I know plenty of you will say I could have saved myself 27€ by doing it myself or got it done loads cheaper. But anyways here goes, I realised as I had to swerve to avoid a car while riding my really old hybrid bike today that the brakes were well over due being looked at.
So I got home and found the front cable almost shot through, and in fact it snapped as soon as I took pliers and allen key to it. The pads front and back were worn right down. So I chucked the bike in the car and went off to my LBS.
As a steady stream of customers (mostly french teens with flash MTBs in need of something) came into the shop I thought I would have to wait ages to get this fixed. But no, he took a quick shufty at the problem and said come back at 5 (it was 3). I came back to find new cables, new pads, and lo a thoroughly working bike brake wise, and all for 27€. Very satisfied.
Funny thing is last time I went in with my Bianchi, for which they replaced the bottom bracket. Good to know you get good service with flash and knackered bikes just the same.
