How to become a bike mechanic?

hey y'all - im interested in becoming a bicycle mechanic and was wondering how you would go about getting the training to become one? (i.e. what would the **best **route be?)

i checked on the evans sight and they seem to offer some form of training, but would you have to already have some experience? if so, what level?
(http://www.evanscycles.com/jobs.jsp;jsessionid=C3E740CE791137CE558ED1CB9A3CCA%2032.tc6)

cheers in advance

any bike jobs i have seen advertised ask that you have cytech level one or some form or measureable experience working with bikes... but looking at level one it seems to be just fixing punctures etc so i dunno..

You could PM hillbilly, I think he's manager of Evans Kingston branch. He might not reply though . . . ! Alternatively ask him at East/South/West drinks.

he's manager? :P

any bike jobs i have seen advertised ask that you have cytech level one or some form or measureable experience working with bikes... but looking at level one it seems to be just fixing punctures etc so i dunno..

i checked the requirements and it seems to be just stuff you can otherwise pick up on your first week working at a friendly local bike shop - seems to me thats the way i'll be heading

You could PM hillbilly, I think he's manager of Evans Kingston branch. He might not reply though . . . ! Alternatively ask him at East/South/West drinks.

yeh - i sent their job department an email about requirements, etc. shouldn't be a problem :-)

What experience do you have already Frank? Do you want full or part time work?

What experience do you have already Frank? Do you want full or part time work?

part-time - im in college at the mo. - summer hollidays soon, but im going on a few holidays then, so irregular time, rather than part time :-P

i've cycled all my life, and so have basic experience; off the top of my head, i can:
i can fix a punture
get a chain on/off
adjust saddles/handlebars
mess with add-ons (lights, bells, water bottle holders etc.)
set a bike up if its delivered in a almost ready to ride format (handlebars, wheels, pedals, rack, etc.)

part-time - im in college at the mo. - summer hollidays soon, but im going on a few holidays then, so irregular time, rather than part time :-P

i've cycled all my life, and so have basic experience; off the top of my head, i can:
i can fix a punture
get a chain on/off
adjust saddles/handlebars
mess with add-ons (lights, bells, water bottle holders etc.)
set a bike up if its delivered in a almost ready to ride format (handlebars, wheels, pedals, rack, etc.)

no offense, but if u wanna become a bike mechanics, u should have a list of what u cannot do, rather than what u can do

Hmmm, need a little more knowledge than that for the possition that I have.
Sorry.

Try n get on a course somewhere n bumb up your knowledge a bit.

no offense, but if u wanna become a bike mechanics, u should have a list of what u cannot do, rather than what u can do

seems to me that there is a mass of stuff i can't do, whereas what i can do is very little :-P

Hmmm, need a little more knowledge than that for the possition that I have.
Sorry.

Try n get on a course somewhere n bumb up your knowledge a bit.

i'm going on a course at hackney city farm with the bike project, im not sure what level it will take me to, but its 4 thursdays evenings in a month, so is sure to cover a generous amount!? :-P

4 thursdays evenings in a month

the month being this month - June

If you're after books to learn...

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zinn-Art-Mountain-Bike-Maintenance/dp/193138259X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212360942&sr=8-1"]Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance: Lennard Zinn: Amazon.co.uk: Books[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zinn-Art-Road-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1931382697/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212360942&sr=8-3"]Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance: Amazon.co.uk: Lennard Zinn: Books[/ame]

Try your library, if you don't want to buy them, but I highly recommend.

If you're after books to learn...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zinn-Art-Mountain-Bike-Maintenance/dp/193138259X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212360942&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zinn-Art-Road-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1931382697/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212360942&sr=8-3

Try your library, if you don't want to buy them, but I highly recommend.

cheers - i've actually looked at these on amazon before, though probably due to a link from these forums :P

you'll most likley be requiring cytech levels 1 and 2 and even 3 and that will cost u a stupid amount of money

This thread would not be complete without the requisite sheldon brown link.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

I can't believe it took 15 posts until someone mentioned Sheldon! :o

or the Park tools one:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/

sheldon who?

I can't believe it took 15 posts until someone mentioned Sheldon! :o

Irrespective of your level of mechanical skill, one of the most important things is to be a good communicator (which, you evidently are) with the shop floor staff and customers. Any reasonably intelligent shop could take you on, put you on bike-building duties and work up from there.

...Don't get any great expectations about pay, but the perks are awesome and everyone is generally a good laugh.

HB is workshop manager of Kingston, he'll definitely be worth getting in touch with.

This thread would not be complete without the requisite sheldon brown link.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

I feel a new acronym coming on Tynan! So that's: RSBL

+1 for zinn, I can do so much more since buying thast book and I have found that a combo of that and Sheldon means I can do mostly everything (i think) on my fix except wheel/frame building (i'm shit with cables, brakes, gears etc though)

Try volunteering at a bike co-op there was one advertised here last week in a thread of it's own with other bike co-ops listed. That way you can learn alot. I personally think a good bike mechanic is also just good at mechanical things in general, so take everything to pieces and have a play, become accustomed to standard engineering systems. Bikes are very simple to work on. There are as ever standards that need to be known and the history of x and y group set / technology but that will come with time. Just take any and every thing apart and tinker.

Putney Cycles are lo0king for a predominantly sales person, they have a note on the door.
If you explain what you'd like to do it might be worth a try. The staff there are excellent, knowledgeable and very helpful.

yeah, i think you need a LOT more experience before anyone would take you on as a mechanic.
you should at least learn how to completely strip/rebuild a bike.
personally, i can do most things myself in terms of splitting/building (tools permitting), but i still think my knowledge about different parts and sizes would need a lot of work before i could take a job as a mechanic.
just read up on sheldon and the park website, they've got almost everything you could want to know.

on the flip side: if you un-learn what you already know, you could get a job in evans. i was in there last week and the conversation went something like this.

me: "hi, what cheap risers do you have in stock?"

evans guy: "risers... risers... they're the things that connect to the other thing... yeah.. what do they look like again?"

me: "riser bars. handlebars mate"

evans guy: "oh yeah! of course. [points at a road bike with drops] like this yeah?"

me: "no"

i was just a bit annoying that he pretended to know what i was asking for when he clearly didn't and made the process take much longer than it should've done.

Try volunteering at a bike co-op there was one advertised here last week in a thread of it's own with other bike co-ops listed. That way you can learn alot. I personally think a good bike mechanic is also just good at mechanical things in general, so take everything to pieces and have a play, become accustomed to standard engineering systems. Bikes are very simple to work on. There are as ever standards that need to be known and the history of x and y group set / technology but that will come with time. Just take any and every thing apart and tinker.

that's a really good idea.
there was one that me and dave were gonna go help out at. i'll find the details for you.