puchfinnland

I sort of got offered a job at my LBS.

mid march-end of june full time.
that is the heavy season.

good news is I get along with the owner quite well so I know we have no personality problems.
the hourly wage is "fair" -cant expect to make serious money in a bike shop.

question-

In USA what is a fair wage/salery in a busy proshop?
pro meaning workng on high end mikes mostly,including new frame up builds according to clients wishes.
-there is also the everyday commuter bikes.

mconlonx

$8-12/hr, maybe? Do you have any shop experience?

Andrew R Stewart 

First- I wonder what the "pro builds" vs standard repairs and bike assembly ratio really is. I have worked in a number of "pro" shops and the rare exception was the "pro" bike service/build. The VAST majority of the work is pretty much run of the mill stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with this. In fact this work is more profitible and often more appreciated.

Second- Do you have shop experience? Will you be wrenching or selling? If you have no shop experience and the owner wants you to be a wrench then I might question his quality of mechanical work. Not to say that you can't do the services that the shop offers but without prior experience or training getting dropped into the fire, when there's no time for training, is not how to get excellent work out of your service department. If you do have prior experience then I doubt that you'd be asking your questions.

Third- Pay scale is a floating thing. Skills, attitude, productiveness, working ethics (and a few others) are the factors that the employee controls. Of course the further up the scales in these areas the more the shop can and should pay you. The shop has a ceiling that they can afford to pay. The state has a minimum hourly. The local shop community has an influence to what is the going rate range. The local cost of living comes into play. Does the shop offer any bennefits? For seasonal help I doubt so but you might ask about year long help. Also there is often a odd aspect to the bike shop pay scales. Sometimes the best shops to work in are the ones that pay the least. There is a value to honest and ethical coworkers.

In my town starting pay is as low as $8/hour. Very highly skilled and productive might be as much as double that. Health coverage is not the norm and IRAs or profit sharing pretty much never.

Good luck with the offer and there might be a way to have the relationship with the shop last longer then the busy season, if all are happy with everything. Andy.

PS- I'd stay away from any shop that offered piecemeal or percentage pay.

Captain Blight

I don't get out of bed for less than $12.50 an hour.

mconlonx

Also depends a lot on the location -- what city/town/area...?

fietsbob

If the clientele is all Buying $5000+ bikes then they can afford to pay More.

mprelaw

For every $5000 bike they sell, they probably sell ten times as many $400 cruisers or even cheaper kids' bikes where the mark-up is on the small side.

reptilezs

high around here is like 15-16 hr. starting pay is as low as min wage. generally an decent mechanic gets like 12 an hr

puchfinnland

qualifications- over qualified marine mechanic, and 10 years of wrenching high end cars-just got tired of the automotive trade.
Only thing I dont do is true new wheels but he is willing to teach me this skill,(I can build them)
2-5k bikes - maybe build one a week, sometimes 5 in the same week.
service high end bikes all the time.
the other shop in town is more for fixing anything that rolls- we do the better half.


thank god In Finland there are no low end bikes sold.
all bikes sold here are of some quality. Have not seen a one piece crank since bikes from the 80's
all bikes have alloy rims, and minimum shimano components.

A women came in for a bike for her boy- she was shown many but seriously considered a 20" trick bike,-she drove almost an hour to get to the shop, and the trick bike was 500.

mprelaw

In Finland, minimum wage is set by CBA between an employer and a trade union in the profession. Even if there is no trade union at a particular employer. I would then wonder whether the appropriate profession would be retail sales agent, or mechanic. You should contact some trade unions and see what union would be the applicable one.

IthaDan 

There isn't a lot of money in work where someone can do 95% of what an expert can for a third of the price.

Bikes are too easy to fix, I teach 12 year olds enough to be a paid mechanic at all but the most upscale and specialty shops. Unlike cars, there aren't any weird angles on bikes, you can easily lift pretty much any bike over your head, and the majority of bikes you'll see you don't want to work on without carte blanche to change out whatever you see fit.

I can't imagine the best mechanic [without an ownership share] around here makes more than $20/hour without healthcare or any benefits. No thanks.

wheelreason

Markup is higher on "recreational" and kids bikes, and since when are salaries and wages based on what an entrepreneur can afford? Supply and demand baby, supply and demand. Maybe, and just maybe, next season I'll lengthen the ankle irons attached to the Park stands...

chriskmurray

Not sure if it is different in Finland (but doubting it is) but if your gonna work in a bike shop they are "BMX" bikes, not "trick bikes".

It sounds like you have the background to turn into a great bike wrench, I also got sick of the automotive world (then the elevator world) to work on bikes again and have not regretted it since. If you have one (not saying you do) don't let your ego from working on more complicated bits of machinery keep you from learning from others in the shop who are more experienced with bicycle mechanics. We have had many automotive guys need us to bail them out when they got in over their head and did not stop to ask questions.