TR – Yes.
No point in lying, agreed. But there’s no harm in swotting up either!

Hardest part will be convincing them your in it for the long haul and not justhaving a midlife crisis.

Ask them about opportunities for progression as your skills and knowledge imcrease.

Hardest part will be convincing them your in it for the long haul and not justhaving a midlife crisis.

Agreed.
That was the top of my list and I’ve already made my position 100% crystal clear in the first interview.

Some good advice above.
For road, new 11spd need new freehub body/wheels
Also Mavic wheels tend to have to have a extra spacer before fitting a cassette on.

IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO SOMETHING- ASK. shows willing to learn and better yourself, better ask then try and do it and cock it up.

Wipe/clean the bike of any grease, dirty finger prints after finsih the work and handing bike back.

AS some said above M check when bike comes in, good check to see if anything worn/broken or needs adjusting.

Check the wear and tear parts. brake blocks/pads/BB/chain
Alway have a chain checker with you, check chain infront of the customer if you can, shows you not BS them in getting new chain and if really bad new cassette, (more than half have never seen a chain checker, also might be able to sell them one so they can check there own chain)

Serious head on…
-The internet is your friend (not places like this!!).Manufacturers resources are invaluable.
-Do not try to cram to much in.The main difference between home hacks and shop mechanics is the time they take.Speed comes from being efficient not rushing.This will come with time.
-As said before BE TIDY.10 minutes here and there looking for a lost part/tool soon adds up.
-The biggest problems are always caused by the gulf between customer expectations and reality (usually caused by shop floor staff promising the earth for tuppance-in 10 minutes time).
-Customers don’t necessarily lie……ok,they lie a bit.But don’t take their word as gospel.Eg the bottom bracket is creaking.Cue spending 30 minutes stripping it down and refitting.Only to find out it’s the bars.
-Which leads to-If you hear hooves,think horses.Not zebras (Most things ARE the obvious).
-Become an ubernerd.The physical,hitting things with a hammer part of the job is childs play.Knowledge is power-knowing how hard to hit it before it breaks is the tough bit.
-Don’t see your arse if stuff comes back (which it will).Shizzle happens.Just make sure you get it right on the 2nd swing.
-At the end of the day you have to be happy with providing good service AND value.It’s the single hardest bit of the job tbh.You can easily just replace everything with new parts and generate a massive bill (your boss will love you) or bodge old/worn out stuff to make it work (and spending half a day doing it for £15).Finding a balance can be tough.
-At the end of the day it’s just fixing push bikes.It’s easy to lose sight of this when stuff goes wrong,there’s a massive back log and customers are being arsey.NO ONE IS GOING TO DIE…..unless you forgot to tighten the stem bolts and put new pads in.

Here endeth the sermon (10 years in and 4 different shops).

to answer the OP ‘What’s the difference between a home mechanic and a Cytec mechanic?

the difference between a home mechanic and a professional mechanic?

(not perhaps ‘Cytech trained’ as I have worked with shockingly bad wrenches who have Cytech 1,2 and 3)

-is the ability to produce high quality work consistently, every day, whilst standing on your feet for 7-8 hours a day

-knowing what Cytech does not teach you, which are all the ‘quirks’ of particular components or situations and bike brands / models

-being able to troubleshoot problems very quickly and come up with effective resolutions, often when under pressure

-admitting when you don’t know something, and not being afraid to ask for help (from a fellow mechanic, a trade technical support source or elsewhere..)

-being honest with customers when your repair work would make more profit, but in the customer’s interest its actually cheaper for them to buy a new bike

nothing worse than arrogant mechanics who think they know it all..or lazy mechanics who simply don’t care, and just want to do the minimum

I like every day when I learn something new from experiencing a new product or situation I was not familiar with, and adding that knowledge to my skillset

after 5 years in the independant sector, I’ve spent the last couple of years managing key London workshops for the biggest chain store in the UK, and now currently runing a specialist high end workshop for a concept store in London

the money is not fantastic compared to other industries or trades, but I actually enjoying going to work every day, and that is saying something!

No advice – just good luck

Hello
ex cytech/nvq assessor here with 18yrs experience in the cycle trade.

the technical certificate is often scoffed at and the same excuse is trotted out that “i have met cytech mechanics who are rubbish”, well i agree that there are rubbish cytech mechanics however there are great ones too. The qualification is great for cycle mechanics to have something to achieve as for years the position has been unrecognised as a hobbyist role or a non professional one, well i for one would like to see this changed and the role of mechanic seen as a vital one and one that deserves status, hence cytech 2 then 3 and now suspension specific courses all tailored from what the industry wants.

The qualification is also a great way to attract and retain quality staff especially from young as there is a fantastic apprentice scheme with potential funding available for the right candidates.

It is also a chance for mechanics to meet and share ideas and working practices, this always happened when a course was running.

The other benefits are for the business in so much that the mechanic becomes registered on the ACT website.

My advice to you would be to show willing in gaining the cytech2 as this shows that you are willing to learn,progress and gain industry specific skills and not simply trade on expereince and habits that can die hard.

Nice advert…..and as a bonus it’s cheap too.Ahh no,no it’s not 😉

@bobbyspangles

I’d agree that Cytech is actually a fantastic development for the trade of working as a bike mechanic because its a professional qualification

of course, as you mention there are rubbish cytech mechanics (people good at passing the exam / course) as well as great ones

I’d also agree that the bike industry benefits from having professionally trained wrenches with a recognised qualification, which includes the City & Guild which is quickly gaining traction

I’d also like to see a union for bike mechanics, but that is perhaps a bike dream as Jules Tandacharry (the previous Cytech trainer for Evans) got very close to setting it all up until the workshop managers and key mechanics at Evans bottled it, fearing for their employers reaction to them becoming unionised 🙁

Yeah, take an expensive course and then work for peanut shells… I just got a job instead and spent the money on tools (and inflatable sheep).

Good luck Poddy! If you were our local LBS bike fiddler It’d be ace! 😀

Over 30 yrs in the trade and still love it.

No advice but best of luck.

I did a short stint in a LBS as a sales assistant and really liked the idea of mechanicing as I do the majority of my work at home. I considered getting Cytech trained however at 18 it is just too expensive to get a saturday/monday job.

All I can add is keep tidy and be honest, No-one knows everything but you can learn more. Good luck

Give honest quotes, phone people up if it is going to cost much more than quoted.

Be prepared to say that it is not economic to repair but its up to them.

Be prepared to say no. Don’t let them push into half arsed jobs. i.e “Can you just tweak the gears mate? I don’t want any new cable or chain.” When it need new cables and chain because they will just be spending money and getting a crap result.

Explain why you are doing x/y/z.

Inflatable moose(s) surely Walleater?

If its a small shop where cust’s can get at you, then you’ll never get any work done as you’ll constantly be talking about stuff/ being distracted.

But yes, big breaker bar, infinite supply of lubes and non bike related humour (you get completely fed up about hearing about bikes) and be honest and clear to anyone and everyone, the mechanic is everyones friend otherwise you don’t get any work/ it gets real miserable real quick.

And the bigger the shop, the more of your time goes into paperwork. I.E smallest LBS = <5% of time doing mechanic related paperwork. Biggest monster workshop = 40-50% of time doing aimless typing and swearing aimed at computers and people who break the computers.

Inflatable moose(s) surely Walleater?

And the occasional Beaver….

http://www.cytech.uk.com/uploaded_files/tce-docs/Cytech%20Pricelist%20May%202012%20-%20Public%20-%20ATG.pdf

Seriously?? What’s the average wage for a UK mech these days? That’s a sheet load of money for not much return shirley?

Seriously?? What’s the average wage for a UK mech these days? That’s a sheet load of money for not much return shirley?

To be honest, if all goes well, I’ll be in a position to not have to worry too much about the money. It sounds lame I know but as a cyclist I’m about 50% rider and 50% mechanic. I honestly can’t tell you which I prefer doing. I really really want this job. It’s hard to overstate that. But the planets must align for it all to drop into place.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Seriously, its very helpful. 🙂

Holy poop!! 😯 Shirley they are having a bubble?

price list is very competitive compared to other professional qualifications.

Other professional qualifications tend to lead to better paid jobs.

Other professional qualifications tend to lead to better paid jobs

But it’s not always about the money is it? I know people earning three times what I do now who are stressed, overworked and unhappy.
🙂

If this works out for me (I’d say its 50/50 at the minute) I’ll be working 15 hours a week less than I have for most of the last 22 years and starting at 9am, not 7am.

How much is an extra 750 hours a year for the rest if your life worth? That’s the question you must answer.

“Seriously?? What’s the average wage for a UK mech these days? That’s a sheet load of money for not much return shirley?”

@walleater

typical ‘chain store’ salary is £12K for bike builder, £14K for mechanic and £16.5K-18K for workshop manager

plus commission / bonus on workshop productivity and overall shop performance

some LBS will pay a bit more for each position (to poach staff from chain stores), some LBS pay really badly

I’m being offered more than that.

Show off…..

Good luck PP, hope it works out for you and you’re right about the work life balance thing as well.
Keep us posted!

Practical

Can you build a wheel, or at the very least true a wheel?

Jesus….

I’ve just done some basic calcs and from memory I think I was earning around 6 pounds an hour in 1992 basic wrenching at Halfords. The UK isn’t paying much more than that 20 years later LOLWTF….and people are expected to pay thousands for certification LOLWTFX2. Forked up….

Good job you defected to Canadia innit then!

I dunno, the price of beer and cheese out here cancels out the increase in salary!

Practical

Can you build a wheel, or at the very least true a wheel?

Yep. There’s 2 STWers riding around on my wheels actually. I’m not that good but I’m self taught, and they’re true enough, roundish, and they don’t fall apart! 🙂

Well I’m back.

I had to service a 2013 Trek Madone 7.9 (if I recall correctly) Several grands worth of carbon Dura Ace road bike, put it that way. And then PDI a basic ladies MTB out of the box.
Made one small numpty error on the MTB and missed (sort of) a loose cassette on the Madome. I picked it up in the end but I’m kicking myself for not spotting it straight away.

So. Now I wait some more.

Fingers crossed for you Poddy. 😀

I don’t think I stand a chance but hey, you gotta be in to win 🙂

Oh well, you gave it your best shot and that’s all you can do.
The rest is fate and it still might work out.
Good luck.

Good luck with it Peter 🙂

Anna, you shouldn’t say that, because if by some miracle I do get it, you’ll have to PAY me (well, the shop!) to service your bikes every year because I won’t be doing any more freebies! 🙂

Can I put you down as a reference? 😉

Good luck Mr Poddy

At the risk of tempting fate or having missed another thread, any news…? 🙂