7/12    I'm very mechanically inclined and I've been able to clean my
        front and back shifters, as well as installing and adjusting
        indexed derailleurs (I'm familiar with the HI/LO screws). Are
        there other reasons why I should pay $45 to my local bike shop,
        or $75 to REI to get a "tune-up"?
        \_ No.  -tom
           \_ what about for true'ing his wheels?
              \_ Bike shops tend to do a shitty job of truing wheels; I'm sure
                 REI is worse.  And it's not like it's rocket science; when
                 you tighten a spoke, the rim moves towards that spoke, and
                 you want spoke tensions to be roughly equal (for rear wheels,
                 roughly equal relative to other spokes on the same side of
                 the wheel).  -tom
                 \_ Thanks tom, I feel the same as well. I spent $50 for
                    some guy to tune my bike thinking that he'd make it all
                    nice again. Turns out that he adjusted the brake badly
                    (one side of the brake-pad was favored by a lot over the
                    other one), an easy job that I could have done myself in
                    5 minutes. Pretty much the only thing that he did was
                    cleaning and lubbing the chains, which IMHO, I could have
                    done a much better job cleaning, and pumping the tires.
                    So actually, I have no idea why everyone tells me that I
                    should go to a mechanic to get my bike tuned. No mechanic
                    cares about his job as much as I care about my bike.
                    $50 down the drain, live and learn.
                 \_ Why do you hate REI?  I've only had one experience with
                    their bike mechanics, but it was overwhelmingly positive.
                    I broke down a ways from home, and had just been refused
                    help at any price from the little snot at the local
                    independently owned bike shop, and I walked down the street
                    to REI and go the problem fixed in minutes for five bucks.
                    Anecdotal?  Yes.  But I've never heard anecdotal evidence
                    that they suck either.