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- Practical, hands-on work for people who love bikes and cycling
- You'll need good problem-solving skills, the ability to work well with your hands and technical ability
- Can be physically demanding, but also very rewarding
As a cycle mechanic your day-to-day work may include building a bike from scratch to a customer's specification, identifying problems with a bike and discussing solutions with the customer, estimating the cost of repairs and giving quotes, carrying out a bike service and safety check, carrying out repairs and replacing parts, cleaning, degreasing and lubricating bike parts, giving advice to customers, ordering bike parts and keeping a log of stock, taking bookings for repairs and processing paperwork, liaising with suppliers and dealers, and attending cycling events to provide repairs and technical support.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Build a bike from scratch to a customer's specification
- Identify problems with a bike and discuss solutions with the customer
- Estimate the cost of repairs and give quotes
- Carry out a bike service and safety check
- Carry out repairs and replace parts
- Clean, degrease and lubricate bike parts
- Give advice to customers
- Order bike parts and keep a log of stock
- Take bookings for repairs and process paperwork
- Liaise with suppliers and dealers
- Attend cycling events to provide repairs and technical support
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You may be expected to work shifts including weekends and some evening hours. You'll usually work indoors in a workshop. If you're working for a large cycle shop or retail chain, you'll be part of a team of mechanics. You may also work for an online bike retailer, building new bikes for customers on your own in a workshop. The work can be physically demanding and you'll usually be on your feet. You'll be using various tools and chemicals in this job, like cleaning products and greasing agents. You'll usually be provided with protective clothing like overalls and eye protection.
You'll need
This role would be ideal for someone with good practical, hands-on skills who love bikes and cycling.
There are no set entry requirements, but you'll need some knowledge and experience of working with bikes.
You'll find it useful to have a recognised qualification like the Level 2 Certificate in Cycle Maintenance or you could study for technical cycle maintenance qualifications offered by Cytech.
You could start as a retail assistant in a bike shop and apply for a role as a trainee mechanic. Your employer may pay for your training.
You could also get into this job through a bicycle mechanic intermediate apprenticeship.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience, you could progress to a large organisation like British Cycling, who employ specialist mechanics working for the British racing team. With 3 to 5 years' experience you could progress to head mechanic. You could also become self-employed and set up a mobile bike mechanic business, or open your own shop. As an experienced and qualified cycle mechanic you could also move into teaching other mechanics.