[Closed] I've only gone and got me a job as a bike mechanic. Boom.!

Well done buddy.

Proper chuffed but am I about to hate the thing I have always loved.???

you'll still love working on clean decent bikes... 😉

It just means that you'll never want to work on your own bikes anymore! 😀

How much are your innertubes?

What biscuits as payment?

Know how to fit mudguards? With your eyes closed?

You soon will.

Well done OP, I hope you enjoy it.

tomhoward - Member
Know how to fit mudguards?

You won't get used to the smell though...

If you haven't worked in retail before your in for a shock , the great unwashed are a fickle bunch 🙂

d45yth - Member
It just means that you'll never want to work on your own bikes anymore!

And about to discover why so many bikeshop mechanics ride singlespeed... 🙂

Mudguards have a smell?

(well done OP 🙂 )

Congrats. I wouldn't worry about what the others are saying. If you don't like it you can always move on and in the meantime you get a nice staff discount 🙂

Congratulations now I ve saved your username to pester you with loads of stupid questions 🙂

Congratulations now I ve saved your username to pester you with loads of stupid questions

Do be sure to use that advice to enable you to buy stuff online, won't you? 😉

I've bought some parts from the internet, can you fit them for free?

Can I borrow your workshop tools for a bit while I fit stuff I bought online?

I thought this thread was about first day at work and a problem with the compressor.

Welcome to the end of your life , but in a good way.
Even after years and years I still mostly look forward to gojng to work
This last few weeks might be the only exception as it so busy I can't ride my own bike much

I did it and didn't enjoy it at all.

Mudguards have a smell?

Yep. New SKS guards smell of dog shit. Seriously.

I'm a mudguard fitting goddamn NINJA.

As someone who's done exactly what you've done, Neil, ill try and pass on a few observations and tips that came to me:
It's a steep learning curve. Very steep. I started off with paranoia that I'd forgotten stuff like tightening bars etc. But you've got to be methodical. Don't rush.
It took me a while to not be embarrassed charging people RRP for parts, then adding labour to fit them. Years of buying stuff at a discounted price and fitting it for free was hard to shake off. You'll soon work out why its £10 labour to fit a tube.....
Expensive bikes are the easy jobs. Getting a cup and cone BB out of a 20 year old bike can hurt, and when you've fitted your fourth 7sp freewheel in a row, you'll yearn simply for something as exotic as QR wheels!
But this is the root of it - People look at me for advice about what to do with their bike. Years of being on their side of the fence means I MUST be honest. I cannot and will not replace parts unnecessarily. Sure, I'll ask them how long they want their bike to last before they bring it back, and if that's 'next year' then they might need a new chain now not in 2 months, but that's being thorough. But you've got to keep them coming back, so you've got to be honest and do a good job.
But at the end of the day, I wasted 20+ years in construction bored out of my skull. Now I go to work to do something I love. And I do love mechanical things. It pleases me that I can send someone away on a bike that works. I get a warm glow when I get a compliment (I've had a few) on my work. Sometimes I work my frigging ass off, I go home absolutely knackered without taking a break and I know I've done a good job and I sleep well. I've actually done something, made something better, fixed it. And to me that matters. If I didn't love it, I'd walk away.
Some people say experience makes a mechanic, some say knowledge. I'd say neither. I'd say it's aptitude and attitude.
Do it because you love it, not because you have to.

Well done. 🙂

^^^^ I agree with PP he has done a few jobs for me and a top notch service too all with friendly advice it goes a long way..
Congratulations

Cheers Mr Poddy. I am pretty sure I will enjoy it more than humping peoples shopping up several flights of stairs or working in a warehouse. If I don't then I really need to take a long hard look at my life. Can't get wait.

Congrats. Always better to be doing a job you enjoy than one you hate just to pay the bills.

Good for you matey...I'm trying hard to do the same thing,(or bike retail) but despite 30+ years on the tools as a car tech and the last ten years fixing/building my own bikes its proving a bit difficult.Local shops seem to want (A)Bikeshop Experience(above counts for nothing apparantly) (B)Cytech 2 min (C)a chance to muck you about.
I'm quite happy to do the training myself(although the courses seem a bit sporadic,or is that just because I'm not in the trade?),just want to do it in one hit which seems difficult,but slightly reluctant to spend the money if Bikeshop experience counts for so much...bit of a Catch 22 really.
Based in South East if anyone knows of anything ?

I imagine after a while it gets really insulting when customers rock up with dried/caked-on mud on their bikes expecting a full service/fix parts...

Congrats, stop reading LBS threads on here.

get ready for "But it's* much cheaper online"

*It being a part that may or may not resemble the one you are selling/fitting and may not even fit the bike in question and could be many years old etc.

be ready for ''its two flat tyres, the seat stems rusted in, no rear brake cable and what i m after is some 200mm fox forks, i ve seen them on line for 850 quid will 875 be okay fitted and bike serviced?''

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I always hated fixing bikes, dealing with the general public and working for peanuts.....so I was already well prepared.

ALL your wage will go on weed and shop discounts/credit for new bike bits.

You'll tell customers with posh bikes that their bits need replacing soon as they are starting to wear just so you can pop said items on ebay to help top up your wages to buy more new shiny bits for yourself 😉

Getting a cup and cone BB out of a 20 year old bike can hurt

'Is it Italian or English threaded?' 😥