kurremkarm

I was thinking about going down to UBI bicycle school for awhile and taking some classes. I might be coming into some funds and I have about 9 months before my GI bill runs out-- you get 10 years to use it after you get out of military and it's almost been 10 years.

I have some questions:

1. Do you like what you do?
2. Would you like what you did more if it were your hobby instead of your job.
3. Does the money just suck?
4. I was thinking i might fix up bikes and sell em on ebay or sell parts on ebay to recover my initial training expense, is that something someone can do to make side money if they know about bike mechanics?
5. What's the future like for bicycle mechanics?

Thanks.

AfterThisNap

1)Not a mechanic anymore (if that answers your question), but it REALLY depends on the shop you end up with
2)I do now...I think...damn that shop discount!
3)yes.
4)I don't think you need to go to UBI for that sort of thing, though it will probably speed the learning curve. I would just buy a good book or CD-rom and go from there. It seems a lot of other people have.
5) Pretty stable I think for the time being. High gas prices and last years Tour de Lance craze has boosted bike sales considerably.

kurremkarm

I was computer techinician for eight years and I can say that I don't miss it. I do build and maintain my own computer and whenever my friend's machines break down i fix them, usually involves food or beer payment.

I have a pud job for the local city that pays decent with great benefits. Taking a week's vacation and going to a school someplace and sitting in a class then going out for beers or whatnot sounds like a heck of a good way to spend a week. Then im thinking the knowledge would be good for me as a year round commuter.

Really what i am getting at is do mechanics usually get into the job from their love of riding and bikes and then do they find that they don't ride. My favorite mechanic for example also owns the shop he works at and I don't think he rides ever.

Does loving bikes equal loving being a mechanic or are they mutually exclusive?

seely

1) Generally yes, but its not working on Record equipped Merlins everyday. Its explaining why its not worth it to put $100 into a Murray, calling a customer to try to explain why they need to replace their chain and cassette when the bike they had as a kid used to get launched off of buildings and was ridden for 20 years on the same chain and cassette, building 300 Gary Fisher and Electra comfort bikes a year, working on recumbents (truly a punishment to bike mechanics by God himself), etc etc. All in all I like it, but there is a LOT of crap you have to deal with, ESPECIALLY if you are head mechanic or in charge of the back room.

2) No, its both. I do find that the longer I stay at my job I ride less and less. We are open when everyone else is out riding. My ride is generally my commute, if the weather is ok, which it hasn't been for about 3 months now.

3) It varies... at the shop I am currently at I will be making $10/hr part time (no benefits) this spring, but previously I was making $6 w/o benefits. If I were to go fulltime we do have a few salaried positions with benefits, but from what I have seen its VERY rare to have benefits and a salary at a bike shop, but some of that is just the fact this is Michigan and not Colorado.

4) I've never really made any money fixing up bikes and selling them. If we get old bikes given to us we usually fix them up as minimally as possible and donate them to our local bike charity. Some people on eBay seem to do OK selling used bikes, but sometimes with the cost of parts I can't see how they are making more than $10-20 a bike.

5) Future? Who knows... its a pretty unstable job with high turn over. I think that as far as a need for bike mechanics, there will always be one, but I would be prepared to work at a bunch of different shops in the span of your career.

Pete Hamer

I think that anytime your hobby becomes your job it takes some of the pleasure out of the hobby. When your job is doing something that you love then life is good.

The money sucks.

Good mechanics are very hard to find right but that's because most people don't see it as a viable occupation so no one sticks around in the industry very long. I think it is going to get even harder for a professional bike mechanic to make good money at a LBS from what I' seeing.

MattP.

I took the Intro to Mechanics class last year (only calss I could take at my age) and in July im going back there for the Professional class. I love UBI, UBI is awesome. I plan to work in a shop through the rest of highschool and then at a shop during college (not to pay for bills, but for extra spending cash). Hopefully I can make it into a career and maybe open a shop someday down the road. UBI is the coolest place ever, the environment is awesome, plus Ashland is a neat place

Old Hammer Boy

I have a friend who once made the statement that "a good way to ruin a hobby you love is to make a career out of it." But, then there are those who say to follow your passion. I guess it can work both ways! OHB

Deanster04

If you have the funds to go to UBI do it, if you have a passion for bikes. I have been a life long rider and have done all my own work. The only thing I haven't done is build a frame and I am planning to do this through UBI in the next 2 years. I think if you are a good mechanic and work in a bike shop (there are some good ones) that you could supplement your income by using eBay buying and selling bikes from eBay. There are some strategies to optimize like buy in the late fall and winter fix up in winter and early spring and sell in late spring and summer. Also, if you are young, footloose and fancy free there are opportunities to work for racing teams. It won't be easy but persistance and desire can over come opposition.
As the last couple of people stated Ashland is a very cool place and you would probably stay for an extended period to get the classes you want.

shea2812

I run a little bikeshop in a university campus. Previous years there were no bikes in campus. Being in the tropics it is not easy for the young pampered students but to turn cycling into a culture I have to make some sacrifice. Still I do enjoy wot I do and so far I have managed to turn a few people to take up cycling into their hobby and at the same time they buy their bikes from me....

dbg

I wouldn't want to require a living out of it. I love working with my hands on mechanical stuff, but also enjoy giving away the service to neighbors and kids. If there was a big company (w/benefits) that would pay me $100K/yr to fix bikes, I'd probably consider it. But for now I love my real job (data network engineer) and it's going to get my 4 kids much farther thru college than bike stuff probably would.