LOCKDOWN - New Vocation - Cycle Servicing?

TOMAS · May 12, 2020

Sadly like a lot of others my occupation is currently on hold/may go down the pan from this bug that's going around! Just wondering if any of you guys were in the same boat and had turned to cycle servicing as a small income for now?

So my occupation is in debt collection (yes I know most will already hate me from that) and is paid heavily on commission. With the arrival of lockdown we were ordered to cease all action and personally I anticipate not only will the going be very tough on the otherside, but there will probably be some restrictions in place to limit how I recover debt in future, granted there will be lots of debt!

So for the last few weeks I've been servicing friends/family bikes for nominal fees, I've been bike-mad since the age of 14 and the general response from most of them is why don't I go into business doing it. I just wondered if any of you were in the same boat and now finding yourselves wondering about earning an income from cycle servicing?

My abilities include front suspension service and rebuild, rear can clean and replace oil bath, wheel building, brake bleeding and all the usual/retro stuff. I had a look at the costs of some services on Evans site earlier and was horrified - is this the actual going rate, as I wonder if i'm missing a trick!? I could also offer a local collection and delivery service also...

Any feedback greatly welcomed, my current career has paid and served me well for the last 17 years but I do wonder if I might be ready for a change...

ishaw · May 12, 2020

Re:

I'm lucky Amy job is still going, despite over 500 people at my work on furlough (hospitality), I'm still.working,but from home (the joy of an IT manager).

That said, before I got this job just over 2 years ago, I had been made redundant and during a year without a job/income, I turned to bike maintenance to keep me sane. As I had no income, and a few bike projects on the go, I too found the cost of some jobs a little shocking so bought the tools needed (in some cases made some) to do things like front fork servicing/rebuilds, rear shocks, brake bleeding, wheel building etc, adding these to my armoury of standard bike stuff.

I seriously contemplated changing jobs, getting some certification and looking for work in a bike shop/bike mechanic, as I love all things bike.

Didn't pan out as I landed a local job, but don't regret learning and dispelling some myths about some tasks that most think are witchcraft and happily pay a fair whack for someone else to do.

I still fancy living the dream in a bike shop one day, but until the hefty mortgage is paid, it will sadly be just that.

Go for it, you'll be adept at ensuring you are paid for your services with your previous skillset

mk one · May 13, 2020

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=411186

TOMAS · May 13, 2020

Cheers for sharing the link mk one, I was chatting to Cytech at cycle show, did interest me but then was put off by the costs of it all, I guarantee you majority of the guys at our local shops are not cytech qualified, i'm entirely self-taught, okay so in more recent years web and youtube has helped with some stuff.

I'm self-employed, have been for 15 years, however only conducted work for one debt recoevry company in this time. Im totally high and dry for income (except Rishi's gift of Furlough for the self-employed which should land in the next month, which I suspect I/ we will be paying all back and some, for years to come through taxes etc) but thankfully I do have some savings I can survive off for quite a while. I guess in working for just one company for 15 years I've kinda forgotten what self-emp is all about, absolutely nothing stopping me going out tomorrow and raising money however I wish (legit)...

So my plan as things stand are to try and basically cover all my living costs/damage limitation for the next year if I can doing whatever/cycle repairs/services and then maybe get into something a bit more permanent towards the end of 2021/early 2022.

M-Power · May 13, 2020

Re:

Im in the minority with this opinion I suspect but cycle mechanics and bike shop staff need to earn a decent living wage. Paying £20k odd pa doesn't cut it. Why should an indy car garage mechanic charge his labour out at £75hr + Vat and a cycle mechanic a fraction of that ? Im thinking of the cost of living in London here. Its a highly skilled job with lives at risk if bad mistakes are made. Cycle wholesalers are the ones that make the big money.

I had a dream of owning my own bike shop too for many years but when you look into the numbers, its just basic subsistence living, with little time off at WEs. There are also never ending costly regulations to comply with. Best to stay tinkering with them so it never becomes a chore.

legrandefromage · May 13, 2020

Have been quietly building bikes for the neighbours for years. During this current madness I've only accepted beer as payment.

One memorable bike was a full suspension Diamond Back which had a frame full of water. I politely had to turn it down, he hasnt spoken to me since.

Has anyone looked at ebay lately? The price of the shittiest nasty BSO has gone through the roof with a discernible jump in prices post lockdown.

Might stick a couple on to see what happens.

TOMAS · May 13, 2020

legrandefromage":3d3u1x1o said:
Have been quietly building bikes for the neighbours for years. During this current madness I've only accepted beer as payment.

One memorable bike was a full suspension Diamond Back which had a frame full of water. I politely had to turn it down, he hasnt spoken to me since.

Has anyone looked at ebay lately? The price of the shittiest nasty BSO has gone through the roof with a discernible jump in prices post lockdown.

Might stick a couple on to see what happens.

I'm pretty consistently looking at the used market, for sure now is the time to off-load any questionable builds or stuff you aint in love with... hell if I could sell off my stable (see Sig) today, I think I'd do well from it. I've had an abundance of friends/family/friends of family contact me to say Tom, you any bikes for sale? As soon as I say yeah but no suspension and no disc brakes they are immediately put off... how wrong could they be haha!

Generally speaking in today's market I don't think you can but ANY used bike for less than £80-£100, add into that rarity etc then it increases. Sadly I've had friends of friends contact me to say "i've bought this used Boardman for £280 but something seems wrong" - it came over to me for repair, I honestly don't think I've EVER seen a more stretched chain or worn drivetrain in my life, the chainrings were razor sharp points! I've cycled past my local independent cycle shops over last few weeks to see ques of people outside - one had a cue of about 10 people! I certainly would never want it to become a full time job, if I could do say 3 busy days a week to earn a bit of money that would suit me fine

Rod_Saetan · May 13, 2020

Just in contrast to what has been said by some, I quit my career in Hospitality over 10 years ago and moved into the bike trade, whilst I still don’t earn as much now as I did when I left I am much happier. It is true that converting a hobby into a job is not always enjoyable, and doesn’t always work that depends on some extent on you and how you approach it. I have been lucky to find work in 3 Independents over the years that have all allowed me to talk/play with/build/fix vintage bikes and my particular niche knowledge has been a boon not a burden. Now I have never officially been a mechanic, and wouldn’t try and do that full time, but in my experience a Cytech etc isn’t strictly necessary, yes it shows that you have had the training to do certain things but some of the best mechanics I have worked with over the years have learnt on the job and have got by just fine. The thing is that people have a sort of rose-tinted image about working in a bike shop, like it’s all nice cups of coffee and chatting about bikes and fixing someone’s immaculately kept Alex Singer, but that is 5% of what you’ll be expected to do and there is a lot of crap, boring stock-taking, monotonous building of bikes out of boxes, cleaning etc. You’ll never really earn any money, Of the 4 main businesses I have worked for, one went pop, one is currently being wound up and disappearing and one was sold on as the owner wanted out after 3 years. You’ll also be expected to work weekends, and you’ll have to deal with the general public. Now if you’ve worked 100 hour weeks on a salary in Hospitality then all of this is fine, you’ll be used to it, in fact it’s easier, but going from an IT Job or something fairly structured where you’re in control of your own hours/workload/earning to some extent can be a hard wrench.

Plenty of shop will employ mechanics as self-employed, you could slot in really easily, especially now as demand is ramping up in some areas.

Also, with reference to ‘how much are they charging for a service?!’ You presumably are not paying rent for business premises, rates, wages, for consumables, for internet providers, for blah blah blah that all have to be taken into account, running a business from a shed does not have the same costs as running a shop on the high street, trust me ;-) Some services take longer than others, they require more cleaning materials, they require some extra time to figure out what parts are needed and order them in, in the chain of shops I was in we aimed for a service to take an hour, that’s only £60 an hour really, plus parts, from an experienced mechanic working flat out in a central London, high street location, it may sound like a lot but it isn’t a very good deal for the business either.

As per usual I’ve waffled.

TL;DR - give it a go.

wiggviv · May 13, 2020

Re: Cycle Servicing

I went from subsea oil engineering high pay yes job went downhill to redundancy 2016 thought about a change and cycling was a hobby - ok lets see what the Job Centre has to offer no help or option to re-train hmm ………… I went to volunteer at a cycle repair co-op and offered my services for free at local bike shop just to gain experience. Although I found the culture and repair interesting and different everyday it isn't like fixing your stuff try adjusting and servicing un-maintained kit every day sort of a challenge some might like. I went back to the office only to find it was a mistake. I would consider fixing repair again tho' I don't need to in the present climate only doing my own stuff retro hobby. Cytech is expensive and often not needed - give it a try volunteer or part time lots of bike libraries and bike co-op around. Fix and repair will always be needed new sales might collapse.

mk one · May 13, 2020

Rod_Saetan":da7f97ik said:
Just in contrast to what has been said by some, I quit my career in Hospitality over 10 years ago and moved into the bike trade, whilst I still don’t earn as much now as I did when I left I am much happier. It is true that converting a hobby into a job is not always enjoyable, and doesn’t always work that depends on some extent on you and how you approach it. I have been lucky to find work in 3 Independents over the years that have all allowed me to talk/play with/build/fix vintage bikes and my particular niche knowledge has been a boon not a burden. Now I have never officially been a mechanic, and wouldn’t try and do that full time, but in my experience a Cytech etc isn’t strictly necessary, yes it shows that you have had the training to do certain things but some of the best mechanics I have worked with over the years have learnt on the job and have got by just fine. The thing is that people have a sort of rose-tinted image about working in a bike shop, like it’s all nice cups of coffee and chatting about bikes and fixing someone’s immaculately kept Alex Singer, but that is 5% of what you’ll be expected to do and there is a lot of crap, boring stock-taking, monotonous building of bikes out of boxes, cleaning etc. You’ll never really earn any money, Of the 4 main businesses I have worked for, one went pop, one is currently being wound up and disappearing and one was sold on as the owner wanted out after 3 years. You’ll also be expected to work weekends, and you’ll have to deal with the general public. Now if you’ve worked 100 hour weeks on a salary in Hospitality then all of this is fine, you’ll be used to it, in fact it’s easier, but going from an IT Job or something fairly structured where you’re in control of your own hours/workload/earning to some extent can be a hard wrench.

Plenty of shop will employ mechanics as self-employed, you could slot in really easily, especially now as demand is ramping up in some areas.

Also, with reference to ‘how much are they charging for a service?!’ You presumably are not paying rent for business premises, rates, wages, for consumables, for internet providers, for blah blah blah that all have to be taken into account, running a business from a shed does not have the same costs as running a shop on the high street, trust me ;-) Some services take longer than others, they require more cleaning materials, they require some extra time to figure out what parts are needed and order them in, in the chain of shops I was in we aimed for a service to take an hour, that’s only £60 an hour really, plus parts, from an experienced mechanic working flat out in a central London, high street location, it may sound like a lot but it isn’t a very good deal for the business either.

As per usual I’ve waffled.

TL;DR - give it a go.

No, this is great. My link above was not realy to do with cytech but to show some of the many negative type attitudes regarding working as a bike mechanic which i see all over, very rarely does someone come and show a positive type attitude towards the work.

As for the qualification side its the same in most industries i imagine. When i worked at climbing centres we had people applying for work quite regular, a lot of them with more qualifications than most of the old staff put together, most i might add straight out of college. They were never offered work on the paperwork though, only on experience, sometimes we would offer them tag along work to help gain real world experience, like YTS, god, who can remember that?

LOCKDOWN - New Vocation - Cycle Servicing?

TOMAS

Senior Retro Guru

ishaw

mk one

TOMAS

Senior Retro Guru

M-Power

Old School Grand Master

legrandefromage

TOMAS

Senior Retro Guru

Rod_Saetan

Old School Grand Master

wiggviv

Retro Guru

mk one

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