…

“fully trained”… ❓

It’s not paved with gold…

fully trained as in Cytech Level3

Wouldn’t expect a fast-track to millions but an idea would be welcome.

£15-20k depending on location is reasonable I’d say.

Less than a tanker driver 😉

15-18k.Little bit more darn sarf and little bit more for ‘workshop manager’.Weekends,bankholidays and plenty of late nights.
Pathetic really….but it’s not a ‘real’ job and it’s getting paid for ‘doing your hobby’ apparently so thats ok.
http://www.bikebiz.com/jobs/category/9

Cheers for that Rorschach – useful information that link.

Wow I’m well paid. Shame I live in the most expensive city in the universe.

Currently £6 an hour + bonus & dividend

Luckily I live in a cheap part of the country

That’s canadia for you Will ehh!

I personally don’t think it’s pathetic – the pay is also linked to responsibility, not just practical ability.

Its peanuts hence most bike shop mechanics are not great. We simply will not pay enough to allow for decent wages then complain about he quality of work done.

How can you live as an adult on that sort of money? very hard

Holy cow…..I agree with TJ again!!!!

Damn. I’ve been eyeing up the ad in my LBS for a mechanic and had all sorts of plans to learn some more and then have a career change. Does not compute though with size of mortgage.

is £20k a year peanuts?

If you live in Central London then it’s certainly not great.

is £20k a year peanuts?

Living on your own, yes

Fixing bikes aint rocket science though. Common sense and a few “specialist” tools is all you need.

If you can get a mortgage on your wage then its an OK wage, if not its peanuts.

If you are interested in a bike related career then it’s worth considering as a good introduction. It’s hard to know if bike shops will exist in 5 or 10 years time so a goal of having your own shop someday might not be open to you. If you’re interested in mechanics you’d make more money on cars or motorcycles. If you’re entrepreneurial you could use your skills to start a business.

You might like to compare earnings of a few trades, start with plumbing …

kingkongsfinger – Member
Fixing bikes aint rocket science though. Common sense and a few “specialist” tools is all you need.

You can say that for a hell of a lot of jobs where you get paid a damn sight more money.

Trimix – Member
If you can get a mortgage on your wage then its an OK wage, if not its peanuts.

30 years ago when I was “starting out” it took two incomes to save a deposit and get a first mortgage, I don’t see why it should be any different now.

I personally don’t think it’s pathetic – the pay is also linked to responsibility, not just practical ability.

hmm. i routinely work on equipment that costs anything from 8k to 1/2 million. worst thing that happens if i get it wrong is something doesn’t get built when someone thought it might. eventualities if a bike mechanic gets it wrong might include someone being hit by a car or going over a drop they might have hoped to avoid.

Common sense and a few “specialist” tools is all you need.

yeah, and sometimes i think the same thing about my job. fortunately for me there are only a few people around the world who have similar experience to me, plus a ‘little’ common sense, so i’m paid quite well for what i do.
people often undervalue their skills. unfortunate if other people do too, but the market pays what the market will stand….

£20 000 is OK but how many mechanics actually get that for a 40 hr week?

Christ, if I thought I could make up to 20k fixing bikes I’d switch jobs in a heartbeat. I done four years at uni to get paid less than that.

Don’t know how people can think that’s a bad wage. It’s pretty damn good where I come from.

Find somewhere that will actually pay 20k-it’d have to be a big workshop with multiple mechanics to manage and a lot else besides. Average is much more like 16-17k.

butcher, there’s a difference between what might be okay in, say, your early twenties, but £20K as a graduate starter salary with the expectation of development and progression to more senior positions is a very different long term career option than £20K as the top salary your job will command when you are fully qualified, experienced etc.

I done four years at uni to get paid less than that.

Perhaps if you spoke better English you’d get a better job 🙄

Don’t know how people can think that’s a bad wage. It’s pretty damn good where I come from.

But it’s not a lot in London, as said, which unless you’re very lucky is the only place you’re going to get that sort of salary. May get you a room in a shared house, but most people have greater aspirations.

I also imagine that you intend to eventually earn more than £20k, as opposed to being happy with that for the rest of your life.

I done four years at uni

Time well spent 🙄

The normal term last time I went looking at jobs ” meets minimum wage”

There are people out there who are more than happy to play with bikes all day and will do a great job despite the poor wage.

For most bike shop staff its quality of life as much as money.

@ Del

I have a the entire IT infrastructure of a multi-million pound company to look after. If I screw up, it can have catastrophic effect on the business (and all the employees).

They are also paying for my knowledge, learnt over many years – not just from a couple of courses…

£20k for fixing bikes is damn good money!

I expect the world-cup level team mechanics are well paid, also there are opportunities for good mechanics within distribution companies that may pay more for the right people so a bike mechanic’s prospects aren’t limited to retail. I know a cytech level 3 workshop manager with good experience who just picked up a job in Vancouver – they don’t have bike mechanic qualifications over there so it was a work-permit winner for him.

They are also paying for my knowledge, learnt over many years – not just from a couple of courses…

To be fair you could say the same about a good bike mechanic, since a level 1 or low-experience mechanic will struggle to get close to 20k. A good suspension servicing, wheel-building, frame-prepping, technically knowledgable mechanic has a lot of experience that you won’t pick up on a course and a safety responsibility that shouldn’t be underestimated – there’s a lot of new cyclists and no-win-no-fee ads around these days.

Perhaps if you spoke better English you’d get a better job

Time well spent

🙄 The pedantry on this forum is second to none. Well done. It’s no wonder STW has the reputation it has.

I think it’s a valid comment. You’re effectively moaning that you don’t get paid enough. If I was interviewing that’s a massive black mark in my book, it’s very basic English.

My apologies. In future I will conduct my manner on the forum as I would in an interview.

It’s pendantry 😉

I’d be **** made up to be earning 15k a year.

It’s pendantry

Are you sure? 🙄

My apologies. In future I will conduct my manner on the forum as I would in an interview.

Well ‘did’ is shorter than ‘done’, so you actually spent more time making it wrong, which suggests that it wasn’t intentional.

I’d be **** made up to be earning 15k a year.

Assuming a 40 hour week minimum wage is 12700, so as a full time worker you can’t be that far off.