[sliken]

In my experience unlimited attention of the novice is generally better than the rushed attention of the bike mechanics in most cases. I've had Acura, Subaru, and Tesla cars. Even simple things like lug nut torque and tire pressures are way off. Similar with bikes.

Brakes are pretty straight forward, a bleeding kit is $20 ish, and if done right lasts quite a bit longer and feels better than the store bleeds. More importantly less air = more consistent braking. Sure store bleeds help, and how an improvement. But they don't seem to spend the time to get all the bubbles out. I just spend a few extra minutes applying negative pressure to the brake fluid and watch till the bubbles stop coming out of solution and end up with a bleed better than I've had at the last 5 bike shops I've used.

Sure it's a bit messy, but doing it when it's nice out on a driveway or sidewalk isn't a big deal. A set of allen wrenches, a bleed kit (hose + syringe), and the right fluids (some bikes use mineral spirits, others use brake fluid). From what I can tell even the first attempt based on watching an expert (like an SRAM brake engineer on youtube) will go better than most bike shops will do for ya.

Bike mechanics are crazy fast at doing decent work, but not hard to beat if you have the time. Do buy a torque wrench or two though.