LV2TNDM

Thanks for posting! So any home mechanic considering using gasoline as a regular solvent for chain (or other) cleaning should consider this. That Aussie guy posting YouTube videos needs to read this! Not only flammable, but also full of various hydrocarbons that you don't need to be inhaling & absorbing on a daily basis.

Stay healthy; don't explode. Avoid gasoline!

zandoval 

A certificate will be good when your employer is adjusting their liability insurance coverage. Certainly it will be important when applying for your personal liability coverage.

In a world of litigation a certificate might come in handy... Or... NOT!

zandoval 

Yep... I wonder how that will change in the future.

No ChiCom lithium batteries or batteries in series with out UL inspection.
No CFCs
No Carcinogenic compounds
No Cash, credit cards only
No Gender specific clasifications
No, No, No...

Apart form the OP: I will say running a Bike Shop or any business is a Bugger!

3alarmer 

...+1. I got ASE certs in auto electrical and emissions controls. I was lucky enough to get a job where I could actually make house payments doing something else, but I did do that for a while. Bike repair is just not valued in the current work environment.

Kontact 

Throwing good money after bad.

Don't be serious about bike shop employment. It is something to do for fun, not real income. If you are concerned about income go into the construction trades or become and automotive or aviation mechanic. The bike industry is paid like the toys everyone treats them as.

tendency

Well, my anecdotal: I know 2 pro head mechanics that have been doing it for almost 30 years. Neither has a cert. Specifically asked one if he regretted not getting one and he said simply 'nope, not needed'.

tendency

Not necessarily - a head mechanic at a boutique shop in an affluent part of a larger city (yes, alot of caveats..) can make $60-70K/year. Not huge coin but not peanuts either.

Kontact 

I was the head mechanic at the most high end/boutique shop in Seattle and made less than $50k per year. It is certainly possible, but $70k in Manhattan is like $50k in any other big city. So I am doubtful that this information applies to many mechanics.

TiHabanero

As a hiring manager in a local bike shop chain, certs had no affect on pay or hiring a prospect. Personality, experience related to the position, and appearance played large roles in the hiring process.
Two notable examples of why certs really do not speak to ability. I hired a kid named Josh (also hired his brother who was just as skilled). He worked on his own car, understood electronics, and was the most well-balanced personality I had encountered at that time. He was also home-schooled which is usually a no-go for me. Josh was an exceptionally talented and naturally curious person, and was the best mechanic I had ever hired.
Conversely, after I quit the biz for good, a guy was hired as head mechanic in the flagship store. He had a cert from Barnetts, and was, I am told, a numbskull. Had no curiosity on how stuff worked, was unwilling to learn from others, and was terrible facing the customer. Certification did not mean he was a qualified candidate.

As for Josh and his brother, I learned they are both very smart and were pulled from public schools due to boredom. I will not pre-judge a homeschooled kid again.

Mad Honk 

As zandoval points out the best thing you can get is an insurance policy for personal liability and it likely will cost far less than the certification does. I have one and it covers up to $1m and I have never needed to use it, but I would bet that when I do something will come up. Smiles, MH

fooferdoggie 

there are also e bike certificates like from bosch and specialized. though usually those are done after your employed.

Chuck M 

Off topic, but I was a skeptic of homeschooling for a long time. But then for many years I was involved with a local youth group that trained for and ran half marathons with at risk and delinquent youth. A mother approached the developer of the program to see if her homeschooled son could participate as the public schools would not allow homeschool kids to take part in their athletic programs. This turned out to be a marriage made in heaven as the mother agreed to also be a running mentor and eventually became the coordinator of the program and served the program so well. Her son that she wanted to participate was a model youth to the at risk and delinquent youth and eventually became a Boston qualifier with his first full marathon attempt. Other homeschooled youth were allowed to enter this program (which was 100% free to the youth) and they were always the most polite and respectful kids you would ever want to meet. Of course there are a couple of kids where homeschooling failed them, but I think that was due to their parents. In that case there is a good chance public education would have been a bigger failure for them.

Andrew R Stewart 

here in the USA, in the 1970s, the ski industry saw the reasoning to create a certificate program to reduce the insurance liability that shops would find themselves in when assembling the various differing brands of boots, bindings and skis. During my brief time working the mounting benches I attended the "classes" offered by the various brands each early Fall. Our shop's insurance policy required the binding techs to have passed these classes. I don't recall mention of being able to work faster (and we were paid on a base hourly with an additional % of the labor one did). Those brand operated classes were more about the current features and how to work the components and less about what were the wrong combos of boots and bindings. For that we did inhouse clinics. It helped a lot that our binding release check guy was also on the industry dimensional standards committees, like having Fred DeLong or Howard Sutherland as your shop's final service inspector. Andy

fixitsteve

Yes, get the certificate. Many years ago I started turning wrenches on cars in a 2 year automotive coop program. Then started taking my ASE certification tests. After several years got enough certs to be considered a Master Automotive Mechanic. Went to any class my employers would send me to and kept track of all the classes I took. It will pay off in the end. Certs are not needed but it shows that you are committed to your Profession. Over the years I got to fix or restore lots of cool cars. Take pictures of all the special, different, exotic things you fix.

TiHabanero

Certification in certain industries is required by law or by the standard set for employment, ie IT industry. The bicycle industry has no requirements for certification at this time, and is up to the individual employer if they see value in it. It is a rare situation when a bicycle mechanic can make a living that is other than pay-check to pay-check. The wrench will need another source of revenue to create savings, afford a house or support raising a family.
I'm retired now, however I work part-time in a car dealership and can tell you ASE certs don't make a mechanic. In our shop the wrench has to prove his worth before he can make a living at it. Performance is monitored and pay, through different avenues, is tied to it. Much the same was done in the bike shop I worked for many, many years, however the ability to earn a living fell short as is the norm with the bike biz.

Kontact 

What does this have to do with bicycle certifications? They won't pay off in the end.

fixitsteve

I was told the same thing about auto mechanics. But I enjoyed fixing things. I did everything I could to advance my profession. I did what I loved and enough money came in. Going to a job you enjoy is much better than one you hate. With the certs if you change careers it is still good on a resume.

wheelreason

Every certified mechanic we've ever hired, hasn't worked out. They mostly had a good understanding of what needed to be done and how, but little ability to efficiently and correctly perform the tasks. Mostly we grow our own. We do send our guys (gender neutral) to the mfgs training though, mostly cause I hate eating sandwiches and pizza with brake and fork fluid on my hands...

wheelreason

The issue with home schooling is not the education part, it's the socialization part. Isolating children is not a good idea.

Kontact 

What might be true of your industry is not true of mine.

Chuck M 

I would have thought that was the case with home schooling several years ago. For some reason I had visions in my head of kids with mom all day learning "readin', writin', and 'rithmetic" at the kitchen table. But that was a misconception. They have study groups, they participate in community service projects, and they are more able to experience exposures to culture outside of a classroom. The majority of them were active in their churches and they were in strong families with active and involved parents.

Vintage Schwinn

Kontact and TiHabanero have given you the BEST and only practical advice. You'd be wise to follow it.
Saying it isn't so will not change the most likely outcome.

Spend your time, energy, and money in a pursuit that will be beneficial and fruitful to you in the long run.
You aren't likely to exceed any level beyond poverty wages until and unless you own your legitimate very successful shop as a sole proprietor entrepreneuer or at least a 33 1/3 percent share ownership of a super successful legitimate bike shop in a metropolitan area of at least 150,000 residents. It sure as hell isn't as easy as it might sound like it is, because if it was easy, everybody and his brother would be doing it. There is a huge risk of losing all of your money with any new business venture. Most new businesses are severely undercapitalized, basically they don't have the operating funds to get beyond the hurdles and over the big hill to the point where they get profitable. Owner(s) of such an undercapitalized new start up will run out of money because they cannot pay the rent-lease, cannot make payroll, have no money to replentish the inventory, can't afford to make payroll tax deposits, 941 deposits, or pay state sales tax, unemployment taxes, workers compensation premiums, liability insurance, electric bill, and have nothing planned or budgeted or any funds available for advertising and promoting the business, etc..............
..................certainly you have seen this story over and over with businesses that open at 001 Main Street in your town, or whatever popular shopping area, and six months later the store is out of business, and 7 months later, some other different type of business opens up in that same spot and the song remains the same, uh it too is gone in six months.




I often tell young people when asked and when the young person says that I hate going to school, and says I don't want to study, I just want to drop out.....

WELL, MY ANSWER ALWAYS IS : " Poverty OR Education, which would you prefer because being a lazy dumbass who doesn't get a decent degree is likely gonna live in poverty!" "Someone who does not finish high school is guaranteed to live in severe poverty."

Yeah, there are always exceptions where someone gets lucky, or makes it in pro sports, wins the lottery, or hits the big time with their rock n roll band, or whatever....
Chances are as close to zero as you can get.

I do understand that someone can really be passionate about wanting to work, earning a living, doing something specific, like working on bicycles as a shop mechanic at a local bike shop but as difficult as this may sound, I do not think that you will ever get beyond earning poverty wages while working at most all local bike shops in the USA, as a non-owner, employee. Yes, perhaps you can get connected with a stellar boutique elite shop in a huge city like New York City, or the Silicon Valley Area in California, or perhaps Marin County or San Francisco, but hell, you'll starve on even $65,000 annually in those areas, as apartment rent is very high. Perhaps with three other room mates living on the floor of a tiny studio apartment, you will be able to afford rent, utilities, and groceries with not much left for any other spending.
Hey, does that sound like fun?
There is nothing wrong with having a passion and a spirit of adventure that wants to do that.
Ask most anyone today that is north of sixty years of age, and unless they aren't being completely truthful with you, they will tell you that when they were young that they thought most of the sage advice that old folks gave them was well outdated and antiquated and we mostly thought these old folks offering such wise advice were nice, well meaning folks who were mostly F.O.S. . ( F.O.S. = full of ....... and the S does not stand for smarts)
Yes, time has proven that most of those nice well meaning old folks did know what they were talking about.

shelbyfv

Young people never ask me anything.

Dan Burkhart 

That's because they still know everything. Somewhere along the way, that usually changes.

Bald Paul

Couldn't agree more. 40+ years in the auto industry, first as a technician, then as a factory instructor and field service tech covering six states. Fully ASE certified, including the L1 (advanced diagnostic) level. Master Technician status from two different manufacturers. All those certificates may help you get a job - so the dealer can hang them on the wall in the waiting area - but your paycheck is based on how many labor hours you produce in the shop. Often times, it's the guys that have all the certs that end up working on the problem cars all day. Warranty doesn't pay much for diagnostic time. You may spend 3 hours locating a short circuit buried somewhere in a wiring harness that takes you 15 minutes to repair, and you'll end up getting paid half an hour to diagnose, and 12 minutes to repair. Meanwhile, the guy with no certs, who makes $5/hr less than you do, is doing maintenance work (fluid services, alignments, brakes, etc) and making twice the hours as you. He takes home more in the paycheck than you will. That's "flat rate", and it's why there's a huge shortage of good technicians nowadays.