Just wondering what you guys would/do pay for a full bike build at your LBS from the bare bones up. Assume it’s a full electrical groupset with disc brakes and all components are supplied by the customer and fit the supplied frame correctly! I’ve had some wildly different quotes so I’m just wondering where the truth lies and who is adding ‘pandemic pricing’.
what kind of bike? All new parts? Do you have everything (down to the tiniest piece) or will they have to assist you with that? Where are you located? Are you expecting a mini bike fit and alterations too? Will you be an annoying customer? Are you going to watch over the mechanics shoulder the whole time and backseat drive? Etc 
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All parts supplied, even down to the last detail. No time pressure to finish and they can work unsupervised. Location is irrelevant really as I’m interested in what you guys think is reasonable, but I’m the US in a city with a vibrant cycling culture and several options for the work.
And just a basic build. The fit and adjustments would be considered extra.
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I would expect some differences as to whether your mechanic has priced in the hassle and time of fully intergrated handlebar cable routing, or not.
Still too little info provided imo for any more specific answer but to take a swag at it, $250-600 depending.
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I live in Germany and drove two hours to a trusted mechanic to do my build, complete with wheels. Paid nearly 300€ but was worth it for a 5000€ investment
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My shop lists a full build for a bike with discs as “Starting at $349” (Australian) depending on complexity. Presumably things like integrated front ends are what pushes this up.
Same thing here in Aus…do you want a good mechanic who can finish the bike off nice for you? Difference between good mechanics and bad ones here is a bit of a chasm. I was going to say around 500 bucks in trump dolleridoos is a good starting point.
It’s only a day’s work. What would you expect someone to earn for that, + a margin?
Thanks, the issue is that I’ve been quoted anywhere from $300 to $800 for exactly the same work. I’ve had excellent reviews of the guys at the $300 mark so I’m not worried about their quality of work. I just find the variance pretty startling and wondered what others would think was reasonable.
Spending more money isn’t guaranteed to get you a better product, but you are guaranteed to spend more money.
I expect the majority of quotes to be at the lower third mark of a price range. People can quote high on work they’re not familiar with, they don’t normally do, or they don’t want / need to do.
I’d expect 4-500 dollars. Good to hear you have trust with one of the lower quoted mechanics. Sounds like you have a good option! Let us know how it goes
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£100-300 I think.
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$800 is “I don’t want to do this, please go away” money.
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$300. $800 is crazy.
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I’d expect no less than 300 - I’ve paid 100 for mine but I was in good terms with the mechanic and was his sous mechanic while he helped me put it together.
I’ve built a few bikes since - I’d usually get the mechanic to do the BB if it’s press fit but everything else is pretty much straight forward.
If you are concerned about cost - it is worth trying to put together yourself, and if you don’t own tools - the money u’d have spent on the mechanic will pay for the tools at least.
However if your bike is worth 4k + then I’d fork up the money for a proper job
Please don’t pay more than 500
Beware that some shops will charge you more because you didn’t buy the parts from them. Of course, that is their choice but it might explain any big differences in build costs.
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OEM get big discounts on parts, consumers don’t get, so building your own bike will always be much more expensive than buying a ready made OEM and that’s without labour cost even. So unless you want something very special or building a bike is a hobby I would just buy OEM.
yes, indeed, combine this with high workload and it makes sense they prefer to sell (invest there time) a build WITH components, for a LBS with spare time, the build cost might be much lower
I just paid $150 for a full build at my local shop. I purchased the frameset from them, but I brought the rest of the parts in.
Some of the prices mentioned here are insane, it’s not rocket science to assemble a bike. If I had to pay much more than $150 I’d just do it myself.