peepae Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 (edited) Do you buy your tyres yourself and then get them fitted or do you ask your local service guy to do it? I went to him yesterday and he said a set of tyres for my F800 would be 305 GBP without fitting - when I looked online for the same set / similar, I could get them for 220. He said he would charge more for fitting if I supplied the tyres lol... Edited May 13 by peepae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerontious Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Independent tyre fitters need to make a living. So the tyres they supply are generally from trade suppliers with an RRP that they stick to. The markup is probably quite good. So they profit from that as well as the charge they make for fitting. It all adds up. charging more for customer supplied tyres isn’t something I’ve ever come across. Places I’ve used have a standard fixed charge for loose wheels. And another fixed price for ride-in ride-out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepae Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 18 minutes ago, Gerontious said: Independent tyre fitters need to make a living. So the tyres they supply are generally from trade suppliers with an RRP that they stick to. The markup is probably quite good. So they profit from that as well as the charge they make for fitting. It all adds up. charging more for customer supplied tyres isn’t something I’ve ever come across. Places I’ve used have a standard fixed charge for loose wheels. And another fixed price for ride-in ride-out. Thanks - they were charging me 60 GBP fitting for their tyres (ride-in/out) and would be around 80-90 if I supplied them they said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 they need to make some money out of it after all their doing you a service -and everyone takes a cut of distributions, storage, delivery....sounds about right for cost so your not being ripped off thats just the cost of it, you could just get a different set of tyres like an older generation of the same to get something cheaper -what tyres are they? there are some terrible sellers on line. looking at it another way they wouldnt know what or where you got those tyres from and there storage conditions so if there was any fault it would be easy to blame the fitter and they have to sign their name to it... you could save a few quid over the years of buying the equipment to do it (simple hand operating ones) but that means buying it and storing it in the first place. if you get to know the guys and be a "easy going regular" they might more often lower the cost or throw in some other nices that others would charge, sometimes it pays off to keep it local woth an independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlesticks Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 For the bikes with centre stands I get them delivered and fit them myself. Quite enjoy the process, but you need a compressor, levers, wheel balancing kit, tools, ability to not scratch wheels (or worry too much about it) tyre paste etc. Don't have a bead breaker - I find using the levers is fine. It's part technique, part brute force. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Westerly Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 I get my local bike shop to do them. Their prices fitted are not bad. Certainly within the realm of not causing a "how much?!!!" response. Its also my small contribution to trying to keep them going. When I had a chain they used to do that too. As I detest fettling generally I'm more than happy to farm it out to someone else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Davey Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Apologies for hijacking the thread, does anyone balance their tyres? Found one of my weights next to my front wheel, and I can see where it was stuck, but I've never noticed weights on bike wheels. Wondering whether to pop to my friendly local tyre fitter for another? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlesticks Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 8 minutes ago, Simon Davey said: Apologies for hijacking the thread, does anyone balance their tyres? Found one of my weights next to my front wheel, and I can see where it was stuck, but I've never noticed weights on bike wheels. Wondering whether to pop to my friendly local tyre fitter for another? If you didn't want to get a wheel balancer you could funnel in some dyna beads. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerontious Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 29 minutes ago, Simon Davey said: Apologies for hijacking the thread, does anyone balance their tyres? Found one of my weights next to my front wheel, and I can see where it was stuck, but I've never noticed weights on bike wheels. Wondering whether to pop to my friendly local tyre fitter for another? Go for a ride. You might be surprised to find that you don’t notice any difference. Of course - if you do, then you have options. Very strange for a weight to come off though. I have never had that happen. Maybe the last fitter didn’t clean the spot properly. If so then that’s a bad sign - re. Care and Attention to detail. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Davey Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 1 hour ago, Fiddlesticks said: If you didn't want to get a wheel balancer you could funnel in some dyna beads. I'll look those up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Davey Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 56 minutes ago, Gerontious said: Go for a ride. You might be surprised to find that you don’t notice any difference. Of course - if you do, then you have options. Very strange for a weight to come off though. I have never had that happen. Maybe the last fitter didn’t clean the spot properly. If so then that’s a bad sign - re. Care and Attention to detail. I'm going out tonight, just to squeeze in a few miles before a week of rain, when I'll be doing an oil and filter change. Amongst my excitement, I'll try to find head space for thinking about the balancing.. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
husoi Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 For some time I have been checking price online then ask the usual guy to make the same price Then because I'm a regular I get free fitting 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick the wanderer Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Here in Lincolnshire we are lucky to have Mark Brunt supplying and fitting our tyres. http://www.mobile-bike-tyres.co.uk/index.html If I was you I'd be looking online to check what your tyre choice prices are, and comparing with your local choices of fitters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 very rare to throw a weight unless its shite weights or shoddy fitter work. my local mech is old school (racers way) and uses gyro...weve had a few tyres changed by him and never found a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Davey Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 1 hour ago, RideWithStyles said: very rare to throw a weight unless its shite weights or shoddy fitter work. my local mech is old school (racers way) and uses gyro...weve had a few tyres changed by him and never found a problem. They hadn't wiped the spot, I ran my finger over it, and it's dirty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi Bullfrog Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 I buy tyres online and fit them myself. Balancing is pretty straightforward with a balancing stand. The CBF is tubeless. I've not had to replace the tubed tyres on the Bobber yet and I'm probably OK until next year on that score. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlylegend Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 10 hours ago, Fiddlesticks said: For the bikes with centre stands I get them delivered and fit them myself. Quite enjoy the process, but you need a compressor, levers, wheel balancing kit, tools, ability to not scratch wheels (or worry too much about it) tyre paste etc. Don't have a bead breaker - I find using the levers is fine. It's part technique, part brute force. I do the same. Not really for the cost, it's just that I like doing a job myself. I don't have a compressor but most of the time my portable electric pump will get them seated and inflated. If I get a stubborn one I just take it down to our local filling station and use their compressor. Bead braking was sometimes a bit of a bind until I got these, dead easy now ! A basic wheel balancing jig isn't expensive and well worth getting. A wheel will need to be well out of balance before you'll feel it, especially a rear. But properly balanced wheels are very important. So work on your technique and the brute force will decrease... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepae Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 I'm mechanically disadvantaged as they say - I would not trust myself balancing a wheel that I want to ride quickly on... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 https://www.abbastands.co.uk/product-detail.asp?item=tyre-change-package&pid=38 from a trusted brand all the kit you need, knowledge and experience of use is not included. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Davey Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 (edited) 2 hours ago, RideWithStyles said: https://www.abbastands.co.uk/product-detail.asp?item=tyre-change-package&pid=38 from a trusted brand all the kit you need, knowledge and experience of use is not included. That looks damn good. I'd rather get someone else to do it though Edited May 14 by Simon Davey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 balancing the wheel with those stands is easy as the wheel barely has to be pushed/moved to show you what it needs. certainly less effort than fighting a tyre off the rim to be honest and some tyre brands are easier than others too. as mentioned before by fiddle and curly the worst part is getting the beading to seat if the tyre is being difficult... over a few tyre changes you can re cope the cost and its all money saved, your weights and rim protection replacements cost very little and a tiny tube of rim paste or diy version will last a lifetime plus do the mates as well to speed up the savings/earning and get better at it to boot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 I order online and fit and balance them myself! Have done for years This is after some monkey bent a brake disc for me 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepae Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 14 hours ago, Stu said: I order online and fit and balance them myself! Have done for years This is after some monkey bent a brake disc for me I would be this monkey on my own bike.. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Westerly Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Me too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastbob Posted May 19 Share Posted May 19 Anyone tried this ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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