Tickstart

I'm sure many of you have been drawn towards the glamorous lifestyle of the bicycle couriers of NY, I'm wondering if you've ever wondered about pursuing a career as a bike messenger, or perhaps even worked as one?

Personally I find myself kind of at a loss right now in life, which is why I think I'm drawn towards these kinds of things.. The thrill, the excitement! I'm sure I won't act on it anyway since I have so many internal struggles in all different directions, but that's besides the point.

btw I've never ridden a fixie, but I would like to someday

hairnet

I don't think anybody will call it glamorous or a career. You work very hard for very little. They don't all ride fixed gears either. Welcome to 2015

TejanoTrackie 

B b b but, my BD fixie is called the Motobecane Messenger ?

hairnet

I thought they were cool too when I was 18. And I could have bought a MotoMess off that other tall dude that used to be a regular here.

Wilfred Laurier

I worked in Toronto as a courier for a short time in the late '90s. Perhaps a few years before that there was good money to be made, but by the time I was doing it, fax machines had seriously taken a bite out of the business and email and other internet based delivery systems were seriously ramping up. The things I delivered 15-16 years ago would almost all be done through digital file transfers now.

Nagrom_

We get a lot of worn out messenger applying at my place of work.

Basically you make dirt money working working **** hours but do it cause you like it. Same as any career in bicycles.

neamatoad

somebody just watched premium rush

TenSpeedV2

A buddy and I seriously considering starting a courier service here, but I just don't know how well it would do. There is a university here, the capital of the state, several law offices and professional buildings. I just don't know if there is a need for that type of service in this small ass town. It would be great to give it a shot, but we have no idea where to start and cannot imagine that there is any money to be made doing this.

Agree with the Premium Rush comment. OP, you just watch it?

Night_shift

I enjoy riding a bicycle therefore I want nothing to do with it related to work.

AristoNYC

agreed.

gmm213

Now a days the only stuff that cant be digitally sent are really what? legal documents and blueprints (which can be sent digital most of the time but not always). I might be missing a few. But even then that only matters if they need it then and not tomorrow. Might not be a bad idea for the school to get a rack and do food and beer and groceries and things. I knew a group of kids that did that through college made decent money but they mainly worked evenings and nights, so they didnt have a big social life outside of that group, which they liked it that way.

As far as career sure, if you dont mind not making jack for money really. Couriers do it because they get to ride all day everyday, thats it. I still want to know how Kevin Bacon afforded that bangin apartment in Quicksilver? Watch Pedal the documentary, they were talking to a messenger who was commenting on the fact that its not uncommon for messengers to end up homeless and such. Dont know how many but I wouldn't be surprised.

Wilfred Laurier

When I was doing it, I could pay my rent but not much else. I always figured Kevin Bacon's character had saved up his stockbroker money and was just a poseur.
The problem with the messenger scene, aside fromt he piss poor money, is that it is a job where people with personal problems (eg. addictions) can find work, and so homelessness doesn't surprise me, but couriering is not the cause, but another symptom of the same problem.

My advice for the OP is: If you can find a position with a good company (a lot of couriers felt like their company was always screwing them over), and you have nobody depending on you to provide a big house and food better than mac & cheese, then do whatever you want... be a bike courier, be a street musician, weave your hair into interesting wigs and sell them on ebay... whatever... but know that you will most likely have to move on to a more stable job some time in the future.

mconlonx

Buddy still works as a courier in Boston PT while he goes to school. Great PT gig, not so great FT gig. Only people making decent money at it ride nights and avoid cops, very not legit jobs...

But regarding the OP, if it's something you want to check out and your life would be lesser for not having done so, go for it. You don't want to be at end of life thinking, what if...?

jlafitte 

Jimmy John's is hiring...

Tickstart

Maybe it's just one of those dying professions...

And no I didn't see premium rush I saw pedal, the one with drug addicts and outcasts

T13

What city are you in? It all depends on what you call "comfortable living", how you hustle, knowing how to manipulate dispatch/wait time. In the early 2000's here in Cleveland, til 2006, I was making @$700 a week. Here that's pretty good, as the cost of living is cheeeeep. But i rode for two or more companies, had some of my own clients, and worked an hour earlier, and hour later, and rode further than most guys in other companies. Also, dealing with idiots who watched movies about bikes and wanted to come and steal my work during the summer cause it "looked fun"...

Don't do it. You'll end up in back taxes hell.

seau grateau

Did it for about a year. There's no career in it.

prooftheory

In an age with electronic signatures, you might be right. What do people courie now anyway other than drugs and sandwiches?

SpeshulEd 

https://vimeo.com/110602645

hairnet

Eh, it's a job not a profession.

T13

I don't know about that.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/profession


I mean, if you know what you are doing, can do yer own taxes and keep yer books, sure it's a profession.

hairnet

:shrug: agree to disagree

T13

No! We must argue about it, for the next 3 pages!!

hairnet

Damn your opinions, liberal scum!!!!

dynaryder

Still haven't gotten around to watching Quicksilver,but I can recommend this as an interesting read:
The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power: Travis Hugh Culley: 9780375760242: Amazon.com: Books