rogerzilla
Legendary Member
The problem with being a mechanic is twofold:
1. People won't pay what it costs to repair a cheap bike. It could cost over £200 in parts alone to fix up a cheap MTB with a secondhand value of £50. Add labour, and the owner would rather throw it into a canal and buy another bike.
2. People who buy expensive bikes are likely to do most of the work themselves. The jobs that go the way of the LBS are the difficult ones, like stuck BBs and seatposts.
I looked into it as a possible post-retirement job and realised there's no money in it, probably a loss on most jobs.
1. People won't pay what it costs to repair a cheap bike. It could cost over £200 in parts alone to fix up a cheap MTB with a secondhand value of £50. Add labour, and the owner would rather throw it into a canal and buy another bike.
2. People who buy expensive bikes are likely to do most of the work themselves. The jobs that go the way of the LBS are the difficult ones, like stuck BBs and seatposts.
I looked into it as a possible post-retirement job and realised there's no money in it, probably a loss on most jobs.