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Cycling industry needs 45,000 mechanics right now, and it's an AI-proof job (www.cyclingweekly.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by [M] to c/micromobility@lemmy.world
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[–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

Post anything on the internet and someone will take it too literally. Any reasonable bike can be fixed with a handful of tools that can fit in a bag below the seat.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    That works for typical maintenance tasks, but when you have to service suspensions, adjust bearings, true wheels, bleed brakes, replace a casette, even change cables and housing, it helps to have experience and the right tools, which bike mechanics have, but you'd need to specifically acquire if you just ride bikes.

    It is worth learning how to fix a flat (you'll need to buy tire levers), clean and lube a drivetrain, replace brake pads and adjust brakes and derailers, and in general be able to turn wrenches and screwdrivers to fix things. It is also worth paying someone else to do some of that stuff if you're not interested in learning.

    For more involved work you pretty much need the tools and experience of a bike shop, whether you're doing it yourself, or taking it in for service.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (1 child)

    Idk about all bikes, but on my mountain bike with hydraulic brakes I replaced the line, filled and bled it just fine. Has been maintenance free for years. I did buy the tools for it, but it's not as hard as people make it out to be. Just gotta go slow and learn the process.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 weeks ago

    If you have the time to learn, and are mechanically inclined, it can be very rewarding!

    Most bike mechanics don't go to school for this stuff (i didn't) we just learned from other bike mechanics. So you can buy the tools and learn too -- which makes you a bike mechanic also :)

    Re: brake bleeding specifically, a lot of the mechanics i worked with didn't like doing it, and we had one person who did all of them. I'm not exactly sure but i think it was because the brake fluid wasn't nice to work with (unless you were lucky enough to need mineral oil).

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Pretty much all of those things (except bleeding breaks, but again just dont buy a stupid bike) are very easy to do. Fact of the matter is a bike mechanic is just never going to have enough expertise that they can command higher pay when the average person is just going to do the repair themselves if you charge more. Car mechanics aren't particularly well paid for that matter, and a car is an order of magnitude more complicated than a bike. You can take most of a car apart with a one ratchet set. The tools you need to do anything on a bike won't exceed a 100 dollars unless you go and buy all park tool stuff. The average person doesn't ride their bike enough for it to even need maintenance more than once a year. Basically that leaves bike mechanics with a customer base of enthusiasts with more money than time on their hands, at least in regards to where most of their work would come from. Used to like to watch this bike mechanic on youtube, I think he ended up selling his shop because fixing old bikes to sell them wasn't making enough money.

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