dayday82

I have an interview with a "high end" bike shop today which I'm pretty excited for. I have never worked in a bike shop before and i don't consider myself an expert. I have become very passionate about cycling since started mountain biking in 2006 and road biking earlier this year. Although I don't have the expert knowledge or a lot of experience, I'd like to consider myself an up and coming biking enthusiast. There's so much I want to learn and working at an LBS would be the best place to start.

Did any of you who work (or worked) at a bike shop start out without prior experience other than enjoy riding? The manager said all I needed was the passion which I already have. It would be a great opportunity to be around and involved with bikes, educate myself while being around other experts, get discounts, and earn a little extra spending money. I already have a full-time job as a Sr. Financial Analyst.

I'd like to hear your experience or thoughts or advice? I know a lot of people bashing on some bike chains how some people working are clueless. Although I do know a little bit, I'm no expert. I think the difference is if I don't know how to best answer something, I'm not going to pretend to know and look like an idiot.

Thanks

urbanknight

I worked at a bike shop when I was 16. The only experience I had was having tinkered with my and my family's bikes for a couple of years, and that I had learned to build wheels from a local expert. If your shop is anything like the one I worked at (Wheel World if you want to know), the head mechanic will take you under his wing and show you as many tricks he can while having you do most of the simple jobs (tube changes, tune-ups, anything on Huffys and Murrays). If you're going to be a salesman, they don't car if you know how to do anything other than raise and lower the seat.

johnybutts

Pretty much dead on. The requirements for mechanic vs salesperson are quite different. In my experience, the salesperson makes significantly more. But the mechanic will get more beer/pizza from customers.


I worked as a glorified cashier at a shop for 2 years. What I miss most is having a real place to work on my bike. Apartments just don't have enough room - even if I had all the tools.

urbanknight

lol I forgot about that. the sales guys got commission ($2-15) on top of their wages, but we got gifts and usually first dibs on freebies from reps (hats, t-shirts, key chains, etc.)

dayday82

Cool thanks for the responses. I don't care what I'll be doing in the store. I don't plan on becoming a mechanic but I would love to help out and learn from the mechanic when things are slow. I'm not the most handiest person out there but I'm sure I could pick up a think or two. Eventually I'd like to learn enough to work on my own bike.

I don't really care much about pay/commission. I hope they have a good discount program. Do those typically start after 30 days? What is the typical discount? I've read anywhere from 25 - 50% off, at cost, or at 10% above cost.

Maybe they'd get me a free real fitting on my road bike. When I got my bike, it was eye-balled. Although it feels fine to me, there could be a better set up.

DRietz

I've been working as a mechanic for a round about three years now. I'm 16.

My first year of working was an apprentice gig -- I got paid in nothing but experience. Now, I get paid just below the wage of our head mechanic and can do almost anything on a bike. Except for brazing, that bewilders me. I can, however, tig weld. Just not brazing.

Anyway, it's a great experience and I'm happy to be getting paid about $12 an hour in this economy, and furthermore, I'm happy that my job is also my passion. Very rewarding.

johnybutts

Discounts are highly variable. Even from a single company there will be like 5 ways to order something, and the price will be different each of the 5 ways.

Someone can certainly help you get fit on the bike.

urbanknight

Thinking back, when the sales floor was swamped, mechanics would hit the floor and help out (and get commission), but when the sales floor was a ghost town, the salespeople would hang out in the work area chatting with us while we picked at the back log, but that might be because our salespeople didn't know much. They would do a tube change if asked, but that's all they (and the manager, with liability in mind) were comfortable doing.

I believe I got 15% off standard merchandise, but every now and then, Kyle would get a nice bulk price break on a certain item and offer us cost + 10% on those. He did that a lot, and that's still his business model today if you look at the majority of their internet sale products.

Since fitting is a service and not a product, you just have to become friends with the employee who does them, get him something nice, and make sure the manager is cool with it (if it's done in the shop) or go to the guy's house. Don't ask for a freebie, but talk bike fit and ask questions relating to your fit. The guy will get the hint and tell you to bring the bike by some time.

roadwarrior

I started my own company, but my work is not Monday-Friday 9-5 stuff. I work in a shop for fun, very high end, nice, one of the top 50 in the nation. We also have a large fitness operation, plus commercial stuff. I jumped in with a former racing background and road bike knowledge. I had to study some to get good at dual MTB suspensions. We are pretty big so we have around 40,000 items skewed and it takes a while to learn all the little things like Burleys, hybrid racks and baskets, and how to explain (so they can understand) the differences between the styles of bikes and the manufacturers you carry. And to do that to a person who has spent the last five years researching the alloys in aluminum bike tubing and wants to talk about it with you. Sometimes, to see how much you know.

In our shop, younger guys usually start out as runners which is generally a helper/gofer for the sales people. Stock bikes, odd jobs, etc...once they learn about the bikes and accessories they can move to sales. Part of the reason is that, simply put, people generally are not going to spend a bunch of cash with a teenager selling them a nice bike. It's a credibility issue. When they do move to sales they generally will work with hybrids/kids bikes...but sometimes they can help out in a pinch in road and higher end MTB's. It's also a great way to learn to sell without $4-5,000 bucks on the line.
There is a lengthy list of high schoolers that started out at our shop and really moved on to some cool lifestyles and jobs. We had a girl working as a mechanic, she's now a pro rider and a women's bike designer for a large manufacturer. Others have moved on to business, some are in management with bike companies.
Whatever you get to do, if you are always asking what else you can do to help, you will be a hero.

Generally, after 90 days of employment you become eligible for employee purchase, which is English for "I pour my paycheck back into the bike industry". But the employee discounts are very attractive with restrictions on how many bikes you can buy per year (so you don't start buying bikes EP and selling them for a profit).

Have fun and learn lots.

dayday82

Great information here so far. I'll keep you guys posted on how my interview goes today.

mzeffex 

Really?

I started at one 2 years ago with no experience. Doesn't take long to learn.

Paul Y.

I'll probably never work at a LBS but found comments very informative.

mike868y

If razor can do it...anyone can...

Rowan

From a customer perspective, read roadwarrior's post again. Then re-read it. Then print it out and put it up on the inside of the toilet door at home.

You might have the passion, but remember always that you are dealing with customers who could make or break your store's reputation on (a) how you behave, and (b) how your knowledge assists them.

Passion can be a handicap. One of the most successful bike shops in my old town was run by the daughter of the owner. She was quaified as an architect, and rode rarely. But she had a good business sense, and she was responsive to customer requests -- like, right on the phone there and then to the distributor to ask if a part or item was in stock. Likewise, her head mechanic rarely rode, but was a super nice guy who had heaps of knowledge and was highly efficient.

They had a broad knowledge that wasn't stymied by being channeled into one particular stream of cycling.

They had a few staff through who were "passionate", but they were single-dimensional -- that is, passionate about MTBing or passionate about road racing. But they couldn't give a rat's arse about fitting up a hybrid or selling a kid's bike. They never lasted very long because of their potential danger to the shop's image.

So, remember to treat customers as you would like to be treated.

And yes, you will find a few of the worst sort of customers out there.

DRietz

But Razor got fired...

Sixty Fiver

I have been working on my own bikes for almost as long as I have been riding them (35 years), now run my own shop, am a partner with a frame builder and handle that shop's mechanical work and wheel building as well as my own.

My only paid experience has been working as the mechanic and facilitator trainer for our local co-op and I have volunteered there as a mechanic and instructor for 6 years... it is a professionally equipped shop that is fully equipped several times over but we work primarily as a teaching shop and do not do fee based work.

When some local bike shops are baffled or can't take care of a customer's problem they often call me.

Getting really good at anything takes passion, dedication, and thousands and thousands of hours of shop time and just when you think you know it all something will come along that will baffle the hell out of you and then you need to know who to ask.

Was talking to some of the mechanics I work with and have taught things and they said it took them 3-4 years to really feel like they knew what they were doing because there really is so much to know.

Anyone can take a new bike and tune it up, and if you have a good parts department you should always be able to find the oem part you need but it is that thinking in your feet and being able to problem solve that separates the good mechanic from the great mechanics.

You have to be a sponge and absorb all the knowledge you can from the people who know what they are doing and be able to identify the people who don't.

Bob Dopolina 

I started out in retail in 1985 with probably as much knowledge as the OP but I had had other jobs.

A few years later I found myself managing a crew of builders (VERY busy shop). I later went on to be a shop manager and then a General Manager before I left retail to move inside the industry.

As a manager I was often in the position of hiring and firing. I remember my first time hiring. Several people showed up for their interviews. Most were unmemorable but I remember 3 guys specifically. The first guy had worked in a shop for years, showed up dressed like a slob and proceeded to tell us how lucky we were that he was available. The second guy made it to the test build phase. He had a broken arm from jumping over a fence without looking to see what was (or wasn't) on the other side. As he finished the build he slapped our shop sticker half on top of a decal that was already there, under the clear coat, from the manufacturer.

The third guy was a young kid heavily into BMX. We didn't do BMX. He was polite, spoke well and seemed sharp and enthusiastic. This kid was switched on.

I hired him.

He worked for the summer and was a great find. He left to do other things (he was 15) and I gave him a great recommendation and told him I would hire him back in a second if the other gig fell through. Great kid.

The other thing I would mention: DON'T ASK ABOUT EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS DURING THE INTERVIEW. Seriously. Get the job first and then wait a few weeks to ask someone else on staff.

Good luck.

LowCel 

I have never found an employer that doesn't use their employees. In turn the employer pays the employee to make up for the inconvenience.

Bob Dopolina 

YARRR!

mike868y

If you were used, wouldn't that make YOU the idiot?

Quel

16 year olds shouldn't be allowed to use the phrase "in this economy".

Would have loved to make that type of money at 16 though. I was bagging groceries for minimum wage at that age.

Garfield Cat

How you treat posters here is indicative of how you might treat customers.

eippo1

I have worked summers in a shop and will probably continue to help out there during busy times. One thing to know is that all shops are different and a lot of the atmosphere depends on the boss and how tight a ship he or she runs. There are also multiple personalities in a shop and always make sure you leave personal feelings regarding other employees out of the sales process. All too often comments are made when someone might take over for one reason or other and all it does is make the customer feel uncomfortable and untrusting of you and the shop in general.

Other than that, have fun and make sure to say hi to everyone if you're in sales. Any kind of personal attention goes a long way even if it's just an acknowledgment that you know that they are there - it also tells potential shoplifters that you're paying attention.

Lastly, and I can't stress this enough, get to know all the mechanics, learn what they do and pay attention to how swamped they are vs. when they aren't busy for when you ask them to do things for you. Learn what you can from them and do not take advantage of them because you will often depend on their work.

PhotoJoe 

Well....how did it go?

asok

No it isn't. I don't work in a shop but I assure you I treat clients/customers much differently than people who post on bikeforums.net.