Bicycle Mechanics - Any Bike Repair Courses on the Web?

I have a friend who recently went to a one month bike mechanics school -- I think it was in Oregon. He spent about $3,000 and learned a lot. He took his Airstream trailer and lived in it right next to the school. I can't afford this (time or money) , but was wondering if there is any such thing as a bike repair course on the internet?

Try the Park tools site, they have instructions on most repairs and adjustments.

http://www.parktool.com/park_tool_school/index.shtml

I don't know of any online courses -- but the manual of one of the professional courses (Barnett's) is online. You can try searching the previous threads.

Personally, I would suggest buying a good bicycle repair manual, such as Bicycling Magazine's Complete guide to Bicycle Repair or Zinn and the Art of (Road/Mountain) Bike Maintenance. They're each about $20 new.
I have both of these and they've been very helpful. I've gone from not knowing how to lube a chain to wrapping bar tape and overhauling hubs and headsets.
I was nervous at first to work on the bike (what if I couldn't put it together again?), but I figured if I messed up, my LBS would gladly bail me out. :)

$3,000.00 to pay somebody to teach you how to repair a bike, he can give me a quarter of that amount, I'll teach the guy how to build a rocket ...he he he just joking, but honestly that amount is a rip off:D :D

so any takers on my offer to learn rocket science, for $750.00, I am really just amaze, at some people being so gullible

Originally posted by orguasch
so any takers on my offer to learn rocket science, for $750.00, I am really just amaze, at some people being so gullible

Forgive a newbie for buttin' in but it isn't necessarily either a rip-off or gullibility, depending on the aim of the school and the goals of the participant. Granted, paying somebody three grand to teach you to maintain your own bike is pretty darned foolish. If you have decent reading comprehension and are reasonably mechanically inclined you can pick up $30 worth of books and dive right in. You'll make mistakes but you'll learn from them and it's just your bike you're screwing up during the learning process.

However, paying somebody three grand for the training and credentials to easily land a decent job as a bike mechanic with a major dealer is not necessarily a bad idea. If you run a bike shop where your bread and butter is maintaining very expensive bikes for often very picky customers, and two guys show up in response to your help wanted ad, which one are you going to hire? The guy who says, "yeah, I read three books and rebuilt my own bike once" or the guy who can show that he graduated from a formal training program that has a decent reputation in the industry?

Further consider that as an LBS owner you may have to provide factory-specific training to the new employee to remain eligible to recover reimbursement for warranty repairs (not sure if it's this way in the bike world but it sure is in other industries). Do you want to hire the guy off the street or the guy who has already proven that he can be trained?

You should see what trainers in the IT industry get for a week-long (sometimes less) course! Four-hundred bucks per day of training is about average. In these cases you're paying not so much for the training (although you will usually pick up tidbits of experience from a live trainer that just never make it into books) but for the credentials.

Regards,
John

Originally posted by HalfHearted

You should see what trainers in the IT industry get for a week-long (sometimes less) course! Four-hundred bucks per day of training is about average. In these cases you're paying not so much for the training (although you will usually pick up tidbits of experience from a live trainer that just never make it into books) but for the credentials.

Regards,
John

2400$ for a 3 day course in canadian funds for exchange training. :) Good training is never cheap unless it is self taught.

Originally posted by HalfHearted
Forgive a newbie for buttin' in but it isn't necessarily either a rip-off or gullibility, depending on the aim of the school and the goals of the participant.
Several of my cycling friends and I have talked about this and would like to go to Barnett's or UBI and think it would be well worth the cost. But no one has the time (away from work) or the money (don't forget airfare, hotel, meals). :(

HFC!.Buy the Zinn books.$40 for both and you got $2960 left over for cheap whiskey.Anything else is just nuts for do it your self wrenchin.Repeat 10 times...'It isn't rocket science.Bicycles are simple machines.'

I think an important distinction is being missed here. What do you want to do?

If it's 'just' do it yourself wrenching AND you can afford your own mistakes (chances are you will make them - I have) then buy the books, check web sites like Park Tool and Sheldon Brown ( http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ ) and ask questions in the forum and of other cyclists. It's a great adventure. You'll come away with a sense of accomplishment and sef-sufficiency. You'll have the satisfaction of knowing the job was done right.

IF on the other hand you want to compete for a job as a professional service person get the formal instruction. We probably all have a story about our experience with the LBS employee - remember him? The guy with the grimy Idiot's Guide To Bicycle Repair and cheap whiskey on his breath.

I've spent more than a few nights imagining myself attending Barnett's or United Bicycle Institute...returning home to a job at the LBS, THEN buying lots of cheap whiskey.

If I had the time and money, I'd go in a minute...maybe even take that frame building elective and build myself a titanium frame.

Originally posted by druhl


I've spent more than a few nights imagining myself attending Barnett's or United Bicycle Institute...returning home to a job at the LBS, THEN buying lots of cheap whiskey.

That's ambition.I'll just take the cheap whiskey.

Originally posted by druhl
I think an important distinction is being missed here. What do you want to do?

If it's 'just' do it yourself wrenching AND you can afford your own mistakes.Does a stint at UBI or Barnettes guarantee you won't make mistakes.6 years at a major universith, and I still made plenty. Maybe I should sue or get a refund?Maybe on reflction,it might have had something to do with too much cheap whiskey.

Originally posted by HalfHearted


land a decent job as a bike mechanic

Regards,
John Is that one of them oxymorons?

Originally posted by pokey
Is that one of them oxymorons?
I guess it all depends on your point of view. I "couldn't afford" to take that job now, but there have been times in my life where I would've been tickled pink to have a job in a good LBS. When I used to be heavily into the RC airplane scene I worked part time in a hobby shop just because it was interesting and during the hours I was there I was making money instead of spending it ;-)

Even now I'd consider mechanic'n at a good LBS a decent job because I'd be doing something I enjoy, around people I enjoy. It would definitely mean a change in lifestyle, but everything is relative. Ever visited a really poverty-stricken country? The wierd thing is that most of the people are smiling in spite of living conditions that we would find intolerable. Contrast that with a walk down Wall Street, some time!

Ironically, someone who bends wrenches at an LBS probably has the sort of low-maintenance lifestyle that would let them take a summer off to do the tours most of us will probably never get further than dreaming about because we can't get away from our high-dollar jobs for that long because of mortgages, car payments, credit card bills, putting the kids through college, etc.

When I was in Key West (on a job, unfortunately) a few years ago I met several "beach bums" who were eating (and partying) well and living with leisure and recreation many of us would kill for, all on less than fifteen grand a year in one of the more expensive resort areas in the US!

So, everything is relative, even relatives.

John

Does a stint at UBI or Barnettes guarantee you won't make mistakes.6 years at a major universith, and I still made plenty.

Granted, study at any 'institution' doesn't guarantee you're not going to make a mistake. I suspect it reduces the chances of making mistakes and the severity of those you do. Surely you learned something in 6 years at the major universith that made you a valuable employee.

Originally posted by druhl


Surely you learned something in 6 years at the major universith that made you a valuable employee. I think that other than a few courses in my major it was a total waste. On the job and practical experience is what really provided long term value.But, you have to have the degree to get in the door.It's the system.

Follow up to my original post: $3,000 is a lot for learning bike mechanics, but I guess it was a pretty thorough course. Upon graduation, my friend opened a bike repair shop in northern Michigan and seems to be doing pretty well. He has also gotten into custom-building bikes for well-heeled customers. In his previous life, he was a lawyer who got sick of the rat race. He's one of these guys who can do anything well, once he sets his mind to it. (Wish I could say the same for me!)

Originally posted by trmcgeehan
Follow up to my original post: $3,000 is a lot for learning bike mechanics, but I guess it was a pretty thorough course. Upon graduation, my friend opened a bike repair shop in northern Michigan and seems to be doing pretty well. He has also gotten into custom-building bikes for well-heeled customers. In his previous life, he was a lawyer who got sick of the rat race. He's one of these guys who can do anything well, once he sets his mind to it. (Wish I could say the same for me!)

I will no longer argue with you anymore, but the 3 grand is a lot of money, and since he's a lawyer, he can probably afford to spend that lkind of money