £9.99. I think not.

Public liability insurance £400 p/a
Tools, park professional tool kit £5k, £3.5k trade if you are lucky
Van £3k
van insurance , not sure guessing £400 + min for business
tax £260 for small commercial I think
Fuel ???
time driving to and from jobs when you are not getting paid ???
time spent doing paper work when you are not getting paid.
time spent dealing with complaints/warranty work (if applicable)
time spent drumming up work
time spent dealing with enquiries
self employied NI contributions
no sick pay
no holiday pay
carrying stock of cables, brake, blocks, chains, cassettes, freewheels, spokes £1000

I've been self-employed

I do most of the stuff myself.
Before I'd take it in to have a headset fitted, but the last time I've done it myself (accumulating more and more tools).

I'd definitely have the brakes bled on my mountain bike by a professional. Same for trueing or building the wheels. And maybe fine tuning the gears.

Saying that, the only time I went into the shop last year, was because of the puncture on my lo-pro. Hipster me :-)

I've been self-employed

You forgot to add time you waste on errands during the business hours for your family who think that self-employed equals non-employed.

I do most of the stuff myself.
Before I'd take it in to have a headset fitted, but the last time I've done it myself (accumulating more and more tools).

I'd definitely have the brakes bled on my mountain bike by a professional.

Why? It's a simple job and bleed kits are cheap as chips - you'd save yourself a fortune.

You forgot to add time you waste on errands during the business hours for your family who think that self-employed equals non-employed.

HA! So true.

Why? It's a simple job and bleed kits are cheap as chips - you'd save yourself a fortune.

It's because I've never looked into it.

The same for the wheel building.

The same for tuning the gears. Hutch (Retro Di Corsa) did it for me before.
I've managed to put gears on my Simoncini after a long battle with an index shifter with a missing spring, but I might still go to him to fine tune the changes.

DIY for me, the original investment in tools have paid for themselves several times over so well worth while. The only thing I haven't attempted yet is a wheel build.

LIke everyone else, it depends on the specific job.

Installing a cheap shimano BB on an beater = DIY
Installing a Phil BB* on a nice bike = Shop

*the BB tools are about £40 - so if I was going to pop one on every bike maybe I'd buy them...but I'm not :(

Also (not that I own many), but fancy carbon bits often require specific toques, so I'd be inclined to pay someone for that...and have them incur the liability/not risk voiding warrenties, etc.

I like the point about whats enjoyable. Money is often a motivatior for me, but next time I fit canti's I'll prob ask a shop. That said I'm glad I can sort of set them up now. Wheelbuilding/truing I like and especially truing is a quick easy job. Cables and bartape always seems to make me angry, altho I like the final result as it usually symbolises the very, very, end of a build.

DIY everytime.

The workshop may disagree ;)

You forgot to add time you waste on errands during the business hours for your family who think that self-employed equals non-employed.

Definitely, I had forgot this pro/con of being SE

I do about 99% of work DIY, I can't change tubs and I can't be bothered to learn. I find it interesting how your perspective on what you would do yourself changes over time. The first couple of times I built up a BMX from scratch I had the BB and headset cups installed by a shop. One time I bought a frame second hand, I picked it up Saturday and painted it overnight. The next day my LBS was closed so I rang up a mate who told me what to do and I picked up a mallet and hammered them in.

Since I started working on my car, doing services, changing brakes, trimming chunks of metal off calipers, fitting suspension etc, I don't even think twice about working on my bike. If I'm happy chucking my car around a racetrack at 100+ mph after I've worked on it, I'm quite happy pootling around town on my bicycle.

It's because I've never looked into it.

The same for the wheel building.

The same for tuning the gears. Hutch (Retro Di Corsa) did it for me before.
I've managed to put gears on my Simoncini after a long battle with an index shifter with a missing spring, but I might still go to him to fine tune the changes.

Taint. Wheel building is an order of magnitude harder than general wrentching, in that a modicum of competence is required to do even a shite job.

Tuning gears it like....ohh... using a spoon to eat soup with.

The only thing I haven't changed on a bike is the headset, the tools to do that cost a bomb too.

I do it myself now. I used to whack the cups in with hammer and an old encyclopaedia as a block, but i made a press out of a long bolt and some washers. I use a bit of PVC pipe to install the crown race

I do it myself now. I used to whack the cups in with hammer and an old encyclopaedia as a block, but i made a press out of a long bolt and some washers. I use a bit of PVC pipe to install the crown race

Yup. Collect winner's medal Sir.