I love working on my own bike so I always encourage folks to do as much as their time/space/ability/knowledge allows.
But, your example illustrates my point perfectly. When you’re at work what is your time worth?
$30/20-minutes is actually low when you consider most shops’ hourly rates. Factor in shop supplies, tooling, and the fact that a certain percentage of bleeds take longer and some turn into nightmares and then look at what good service writing, wrenching, and follow up cost - especially with the labour pressure locally (Vancouver+) as great career mechanics look to maximize their income vs. cost of living - and there’s probably a solid argument that the average shop is abusing their bottom line with a blanket brake bleed charge of $30.
I know that isn’t going to be a popular opinion but I’ve been on the other end of those numbers and it’s the truth. I haven’t even brought in how much of that $30 is going into local triple-net sq/ft.
I’m not crying for local shops - there’s lots of hard businesses - but the idea that the good ones don’t deliver value/$ on service drives me nuts.
Nov. 16, 2018, 9:35 a.m. - Andrew Major
I love working on my own bike so I always encourage folks to do as much as their time/space/ability/knowledge allows. But, your example illustrates my point perfectly. When you’re at work what is your time worth? $30/20-minutes is actually low when you consider most shops’ hourly rates. Factor in shop supplies, tooling, and the fact that a certain percentage of bleeds take longer and some turn into nightmares and then look at what good service writing, wrenching, and follow up cost - especially with the labour pressure locally (Vancouver+) as great career mechanics look to maximize their income vs. cost of living - and there’s probably a solid argument that the average shop is abusing their bottom line with a blanket brake bleed charge of $30. I know that isn’t going to be a popular opinion but I’ve been on the other end of those numbers and it’s the truth. I haven’t even brought in how much of that $30 is going into local triple-net sq/ft. I’m not crying for local shops - there’s lots of hard businesses - but the idea that the good ones don’t deliver value/$ on service drives me nuts.