kiltedcelt

So, I'm considering a move into the world of professional bike mechanics - ie. working in a shop getting paid to wrench on bikes. My first question is - does it pay to attend somewhere like BBI and get all of the major certifications, or if you simply build up enough self-attained knowledge in bike repair, wheel building, etc. is that usually good enough for most shops? Will a set of certifications from BBI carry more weight and subsequently more pay or is it entirely different from shop to shop? Second question - I know I'm not going to get rich working as a wrench, most I just care about doing something I think I'd really enjoy and getting paid enough to live on. What is the experience of the professional wrenches as far as the wages go? Is this the kind of job that's okay for young folks with no bills, but once you get mature like me (early 40s), and have bills and responsibilities, the job just never pays enough and you'll be starving more often than not? I guess those are kind of the major questions I've been considering as of late. I'm sure as some folks chime in more thoughts may come to me.

IthaDan 

$15/hr is the absolute ceiling here for the most skilled wrench you can imagine, and that's hourly pay with seasonal hours and sketchy benefits if any. No thanks.

Just like I'd tell my students at the coop, if I can teach them, bikes are just too easy to fix to make a career of it. As much as it pains me to say, there's really no career to be had fixing bikes.

Andrew R Stewart 

To extend Dan's good comments- There is little margin or inventory turn over in the LBS end of the bike business. So advancing to manager or owner won't get you much as well. Andy.

kiltedcelt

Well, it's certainly good to hear some realistic points of view. I've been thinking about this for probably the last year and change or so, and the only way I can even see it being feasible would working somewhere like REI. I've looked into REI just for general employment and they have a stellar benefits package and it is constantly rated as one of the best places to work as far as retail goes. I think probably the only way one could work as a wrench and expect to get so-so pay and benefits would be working somewhere like REI. I imagine they probably send their mechanics off to their own school though, versus somewhere like BBI.

xenologer

Well, I'm at my first mechanic job for 3yrs now, and unless I do something incredibly stupid to get fired I don't forsee leaving it anytime soon.
No certifications, educated at co-op then volunteered at co-op teaching others.
Lack of offical certification not at all an impediment to advancement; but this shop specializes in sub-1k$ bikes for the local college students, not roadies. A higher end shop may be different.
I guess I fall into the younger folks without responsibilities category, if 30 is young. No kids, and considering the state of the planet no desire to have kids. No car, no need for a car; just ride bike 5miles to work. Made about 28k this year; I get by, getting to buy all my bikes, parts, and tools wholesale helps as this is my primary recreation activity. On that note; can you even call the job working? i'm just doing what I do anyway...just on other peoples bikes, for money.
Life is simple and good.

Burton

No easy answer for that one. Some of it depends on who you work for and the success of any shop is at least partly dependent on location and the business expertise of the owners. There are shops in this city that are struggling to just get by, some that have closed, and a few that just keep going. I'm associated with two established shops and both gross close to a million dollars each annually. The highest paid mechs in this city make about $20/hr. However, to make any serious money in this field it takes capital investment and a solid business plan - just like any other field. Working for someone else for a fixed wage won't quite get you there.

Jeff Wills

Yeah, well... I spent 12 years in the bicycle business, working from a shop to a parts warehouse to the Bike'alog information service. I'm two careers past that, and even though I work my azz off now, I appreciate being able to leave my work at work and come home and play around with bike stuff in the garage. It's nice to have a hobby, and it's cheaper than Camaros.

IthaDan 

If I could make $20/hour with socialized medicine and a potential for [eventual] retirement, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

I've already been hurt at work, and I learned the hard way how devastating it can be to be left for dead by an employer because you were cavalier enough to marry your earning potential to your physical well-being while living paycheck to paycheck. IT. SUCKS. Incidentally, that's the same line of thinking that motivated me to go back to school and finally finish my degree in my 30s (just graduated in december, thankyouverymuch).

My advice is to leave the "career" wrenching to all the wayward kids who think they're braving it on their own, but don't realize just how subsidized they really are. They're your competition after all.

The world of bicycles will never be much more than a break-even hobby for me (with some sweet perks), it's been a tough pill to swallow, but that's the only way I can reconcile it.

cny-bikeman

Sadly, I have to agree. Although I did make about $35k as a Service Manager back in 1996 you can't expect to be even close to a good wage just starting out. But there's another aspect to your question I want to address.

As an employer I would be more apt to hire someone who had formal training - I ran a training course myself. But to advance to more pay a person would need to show more than a certificate. As I have said before, and as some here have said a lot less diplomatically, not everyone is cut out to work on bikes, let alone at a professional level. I'm still working on my thoughts about being a mechanic (kind of a mini-version of Zen and the Art... for bicycle repair) but to excel at it takes a combination of logic, creativity, communication skills, dexterity, patience and some familiarity with technolgy, math, physics and physiology. Anyone can be a mechanic no more than everyone can be a dancer.

IthaDan 

If you ever want to meet up and wax philosophical about this, I'd be more than interested. I've been meaning to take a day trip up to mellow velo in syr for a couple weeks now. I have a bunch of crackpot theories myself about the thinking and rationalizing needed to be an effective problem solver.

Have you started Pirsig's book yet?

canyoneagle

If it is something you love to do, and you do not have a need for high income, I'd say go for it. Not everyone needs a high paying job. I've left a high paying career behind and will be working at a bike shop (more in the sales / business side) after realizing that I was not happy no matter how much income I was earning in my "job". I'm 46, and have simplified my lifestyle sufficiently that my wife and I can comfortably support our needs (including our 17 year old son) on what many would consider to be relatively low incomes. I feel that there's more to life than money, and as long as you can meet your needs while doing something that interests you, then why not at least give it a try?

This topic can easily cross over into a P&R thing because in relates to lifestyle choices and perceptions of "needs" versus "conveniences" and "comforts", and "real" jobs versus vocations. There's no one formula for everyone, and there are many valid perspectives.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

furballi

Why not work as an auto mechanic? I used to be a professional engineer weekdays, and auto mechanic weekends. Pay is excellent if you know about suspension/steering, brakes, and electrical/electrical Systems. Most modern autos require fluid change, brakes, and basic electrical troubleshooting via OBD code readers. You can easily clear $200/day once you've earned a reputation of providing quality workmanship at a fair price. Work from your garage to eliminate the overhead.

cny-bikeman

Actually, I would enjoy that. I don't live far from Mellow Velo, wish I had time to hang around there more. Yes, I started it a few days ago. I must confess that although I will probably read the entire book I skipped ahead until I found the philosophical part, which I really enjoyed. It's sometimes difficult to convey what it means or feels like to be a mechanic, so it felt great to read what he had to say.

lasauge 

I have to admit this thread scares me. I'm young (26), and I've got a genuine interest in wrenching and enough aptitude to be the go-to guy for in my circle of bikey friends for mechanical issues and I've learned enough on my own to flip bikes for profit, so I'd really like to earn a living by doing the hands-on problem solving I enjoy, but it sounds like an impossible way to live. I'm doing quite well on my own in a trade that I don't really enjoy and am educated enough to go into a totally different field that I don't really want to join at the moment, so I've been looking for a shop rat position to see what it's like... sounds like I'm in for nothing but disappointment.

Is there any good way to enter the bicycle industry, or is it the kind of thing where you have to be a major manufacturer or trendsetter to become successful?

Sixty Fiver

I don't know anyone who works as a bike mechanic who is in it for the fabulous wages and gratuitous benefits although there are a few shops here that do offer a slightly better wages and benefits and we do have universal healthcare which is free where I live.

For many it is a temporary job that they love but at the end of it, a really good mechanic should be able to go and work for better wages in another field and in many cases it does come down to being able to pay your bills and support yourself.

Consider that the best way to make a million dollars in the bicycle business is to start with two, and that is the position of the owners.

I enjoy turning wrenches as much as I can and being that I am forcibly retired and cannot make the living I used to, I am able to pursue this passion as much as my health allows and enjoy building and fabricating more than I do working on bicycles if only because it offers new challenges and lets me indulge my creative side.

I have had my own shop for well over 15 years so I have that experience, have worked professionally, volunteered 1000,s of hours of my time to our local co-op as a mechanic and teacher, am UBI certified, and also come to this with a great deal of experience in wheel building, frame building, and have taught many of the local mechanics through the classes we run through our co-op.

I think I have some pretty good cred here.

If I was 100% and was to apply for a job in a local shop I might be lucky to be offered 15.00 / hr.

The career mechanics I know have been able to demand a little more for their time and expertise because a good shop owner should know that if you hire certain people, they will bring in the customers but getting to that point takes a lot of time.

Once could take a few weeks of classes at UBI (and those classes are very good) and then one should look at spending the next five or so years really getting to know everything backwards and forwards and even then, you should be asking questions and seeking out more answers because this industry keeps evolving and changing.

10,000 hrs is the rule of thumb for considering yourself an expert in whatever you do... it does not happen overnight.

People who say that being a bicycle mechanic is easy pisses me off... some people put a great deal of time into learning those skills which go beyond turning wrenches and quite often those people who say it is easy are also the same one's who cannot tell the difference between a left and right handed spanner.

It isn't brain surgery... but it does take a lot of diverse skills to be really good at it.

I am an amateur in that I do this because I love it.

jolly_ross

Pirsig's book is nothing to do with Motorcycle Maintenance - it's a treatise on the nature of quality - with a side of the delights of a roadtrip with your son and what life is like viewed through the fog of dissipating mental illness. On top of this it's a really hard read.

Try "Shopcraft as Soulcraft" instead. This contains what people seek when they start Pirsig.

---

Back to the OP - I love cycle maintenance - never happier than feeling the click of a torquewrench or the buttery movement of a rebuilt fullsus. I work on my friends' bikes - I'm cheaper than the LBS - plus I will happily work with parts bought of the net.

I have spent 20 days in full time training at quite some expense. It was helpful, plus I enjoyed it and made some friends. I do realise - however - that I know less than the kid in my LBS who has actually spent a few years in the back of the shop. Buuuut - I'd beat him at interview through already having the training (the shop owner doesn't have to pay to put me through it), plus I'm a better liar.

With regards to a career - I've finished off my mortgage (I'm 51 and have worked forever in IT) and can finally afford the desultory wages of a mech. An additional appeal is that while IT will spit me on the floor soon - I can stay on as the grey haired old mechanic back of shop for another 20 years.

If you're going to be a young mechanic though - you'll need to marry someone with a good income.

FMB42

I'd consider the following:

1. Take a very close look at your expenditures. The cost of living in many regions of the country continues to climb while, at the same time, wages remain stagnant, or on the decrease. This probably won't change for the better anytime soon. Also keep in mind that many employers are beginning to replace full-time employment with part-time work schedules.

2. Start out as part-time "weekend" mechanic. This might allow you to "test the waters" before you dive in. You might even consider making bicycle mechanics a part-time secondary line of work.

3. Be careful about spending serious money on "bicycle mechanic" schooling until you're sure about what you want to do. An exception to this would, of course, be if your employer pays for part or all of it.

4. Be aware that making a career out of what you enjoy doing as a hobby can sometimes sour the hobby side of the deal.

5. Prepare to make less than what you expect (even if you don't expect to make much). Many businesses are in a "survival mode" right now and, as such, are very reluctant to give out any meaningful pay raises.

IthaDan 

Just to clarify, [aside: I fully agree with the Gladwell number as a baseline for excellence] the point I was trying to make was that just about anyone, in about 6 months time, can become competent enough to be hire-able as a shop wrench. This level of aptitude would make them capable of handling probably 90% of all the work a given shop [around here] sees. Unfortunately for employees, this means that someone with a baseline aptitude is out there, good enough to utilize as a shop wrench, and most likely willing to work for peanuts. Most shop owners, with an eye on the bottom line, would rather hire the kid willing to work for an amount barely above minimum wage and simply turn away the dozen or so truly demanding jobs that require a master mechanic than pay a master mechanic full time.


Ordered this right now, I'll be digging into it tomorrow. Thanks. I always felt rather unfulfilled about Pirsig- like there were maybe 5 pages in the book that really resonated with me and the rest was either over my head, or nothing of interest. That being said, those five pages were a fundamental building block in the evolution of my thought processes as to how I approach a problem.


Yup, I live in a University town- there are a lot of "trailing spouses" here, a surprising amount of them are in the active transport circles.

I'm not really trying to stir a political or policy based argument here, but 15/hr just isn't enough. That's 30k/year, before taxes. Sure you can live if you live simply enough. But do you want to buy a house? That's pretty unlikely. Want to retire? Not without some SERIOUS discipline and foresight. What happens when you age out? Tough luck. How about if you get hurt? Oh yea, you'll be pulling 66% of the wage you were making healthy (good luck living on that, I tried, while I was trying I also got dropped from the employer's healthcare, so on top of the crippling wage, and no ability to work, I was paying $400/month for mediocre COBRA coverage- I had to move back in with my parents... at 30). Plus, who's to say you'll even be scheduled for 40 hours a week? A lot of [shady] employers around here will schedule an employee just under the cutoff for full time benefits (like 34 hours if the cutoff is 35) and keep them there for years.

If you've already set some cash aside, then by all means, but if you don't have much more than the shirt on your back and a pile of bikes, there's really nothing here for you. Especially when you consider the temptation from all the shiny parts that you'll be surrounded with that are good deals at half of retail, but are really nothing you can afford in the long run.

I'm still waiting for the revolution when all the service workers, who have been making a barely sustainable wage [if you life paycheck to paycheck], start aging and needing the healthcare they don't have. This town is already flooded with benefit parties for locals to help them cover for their crippling debts from medical care. Maybe I live in a separate universe- the land of the trailing spouse, the trustafarian, and the realm of the overqualified PhD who scrapes by putting cream cheese on bagels day after day. But maybe I live in the world of the small business.

To the OP: If you have half a brain, and half an ability to earn with your mental aptitude, I would seriously recommend exploring that route, there are just too many variables in the manual labor sector.

wheelreason

Family owned 5 shop LBS, and here's my advice; Much like your wife and girlfriend, ideally, your source of income and hobby should never meet.

cny-bikeman

I was in the business for over 20 years. I'll admit it was during a wonderful time, when the bike boom was just getting underway through the earlier days of indexed shifting. I made less than I may have using my degree, but was able to supplement my income in various ways. More on that later.

My advice is this: As long as you would not be financially stressed by trying it out go for it. I highlighted above some of the reasons above that you should. There is nothing more miserable than doing something you don't enjoy for 8 hours a day (except perhaps for an employer that makes it even worse - I know). What's more, at your age you have plenty of time to do what you love, and you may not have that opportunity to the same degree later. On the other hand it could lead you to things you can't imagine right now. I'll give you a condensed version of my story as an example

I had started working on my own bikes while quite young but did not acquire a 10 speed until 1972. I started my bike career in 1974 at age 25, after being in college for 2.5 years and being in the service for a bit over 3 years. I helped found a bike co-op in and became service manager after 3 years, created a 60 hour mechanic course, started a rental/buy-back program, a booming used bike trade, and oversaw the busiest, highest quality repair service in Lansing, MI. We offered on-campus repair/riding education, assisted with a 4-H bike program, and offered public clinics and also did xcountry ski sales and rentals. I took time off in 1976 to do a 10 week, 3000 mile tour of the U.S and went on shorter tours just about every year since. Unfortunately a manager mishandled the business and I left in 1980 for the local Schwinn shop. They had a head mechanic, but in the first season I advanced to a base salary plus a percentage of the labor I performed (I was responsible for any warrantee work for bikes I worked on). I also became the primary wheel builder and then the head mechanic at another shop of theirs.

In 1986 I left there to start Don's Bike-A-Van. I provided mobile repair service for bikes and wheelchairs as well as accessories and eventually some bikes. I also did some rentals, had a contract with Sears to do their assembly and maintenance contract work (also assembled pool tables and exercise equipment on-site) and provided mechanical support and sales at major bike tours. I made a good income and was doing what I loved, had a part-time employee. Sears national decided to have Huffy do all of their work and we lost that major source of income. At the same time I found an ad online for a position as head wrench in Syracuse, NY for a shop that had a mobile van. That did not work out but it got me to an area of the country I love, and I eventually transitioned to computer support. The reason was the difficulty in finding a well-paying position in a bike shop, as well as my enjoyment of working with computers and people. At my age I could not afford the wages being offered, as there was nothing available at the management level.

Working on bikes honed diagnostic, problem solving, communication and business skills in ways that have helped me in every other endeavor. The reverse is true as well, and it sounds to me like you have the spectrum of skills necessary to be a great mechanic, and maybe much more. The one negative besides the pay is that there seems to be more of a fill-a-seat culture nowadays - in every business. It takes a wise, almost visionary owner or manager to understand the value of someone who brings more than a cookie-cutter set of abilities to a job. So sure, start as a shop rat if you have to, but if you are going to take a risk do it with a shop and owner/manager you believe in and who can see and nurture your potential.

Burton

Just to throw in a few more things to think about - in most countries the bicycling business is seasonal. Forget about calculating an annual income based on an hourly wage unless you have something else to back you up when you get laid off for the season - which is a regular occurrance.

You might make a reasonable living getting a job as a rep for a major cycling parts distributor - but even thats not a guarantee. Staff positions, on the other hand, have pay scales like any other technical position - but you better know your stuff.

Most cycle shops are family owned because of the amount of start-up capital required (aside from expertise) Lets be generous and say you get a return of 25% every year. With a capital investment of $100,000 you'd still starve to death if that was your only income. If you borrow start-up capital then you have to take interest out of that too. And its a gamble. Doesn't matter how much money you put into something - a failing business is worthless.

There's also a difference between shops that 'work' and shops that actually make money for the owner. Every shop I know that rents space just makes lots of money for the landlord. The owners of shops that actually make money are the ones that own the building. The most successful strategy is to own a building with apartments above it. It not only provides investment diversification, it provides a secondary source of income outside bicycling season.

And of course - you also better be prepared to deal with a lot of people that want everything for $9.99 and to deal with the challenges of finding qualified staff for a business thats largely seasonal.

acidfast7

I think it's fine for governments to do that, but that's another thread, but it doesn't have a place in this thread. I should say that recently lived in a country where more than 70% of the gross wage went to the government (in the form of various taxes including 25% sales tax) and it was, by far, the nicest place I had the opportunity to live. Where I am now is in between the US and the previous place and it's quite easy to see a sliding quality that life the correlates with the percentage of gross income consumed in taxes.

cny-bikeman

Well, I did know that of course, and although what I'm working on is partially meant to fill in things I find missing in the current resources (Sheldon comes the closest) bike repair is also just a takeoff point for my looking at problem-solving in general via both logic and creative thinking - two things that seem to be in short supply these days. But I kept hearing references to the philosophical aspects of the book and have read precious little else in that vein. I may well end up cherry-picking the parts of Pirsig's book, and I'll certainly check out your recommendation.

FrenchFit 

Just because you spend 8 hours a day wrenching doesn't mean you can't create an income producing enterprise on the side. I guess it depends on how much "free time" you expect in your life.

TiHabanero

OP, you have had some wise counsel here. I have wrenched and owned bike outfits and can say with out a doubt it was very enjoyable. I lived very frugally (still do) and made ends meet, had nothing left over and paid for health care as I needed it. Far less costly that way than buying insurance.
The best advice I saw was to give it a go on a part time basis to see if you like it. If you do, do it. You will not make anything other than a living, and just barely at that. If you own the biz, then you can make a reasonable living, but only if you have a solid, realistic business plan and follow it (I strongly suggest a mentor at this stage). The average ROI for shops across the USA is 5% when I was in the biz. It may be higher or lower now. For sure it is a slow growth business.