I just took my 750 hubs in to be laced to new rims and am having the shop mount and balance the tires, also bought tubes from them. Paid $25 a tube, $27 for each mount and $27 for each balance. A total of $158. Does this sound about right? thanks
$158 + tires = ?
It sounds like the going rate in your area. Tubes can be had for less, and why they charge the same amounts for first mounting and then balancing is beyond me.
This is exactly why I started rolling my own about 7 years ago. I figure the savings to be between $150.00 - $300.00 per set total, depending on the sale price of tires. Of course, I do all my friends' tires now, which is nice.
This site was/is my go-to DIY tire site:
http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.htmlThere are lots of other helpful sites, and I'd recommend starting with the next set. The biggest trick I learned was how to balance a tire by watching the Michelin Man at BIR one race weekend for about a half hour. Easy, fast, repeatable, and dead-nuts balanced everytime.
So yes, that's the going rate in your area, and yes, it's too much--at least for me. YMMV.
Shane