Are you a gear head? Chances are if you've wound up in this article, the gearing on your bicycle is important to you. You may be used to a new bicycle coming standard with a specific gear ratio and having to pay extra to change it.
I'm assuming other dealers charge for this service as a lot of my customers are surprised that we don't charge.
At Rodriguez, we love gear heads, and gear heads love us. You're not locked into any specific gearing if we can help it. We have standard default gearing if you don't have any preference, but if you want something different, just let us know what's important and we'll do what we can to make it happen.
Small Changes
Small changes like a different chain ring size up front, or a specific range of cogs on the back are no extra charge with the purchase of a new Rodriguez. These are easy things for us to set up, and to us, a manufacturer shouldn't charge you extra for something unless it costs them extra.
Sometimes, a specific derailleur won't handle the wide range of gearing that a customer wants, so once in a while we will have to make other component choices to make it shift properly. If we have to use a derailleur that is more expensive, then we can talk about that before we finalize the order.
Big Changes
Sometimes a customer wants gearing that requires a significant re-spec of the drive train (cranks and derailleurs). In most of these cases, there are options available that will not cost extra, but sometimes we will have to discuss an up-charge.
Our Rule of Thumb: If the components we need to use don't cost us more, then you won't have to pay more. If they do cost more, then you're only paying the difference. It's that simple.
So go ahead....grab a calculator and obsess to your heart's content. Put together the perfect gearing that will take you to the top of Mt. Rainier while at the same time get you to work on time. Have fun with it, and just let us know if you want something special....I'm sure we've done it before.
