Bicycle Service and Repairs
Meet Eric, Owner/ Operator of JRA Bike Shop.
JRA Bike Shop has a full-service repair department.
If you ride a bike, chances are it will need service at some point. Maybe that time is now. See repair procedures below to start the process of having a mechanic evaluate and repair your bicycle.
Repair Procedures:
Temps are dropping, it’s dark by 6:30, and we’re all heading inside to seek solace in the arms of pumpkin spice everythings, so service lead times are shorter, sometimes verging on immediate!
Swing by any time with your bike to drop it off for service, and we’ll get all your info figured out when you pop in.
OR
If you’d like to speed up your drop off, you can still set up a service appointment ahead of time. Please email the following to info@jrabikeshop.com
1) your name (first and last)
2) your phone number
3) the make, model, and color of your bike (color makes it so we can find your bike in the shop)
4) a description of the problem/symptoms your bike is experiencing*
*(please understand that "tune-up" is not a symptom, but a diagnosis, and a blanket term --see below)
Once we've notified you that we've started you a work order, we’ll probably let you know you can drop off your bike anytime. Once you drop off the bike, we should be able to evaluate it within one business day. If your repairs can be completed for under $75, we will see to them at that time. If they will cost more than that, we will email you an estimate and the date we expect to be able to work on your bike. At this time, we are scheduling big jobs out 1-3 days after evaluations.
If your bike can be made safely rideable, you are welcome to collect it, keep riding, and drop off again before your scheduled service date. Just call, text, or email us that this is your intention so we can make sure the bike is in a safe and rideable condition. We will usually ask for a deposit or partial payment to hold your parts and appointment and to cover work done in the interest of making the bike rideable in the interim.
Please note that we are closed Sundays and Mondays.
If you decide not to have us go through with a repair once we’ve evaluated your bike and sent you a detailed estimate, we will likely charge you $15 for our time.
We charge an additional $40 for e-bikes, tandems, cargo bikes and other bikes that are unusually large, heavy, awkward, and difficult to put in a workstand.
Bike Commuters Read This:
If you rely on your bicycle for transportation, or if being without your bike for more than a day is difficult for you, please let us know in your email.
We can arrange to schedule your repair estimate on one day (whatever works best for your schedule). Then, if special order parts or more extensive repairs are needed, we can schedule the work out for a later date, but you keep riding in the interim.
We sometimes ask for a deposit to hold your spot and your parts for your second appointment.
A Note on “Tune-ups”
What do you charge for a tune-up? And how do I know if I need one? Hey, what even is a tune-up, anyway?
Great questions! The truth is that a tune-up is a blanket term for the work your bike needs. It will be different for every bike, and different at every shop. A bike that has not been ridden for 3 years and a bike that is ridden every day will not require the same repairs, but both riders will ask for tune-ups.
So, do you need a “tune-up,” or do you need someone to tell you what your bike needs?
The mechanics at JRA Bike Shop have a combined 70-plus years of experience working on bikes. We don’t expect you to know what’s wrong with your bike. You won’t have to choose from a complicated service menu or pre-pay for a service plan level. And we don't have priced out service packages worked up, because every bike is different, and so is every rider.
How we do this is we look at your bike, front to back, top to bottom. We’ll look at your chain, your gears, your tires, your brake pads, your cables and housing, your derailleurs and shifters, your wheels and hubs, and every little part of your bike that has a wear item: every bearing, seal, spoke, and bolt. We’ll make our recommendations and give you a custom estimate based on the needs of your bike and your usage.
So when you request a tune-up, or ask us how much a tune-up costs, the answer is “we don't know what that means for you, and we won’t know until we see your bike.” Once we evaluate its individual needs (and yours!), we’ll send you an estimate with our recommendations. We’ll be here to talk with you about it, explain why your bike needs those repairs, and we’ll get your approval before we do anything. That is what you are signing up for when you bring your bike to JRA.
Instead of asking us for a tune-up, you can try asking us to evaluate the needs of your bike, or for a repair estimate, or, heck, show us you read this and ask us for "The Full Kate McKinnon." We'll get you seen to.
FAQs
What services can your shop not perform?
suspension fork shock service
rear shock service
dropper post service
battery service (for e-bikes)*
motor service (for e-bikes)*
firmware updates (for e-bikes and electronic shifters)*
Shimano Di2 troubleshooting
SRAM AXS troubleshooting
some flat fixes for e-scooters, “electric unicycles,” and even on a few kinds of e-bikes (some have specialty tire sizes and require machine presses that many motorcycle shops have, but that we do not).
*To clarify, we can work on every other part of your mountain or e-bike. Need a new chain on your full sus? Cool, we got you. E-bike shifting need attention? We’re your shop. Need your suspension fork or rear shock serviced or rebuilt? We will make a recommendation.
What does JRA Stand For?
Tubes, friction shifting, Avid BB7s, external cable routing, Schwalbe Marathons, Chromoly steel, RainLegs, English threaded bottom bracket shells, the belief that almost any bike can be a gravel bike. Tubes.
No, come on, really, what does it stand for?
Oh, yer no fun.
Just Riding Along. It’s an old mechanic joke. Customer reports: I was just riding along and my derailleur got sucked into my wheel. Or my down dangler, as Pink Bike has it….
The bike I bought online says it comes 90% assembled. I can just finish that up myself, right?
We’d encourage you to check out the FAQ we have in our sales section about all that goes into building the bikes that wind up on our sales floor. The Global Mountain Bike Network has a good basic video on assembly of a modern mountain bike with links to additional videos on brake adjustment, shift adjustment, and hub adjustment as well, most of which will be required in your bike build, though they gloss over all of those in the video. and Park Tools has a decent one on building a simply geared rim brake cruiser bike, again with links to additional videos on setting up rim brakes and derailleurs. Below is a good time lapse video of a professional assembly much like we would do here in the shop on your new bike from the fine folks over at Durham Cycles in North Carolina.
As one mechanic interviewed in an old issue of PMBA notes, “‘Ninety percent assembled actually means ‘the parts are all in the right places.’ A proper assembly actually removes many previously installed parts to check fit and lubrication.”
Another way to think about it is that in addition to putting parts in the right place, most bikes right out of a box will still need the brake, shifting, wheel, hub and headset adjustments that would be considered part of a basic tune-up. So if you would seek a professional to give your bike a tune-up, you should probably enlist one to build your bike.
Watch this before you decide to try to build your new bike yourself.
Tubeless?
Honestly, we don't love it, and we cannot guarantee it. If you are having consistent problems with your tubeless setups, we highly recommend you try inner tubes. Remember inner tubes? They miss you. They miss the adventures you used to go on, the smell of the fresh outdoors, stopping for a beer at your favorite spot on the way back to the city. Go on, give em another try.
How much do you charge for … ?
A Standard Flat Fix: $30-$35. This is installing a new tube into a tire when the wheel and the tire are in good shape. Includes the price of the new tube, which can vary, hence the range. Add a few dollars more if you need a new rim strip.
Replacing a spoke on a tubed wheel: Typically $25-$30, same as truing a wheel, plus the price of the spoke.
Packing and shipping a bike: this really depends on the bike, but $85 is common for boxing an adult bike, and shipping is determined by weight, dimensions, and destination as calculated by BikeFlights. We can arrange all of that, including a pickup, for which we charge an additional $15.
Building a new or boxed bike: this also really depends on the bike, but $55 is common for single speed bikes and smaller kids bikes, and $75-$95 more common for geared and adult bikes. Be prepared for builds of e-bikes, mountain bikes with suspension, and high performance road bikes to be significantly higher. Please leave the bike in the box with all included parts and documentation if you would like us to build it.
A Tune-Up: see above
Anything else: we need to see your bike.
And boy-howdy are these rough guidelines on prices. We cannot give more specific quotes until we see and evaluate your bike.
Is that something I can do myself?
That’s a hard question for us to answer, for a variety of reasons. What can you do yourself? I’m sure I don’t know.
Is there somewhere else that can do that faster?
Again, hard question for us to answer. Maybe? You’re welcome to ask around, but we don’t have access to other shops’ service schedules.
