Bicycle Mechanic Apprentice

"Hi Charles,

 

I tried to post to 'The Bicycle News' but was unsuccessful. I wanted to pass on some news for March 2013.

 

 I have just signed a training agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities to be a bicycle mechanic apprentice. They in  turn gave me a 31 page training and curriculum schedule for bicycle mechanics. I am to complete 2000 hours of on the job training followed by 250 hours of class room time. In six to eight weeks they will send an 'Apprentice ID Card'. The fee for filing the form was $40.00. I am also a recent graduate of the Winterborne School in Guelph. To my knowledge I am the first and the only official bicycle mechanic apprentice in Ontario and Canada. You may want to pass this most current information  on to your readership.

 

My name is Roy Berger.

 

Keep on wrenchiing. Cheers. Roy

March 27th 2013"

 

Well congrats Roy!

I wish you luck in your new career as a bicycle mechanic.

 

I hear Gears Bike Shop is always hiring new mechanics. If they have a shop in your area I recommend checking them out and asking for work.

My personal recommendation for people is the Quadra Bicycle Mechanic School in B.C.

And failing that, there is also Winterbourne and of course the Barnett Bicycle Institute. They all offer training programs, certificates and fancy names to go with their course.

I myself got a BTAC Certification from the old BAM program back when they were training bicycle mechanics under Smokey Dymny. That was a big deal back then because it was BTAC passing out the certifications.

However as you may have learned, being a certified bicycle mechanic doesn't mean squat if the local bicycle shop won't take the risk of hiring you. They all want to hire experience mechanics with years of experience - but they never bother to take on new mechanics because they don't want to be bothered with training them.

 

Or retraining them as the case often is, because each bike shop likes their own way of doing things - which results often in shoddy mechanics doing sloppy work because they are rushing the job of fixing a client's bicycle.

And as many bicycle mechanics who are older will also tell you, being a bicycle mechanic is often about loving what you do. You just love fixing things, and you love bicycles. The pay is horrible, but you're happy because you are doing what you love.