Wrench schools

[verbs4us]

Time to think about a career after the corporate grind, so I am in the lucky position to ask a question more of passion than economics: Are there any wrench schools on the East coast? It looks like there are two serious schools, in Oregon: UBI (https://bikeschool.com/) and USA Cycling (https://usacycling.org/mechanics). Do they have a clinch on the market?

[herb5998]

UBI is pretty much the biggest operation for now. The USA Cycling stuff is more geared toward mechanics that may be working or supporting national/international events with U19/23/Elite riders.

Did the full UBI slate of courses in 2022, was already working at a shop for a while before hand, but it was very informative. Like many courses, it's a baseline, time at the bench and seeing lots of different bikes come in the door is the biggest helper post-training. Happy to answer questions via PM.


BBI (I think that was the name) was in Colorado, and aligned with QBP IIRC, but they were a COVID casualty I believe.

[bigbill]

In case it matters to anyone reading this thread who is a veteran, UBI will take the GI Bill. I finish my second graduate degree in two weeks and will have enough left to attend UBI. GI Bill also will pay a monthly stipend to help pay for room and board.

[herb5998]

Originally Posted by bigbill

In case it matters to anyone reading this thread who is a veteran, UBI will take the GI Bill. I finish my second graduate degree in two weeks and will have enough left to attend UBI. GI Bill also will pay a monthly stipend to help pay for room and board.

Did the same thing, Denise is super responsive at getting all paperwork filled for the VA side of student certification.

[ChainNoise]

Jeeze...1500 for a week of class? To learn how to work on a bike? I'm sorry but this is so ridiculous.

Are you mechanical at all? Meaning, do you have the know-how to work on a car aside from the super basic maintainence (can you do more than oil changes, cabin filter replacement, filling fluids) If you are, don't even think of going to school for this. Waste of money. Disassemble a relatively modern rim brake mechanical bike (MY2000+) and put it back together and tune perfectly. YouTube what you can't figure out. Or even better yet, search for brand specific instructionals on how to install and tune. They've mostly all the same with minor tweaks here and there for setup. You can learn all of this on your own.

If you have basic mechanical skills, bikes should be a breeze. There is literally nothing complicated about any of it. Mechanical shifters and derailleurs are all very basic parts that work on cable pull and spring tension. Di2, AXS, and EPS parts that go bad are disposable. They don't fix them, generally speaking. If you have the know-how to realize when a bolt is going to cross thread the hole, or the difference and applications of slept fit vs press fit vs it's too ****ing big and will not fit, please do not waste your money on this. If you don't have this knowledge, you'll need to learn all this and I can guarantee you this class won't teach you any of that.

.

[Mikej]

You tube and spend the $1500+ on tools. Are you trying to get paid or is this for your personal bikes?

[Dude]

I was a service manager for 5 years and I would hire someone who came out of UBI/BBI with no experience over someone with lots of mechanical experience any day of the week.

There are lives at stake when it comes to a customers bike. I need to know that my mechanics can reliably diagnose and fix a problem.

I did Barnetts for two weeks back in…2004? after I had already been a mechanic for 2 years and I found it really valuable. A good foundation and it helped teach some of the concepts to my customers and explain why the bike broke/how we fixed it.

Being a bike mechanic is also about working in specialty retail and task management. Spring saturdays were some of the most intense days I’ve ever experienced and that can’t really be taught.

[Spoker]

I would become a part time plumber or electrician and pick only the easy jobs.
Better pay, more appreciated, less work and don't have to work with frustrating quality parts.

[catchourbreath]

Unsure of the current status but Trek was offering a TCS training of various levels. Caveat being you'd have to be working for a trek dealer already to gain access.

I still believe there should be a better pipeline for mechanics in cycling. A lot of the job is knowing where to look for tech docs or knowledge base, i think forminga good base is extremely useful. Countless times experience is the main benefit from just seeing an issue before to diagnose it easier, but that's same with any trade.

Just be aware there's not a solid career path (or money) as a mechanic. Corporate shops are mostly your only way to get Healthcare and benefits, they're all working on lean staffing and there aren't a ton of experienced people there.

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by ChainNoise

Jeeze...1500 for a week of class? To learn how to work on a bike? I'm sorry but this is so ridiculous.

Are you mechanical at all? Meaning, do you have the know-how to work on a car aside from the super basic maintainence (can you do more than oil changes, cabin filter replacement, filling fluids) If you are, don't even think of going to school for this. Waste of money. Disassemble a relatively modern rim brake mechanical bike (MY2000+) and put it back together and tune perfectly. YouTube what you can't figure out. Or even better yet, search for brand specific instructionals on how to install and tune. They've mostly all the same with minor tweaks here and there for setup. You can learn all of this on your own.

If you have basic mechanical skills, bikes should be a breeze. There is literally nothing complicated about any of it. Mechanical shifters and derailleurs are all very basic parts that work on cable pull and spring tension. Di2, AXS, and EPS parts that go bad are disposable. They don't fix them, generally speaking. If you have the know-how to realize when a bolt is going to cross thread the hole, or the difference and applications of slept fit vs press fit vs it's too ****ing big and will not fit, please do not waste your money on this. If you don't have this knowledge, you'll need to learn all this and I can guarantee you this class won't teach you any of that.

.

My two cents- the difference between a pro and a skilled amateur is speed. I’ve built two and gut renovated one house. I’ve done all of the trades. In some cases, my workmanship is better than what a pro would do (my HVAC - I’m an HVAC engineer) but it takes me more time. So if I wanted to be a pro bike mechanic and there was a good course I’d take it.

[Elefantino]

UBI grad here, 2013. The two-week course. Most fun I ever had at school. Got me started on my second career.

Also, two weeks in a hostel with a group of pot-smoking 20-somethings. We’d also bomb up to Medford and back in the Bear Creek after class.

[AngryScientist]

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by Dude

I was a service manager for 5 years and I would hire someone who came out of UBI/BBI with no experience over someone with lots of mechanical experience any day of the week.

There are lives at stake when it comes to a customers bike. I need to know that my mechanics can reliably diagnose and fix a problem.

I did Barnetts for two weeks back in…2004? after I had already been a mechanic for 2 years and I found it really valuable. A good foundation and it helped teach some of the concepts to my customers and explain why the bike broke/how we fixed it.

Being a bike mechanic is also about working in specialty retail and task management. Spring saturdays were some of the most intense days I’ve ever experienced and that can’t really be taught.

I had been a bike Mechanic for 20 years when I attended Barnetts elite technicians course. Wow I enjoyed it VERY much. We started class at 8am every day and worked until 5pm. Then we had a test to take before the next class. It often took until midnight to finish. I was proud of scoring 98% on my first test, but every day my score dropped a few points. By the 4th test I was at 90% and I was getting tired. The course stressed repeatable standards in work flow. Every job has a perfect standard from how to adjust loose ball bearings perfectly to how tight should the headset cup be in the frame.
However, if I wasn't already a mechanic, there's no way I could have even kept up, much less pass that course.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by NHAero

My two cents- the difference between a pro and a skilled amateur is speed. I’ve built two and gut renovated one house. I’ve done all of the trades. In some cases, my workmanship is better than what a pro would do (my HVAC - I’m an HVAC engineer) but it takes me more time. So if I wanted to be a pro bike mechanic and there was a good course I’d take it.

^^^^ This.

Being a Pro mechanic is a business, whereas being a home mechanic is a hobby. A Pro mechanic has to be not only be technically proficient, they have to be economically proficient as well. A bike shop mechanic has to get the job done right the first time, they can't just fiddle around with something until it turns out the way they like it. I've done a lot of work on bikes, including tackling some jobs that few bike shop mechanics have done. But I'd likely be a money losing proposition to hire as a bike shop mechanic.

[Onno]

Has anyone done any volunteer bike wrenching? I'm vaguely thinking about doing this after I retire in a couple of years. Seems like a good way to do something I enjoy, get more experience with different kinds of bikes, and perhaps do a tiny bit of good in the world. I'm guessing most such work would be with very basic and cheap bikes.