OK - so here is my review of this Bicycle Service from Brisbane based mobile bicycle mechanic, Bicycle Stu (see
http://www.bicyclestu.net for details).
Firstly, from a customer service perspective, Stu provided prompt responses to my emails and phone calls. He called to discuss options and was flexible in term of how and what I wanted done (eg pickup and return or service onsite etc). He explained up front what was included in the standard free service I had won, and was happy to negotiate some of this to suit my requirements, then quote for some other things I wanted done which were additional. All additional charges were reasonable and quoted up front. He turned up at the time he said he was going to, and performed the service in the time he said it would take. The end bill was sent electronically and I was able to pay online.
Now my bike is a 2010 Malvern Star Oppy C5 carbon fibre road bike with shimano 105 groupset and Mavic Aksium wheels. The bike is 2 years old and has done around 12,000 kms of all weather commuting. I bought the bike online (for a steal
) from a bike shop that had closed down and so came in a box for me to assemble myself. Since then, I have always done my own basic servicing, replacing tyres, brake pads, chains etc as well as tuning of gears. However, there was a couple of things that I have not been able to tune satisfactorily that Stu did an excellent job of. Mainly my headset which has always prone to making unsightly creaking/cracking noises. I had dissassembled, cleaned, greased and reassembled this a couple of times and only really been able to minimise but never eliminate the noises. Stu had a good look at that, found no basic problems, serviced and reassembled it and the noises are all gone !!!
He also picked up a couple of other issues like my rear derailleur hanger was bent 5 degrees. Hard to see by eye, but his special tool enabled him to detect and realign this. The rear shifting is definitely better although I had the read gear cable replaced at the same time so hard to tell how much is due to which issue.
So from a technical perspective, I thought Stu was very thorough in his approach and did a really good job on my bike. It certainly brought the "new bike" feel back to it, over and above what I was getting with my own servicing - primarily due to the headset and rear derailleur issues.
The other value I derived from the service was education. As a mobile mechanic, he brought all his tools and gear to my place and was happy for me to watch and discuss things as we went along. I enjoyed and learnt a lot from this.
So for people who get their bikes serviced, I'd definitely recommend him. He's technically very good and was great to deal with. His pricing also seems very reasonable compared to others.
For people who do their own servicing, I would also recommend considering him in his "come to you" format, for the benefits as described above.
See
http://www.bicyclestu.net for details.
Thanks to Stuart Wickham (aka Bicycle Stu) and BNA Forums for the free service.
