This is Why Bike Mechanics are Always Grumpy...
It's mostly because we get paid bullshit.
Seriously, do you have any idea how annoying it is to get bitched at about the cost of a tune up when you don't make shit?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Fitz, Scrabblor on
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Tom, I do not think you have any idea of what you're talking about, but then again this is the internet.
Thanks
@h3 - bbf obviously stands blatantly blase (yet) ferocious..
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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I meant to respond to this but forgot which is a shame because this is one of the important things.
What can YOU do to make things better for the mechanic?
Tip them! If there is not jar put it in their hand. If they cannot accept a tip let the shop management you think that is bodus.
Bring them beer, food, thanks and anything else you like because we appreciate it. The best tip I ever got was a thank you card and a picture of a potato wearing a bike helmet.
Let the shop you go to know that you go there because of the service. Nothing makes a shop owner appreciate the mechanics like people letting them know they are bringing customers in.
Tell your friends, not just to drive more business to them but also because it helps teach others the value of a good mechanic.
Simon Phearson said:Any thoughts on what riders can do about this, besides complain less?
My go-to mechanics seem to be pretty competent, as far as I can tell. They don't have a tip jar, though. I visit them regularly, though not so regularly that they recognize me (apparently). More tune-ups and adjustments? More chain and gear cleanings? (I suppose if I brought my bike in every time I should re-do my chain, in this weather, I'd see them a lot more.) It's a Kozy's, so I can always buy things, though at this point I'm pretty set on retail items. What else can I do? Picket?
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I could realy go into all that is wrong with what you said here but I'm not sure it is worth it. Long story short here is that you really don't have any idea what you are talking about. A teenager with no mechanical skill is not going to pickup what it takes to be a good bike mechanic in a few weeks and the fact that you think that show how little you know about actually fixing bikes. Yes, bikes are not all that complex but, as I have said before, getting it right takes a fair amount of skill. There is an issue with the market being glutted with under-skilled people desperate to become mechanics and the fact that people like you place them at the same level as a talented and experienced mechanic is part of the problem. Go build 10 or 15 wheels and then tell me there is no 'art' or 'craft' to being a bicycle mechanic...
Please do me the additional favor of not trying to tell me how to live my life. This is not about the salary wearing on me; I knew this is what I would make going into the industry in this capacity and I choose to set aside work where I could earn more to do this instead.
This is about the fact that this is an undervalued profession and I think that for the sake of everyone in it we, as a group, should work to change that.
Tom Dworzanski said:There has been a lot of talk about the demand for bike mechanic services. I want to comment a little bit on the supply as I think that's the real driver of the low wage situation.
I know that what I'm going to say will rub some people the wrong way. I want to say I don't mean any personal offense to anyone. These are just my opinions and I respect those who have other opinions. I personally think being a bike mechanic is an awesome job. From my experiences, bicycle mechanics are awesome people, and honestly I wish I could be one myself.
Bike mechanics have a skill set that is not particularly difficult to master. Aside from a set of speciality tools, there is little stopping the average teenager with no mechanical skills whatsoever from gaining the skills necessary to be a bike mechanic after a few weeks of training. The two major bicycle schools have complete professional-level programs that last one fortnight. Of course, being good and quick requires much practice but the knowledge is simply not deep enough to create any sort of serious barrier to new mechanics. The fact of the matter is bicycles (99%+ of them) are relatively simple machines. They are also something that many young (relatively low-earning) people are drawn to in large numbers. The combination of these circumstances creates a situation that guarantees bicycle mechanics earn minimum wage (or less).
The magic of the free market system (speaking economically, not politically) is it naturally rewards people for doing the work members of society need most and punishes those who do work members of society need least. Given the circumstances, a bicycle mechanic should not feel as though they are doing the world a favor with the work that they do. To the contrary, they should feel as though they are receiving a benefit from society by being able to do work that so many others would prefer to do even for minimum wage. The very fact that a bicycle mechanic can be employed during February in Chicago should be considered a tremendous fortune to that person as there are many others who desire that situation but are unable to have it.
There was talk earlier about grocery store workers earning more. Very few people dream of being grocery store workers or have a passion for loading soup cans onto aisle shelves. Those people are doing work that is not desirable and therefore deserve to earn (at least a little bit) more as a result.
I don't really agree with the idea that being a bicycle mechanic is an art form but I do agree that the it resembles the work characteristics of art. Artists however always have the opportunity to create something exceptionally new, unique, and/or powerful that might be rewarded greatly. Bicycle mechanics do not have this ability.
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@Doug specifically: I think it's time for you to move on. I know you say you love the work but the compensation is obviously wearing you out. It's not going to change. The vast majority of people don't hold on the way you're holding on. There are other places in the cycling industry to make better money and you should consider those. If you really want to keep wrenching, look for opportunities to share in profit (whether as an employee or owner). Perhaps there are opportunities in teaching or the design/branding of new parts you can explore. Maybe there is room for you in manufacturing, especially giving the rapidly declining advantage of Asian manufacturers recently. Regardless, working on a way to mix things up will be much more productive than sticking with the present situation. And it might help you sleep better at night. Just my 2 cents.
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It amazes me how stupid you are...
I'm not looking to get rich, I would not have quit the world of equipment service to do this if that was my goal. However, knowing it paid poor when I went into it does not mean I should just lie down and accept that and not try to help elevate pay and prestige for the job.
Cops probably expected to deal with people, some of whom are good and some of whom are bad; does knowing there are shitty people out there mean they should just accept that and not be upset about how terrible things can be? If nobody is upset by things they never change...
El Dorado said:I think bike mechanics should realize they are not going to get rich when embarking on the career. It is like a police officer complaining about working with the scum of society. Exactly, who did they expect to deal with on a daily basis?
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emphatically cosign
notoriousDUG said:I meant to respond to this but forgot which is a shame because this is one of the important things.
What can YOU do to make things better for the mechanic?
Tip them! If there is not jar put it in their hand. If they cannot accept a tip let the shop management you think that is bodus.
Bring them beer, food, thanks and anything else you like because we appreciate it. The best tip I ever got was a thank you card and a picture of a potato wearing a bike helmet.
Let the shop you go to know that you go there because of the service. Nothing makes a shop owner appreciate the mechanics like people letting them know they are bringing customers in.
Tell your friends, not just to drive more business to them but also because it helps teach others the value of a good mechanic.
Simon Phearson said:Any thoughts on what riders can do about this, besides complain less?
My go-to mechanics seem to be pretty competent, as far as I can tell. They don't have a tip jar, though. I visit them regularly, though not so regularly that they recognize me (apparently). More tune-ups and adjustments? More chain and gear cleanings? (I suppose if I brought my bike in every time I should re-do my chain, in this weather, I'd see them a lot more.) It's a Kozy's, so I can always buy things, though at this point I'm pretty set on retail items. What else can I do? Picket?
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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on
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What did you expect by starting this thread? To change the dynamic between bike mechanic and customer throughout the world? I limit my tipping to bartenders.
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Specifically, how should stakeholders make the bicycle mechanic profession not undervalued?
notoriousDUG said:This is about the fact that this is an undervalued profession and I think that for the sake of everyone in it we, as a group, should work to change that.
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Permalink Reply by T.K. 3.5 mi on
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This rant is great interneting. I recommend some people here get into "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It might lead to a greater appreciation of what Doug, Bailey, Paul, and other mechanics do, or at least plant a seed of thought that might grow into some understanding of what value they provide. You could also try years of suffering through a cycle of frustrating trial and error and costly broken tools and parts in your own time.
Some inspirational quotes from the book:
"The difference between a good mechanic and a bad one, like the difference between a good mathematician and a bad one, is precisely this ability to select the good facts from the bad ones on the basis of quality. He has to care! This is an ability about which formal traditional scientific method has nothing to say"
"I think that when this concept of peace of mind is introduced and made central to the act of technical work, a fusion of classic and romantic quality can take place at a basic level within a practical working context. I’ve said you can actually see this fusion in skilled mechanics and machinists of a certain sort, and you can see it in the work they do. To say that they are not artists is to misunderstand the nature of art."
El Dorado, from this thread I have learned that mechanics at our LSB's deserve a certain level of respect and patience when confronted with a repair. They continuously earn it. And friendship. And cookies. And beer.
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My all time favorite book.
T.K. 8.4 mi said:This rant is great interneting. I recommend some people here get into "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It might lead to a greater appreciation of what Doug, Bailey, Paul, and other mechanics do, or at least plant a seed of thought that might grow into some understanding of what value they provide. You could also try years of suffering through a cycle of frustrating trial and error and costly broken tools and parts in your own time.
Some inspirational quotes from the book:
"The difference between a good mechanic and a bad one, like the difference between a good mathematician and a bad one, is precisely this ability to select the good facts from the bad ones on the basis of quality. He has to care! This is an ability about which formal traditional scientific method has nothing to say"
"I think that when this concept of peace of mind is introduced and made central to the act of technical work, a fusion of classic and romantic quality can take place at a basic level within a practical working context. I’ve said you can actually see this fusion in skilled mechanics and machinists of a certain sort, and you can see it in the work they do. To say that they are not artists is to misunderstand the nature of art."
El Dorado, from this thread I have learned that mechanics at our LSB's deserve a certain level of respect and patience when confronted with a repair. They continuously earn it. And friendship. And cookies. And beer.
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I was going to leave this alone but it's really been pestering me so here we go.
All forms of being a mechanic are an art form, or more specifically a craft in my opinion.
People who have dedicated there lives to being a mechanic are no less a craftsman than a carpenter, a cabinet maker or a blacksmith. They spend years not only obtaining the knowledge to repair things but also accumulating the, for lack of a better term, 'feel' it takes to become a truly skilled mechanic.
It's attitudes like yours that are destroying the skilled trades in general by marginalizing the value of physical skills. Have you ever sweated a pipe? It's an art and not easy to teach because it is very much about feel and just knowing your work in a way that just being told how it is done can never get across. Same thing goes for truing a wheel and so many other mechanical tasks.
Tom Dworzanski said:I don't really agree with the idea that being a bicycle mechanic is an art form but I do agree that the it resembles the work characteristics of art. Artists however always have the opportunity to create something exceptionally new, unique, and/or powerful that might be rewarded greatly. Bicycle mechanics do not have this ability.
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Permalink Reply by Davo on
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There is an issue with the market being glutted with under-skilled people desperate to become mechanics and the fact that people like you place them at the same level as a talented and experienced mechanic is part of the problem.
+1 this is why my $20 tune ups in the past would only ride like new for a week in good weather. I got a $50 tune up (plus parts) at Turin a month ago and my bike rides better than the day I bought it in this weather.
The magic of the free market system (speaking economically, not politically) is it naturally rewards people for doing the work members of society need most and punishes those who do work members of society need least.
You must be getting an amazing invisible hand job the way you talk this up at any opportune moment. We all get it you love capitalism. And how perfectly it obviously works. Must be why people in Marketing and lawyers make so much. No offense to you marketing professionals and Lawyers out there. But are your jobs really needed more than nurses, EMTs, Teachers …...
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You're stretching the idea of skilled trades (most specifically the economics of skilled trades) when you try to put bicycle assembly and repair in the same category as skilled carpentry, cabinetry, the blacksmith trade, or actual bicycle design/building (like frame building where one might actually need to sweat pipe). That is not to say bicycle mechanics are in any way less respectable or important than these other trades -- they just deal with a different economic situation (which has been the only think I've commented on in this thread.)
I do agree with you that there is an art to building and truing wheels. A few people (one two) specialize in it.
notoriousDUG said:
All forms of being a mechanic are an art form, or more specifically a craft in my opinion.
People who have dedicated there lives to being a mechanic are no less a craftsman than a carpenter, a cabinet maker or a blacksmith. They spend years not only obtaining the knowledge to repair things but also accumulating the, for lack of a better term, 'feel' it takes to become a truly skilled mechanic.
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