simonhill wrote:gregoryoftours wrote:You can get lucky or unlucky with bike mechanics because there is very little or no legislation around competence and training. Bike shops are free to employ anyone and everyone as mechanics, including those with little to no experience.
I agree, but isn't this the case with most manual work. Gas and electricity being the main exceptions. As far as I know, anyone can set up a garage and service cars, start repairing white goods, building work, etc. The more white collar professions require certified training eg surveyors, accountants, etc.
Would we welcome only certified bike mechanics being allowed to work on bikes, with all the ramifications.
Wow, I had no idea that garage mechanics have no legal requirements for qualification/training. I always assumed that they did and that was why labor for work on motor vehicles is more expensive. In fact I assumed that pretty much all other skilled labour was heavily regulated.
I also assumed that because there are much more stringent laws governing the condition of motor vehicles that the same would have to be true for the mechanics working on them.
Some shops for example the one I work at invest in their staff and all mechanics who work on people's bikes are at least Cytech 2 qualified. Our labour charges are similar to other bike shops including Halfords.
If my small organisation can afford to do it, Halfords and other big shops are perfectly capable of shelling out the money, but obviously that is not where their priorities lie. They expect high staff turnover and are purely profit driven so don't invest in their staff, but that's a bit of a vicious circle.