Bike mechanics?

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Coopz

Coopz

Likes Dirt
Is it a recognised trade? Can anyone who knows how to fix a busted derailer call themselves a mechanic?
Just scrolling through the local marketplace listings. So many bikes are owned and 'over serviced' by bike mechanics.
I only know 2 guys who have done a course in the industry.
 
The Duckmeister

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
In theory it's a proper thing, but courses for it are rarer than rocking horse shit.

PS: I'm a career mechanic of nearly 20 years, but don't have the little bit of paper. I have done some training provided to people already in the industry by SRAM, but that's it.
 
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hellmansam

hellmansam

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I'm self taught, started in high school, worked full time for 4 years and there were no recognised quals available back then. Have gone part time casual in the last coupla years and I doubt there's anything a Cert 3 or 4 type course could teach me.
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
I honestly reckon there’s maybe 20 ‘mechanics’ in the state who know more than the average experienced home tinkerer. Aside from suspension specialists. Most places employ the guy who was there at the right time, who wants access to wholesale kit.
It’s not a slight on bike mechanics, there’s some crackers out there. I reckon they make up 2% of the industry.
Most salespeople are even worse, and have absolutely NFI.
 
itsajoke

itsajoke

Likes Dirt
I am self taught from YouTube and forums, plus I have a tool-buying habit. Those two things can get you a job. There are apprenticeships available too, but you need a qualified mechanic to sign your logbook/journal.
One very experienced mechanic at work was assessed by the only recognised authority (in the country I believe) and was failed because he didn’t take the customers issue down correctly. The same assessor happens to run the course you need to do to become competent.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
People can become competent in many things quite easily, get qualifications, get experience and work in the same industry their whole life.

There are shit Tradies, shit Lawyers, shit Real Estate Agents, shit Graphic Designers... just shit workers in every field, all dripping in qualifications.

Its like any chosen career, there are those that excel, diagnose and fix stuff fast, neatly, properly and efficiently the first time.

Bike mechanics are no different regardless of paper qualifications.

Paper qualifications mean fck all.
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Calvin27 said:
Not even engineers are a recognised trade in most parts of aus.
Click to expand...
That is because engineering is not a trade based qualification, much the same way as accountancy or medicine are not trades. The only vocational profession that I am aware of is specific parts of law and that may not even be the case now. To clarify not saying any is better than any other because the world needs all skill levels but they are different.
 
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Oddjob

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Dales Cannon said:
That is because engineering is not a trade based qualification, much the same way as accountancy or medicine are not trades. The only vocational profession that I am aware of is specific parts of law and that may not even be the case now. To clarify not saying any is better than any other because the world needs all skill levels but they are different.
Click to expand...
Accountancy as well. My dad did an apprenticeship rather than go to uni.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Flow-Rider

Flow-Rider

Burner
Trade qualifications have to do with litigation in Australia, some insurance companies will not touch auto workshops unless they have so many ticketed mechanics on the floor, some trades like plumbing and above a certain voltage electrical require licensing where you need to be trade qualified. It's all about blaming someone when a huge fuck up occurs, like a death.

Then you have things called 'codes of practices' where people need to be confident in what task they're doing, and not always need any form of trade of licensing. Australia is just a quagmire of BS laws, they're trying to do away with proper trade training in some industries with all this VOC training but a trade qualification is meant be a set guideline for minimum industry standard, so this means that an employer should be able to employ a trade qualified person with a basic knowledge of the industry that is to a set standard, not always the case because a few can slip through the gaps.
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
What constitutes a trade and not is a thorny subject especially in construction. Seen plenty of examples of trades qualified people who somehow achieved that qualification without actually learning much. We used to like getting 3rd and 4th year apprentices on an exchange arrangement and give them specific training and then rotate them back into their previous roles while our guys got some shop based experience. General upskilling for work they could not hope to get in their workplace (exotic material welding and so). We grabbed one young bloke who was working at his father's shop and discovered that aside from burning heavy mild steel rods in a downhand run to build tree pushers he had no real knowledge of boilermaking. How, well the TAFE component was always in a "busy" time so he has his father sign off on some of that and was planning to do the lot in a final go. Poor bugger had no idea how to read a drawing, layout a job or even using MIG or TIG. He would have been spat out at TAFE in his final year. We put him with our best general hand (you know the guy who lays out 30m of 3m chrome moly steel sheet sections to build a casing wall and it comes out straight and flat) and soon had him up to speed. Another couple came in on visas as specialised pressure pipe welders from the country that gave us Trump and we ended with those guys building handrails such was their skillset.

During past projects had some interesting exchanges with the powers that be and unions. First off one of the project directors decided to make a name for himself and set up (with the aid of much government funding) a skills program. Great idea and really the first of what would be many similar schemes. Unfortunately it got derailed when he decided you could become a boilermaker or fitter/turner with a few weeks of study and 3 months practical. That was just dumb and got no traction and caused a few questions then to be raised over the other programs most of which were excellent.

We tried to get cert3 accreditation for some skilled technical roles for non trades qualified people and these met with huge resistance from the unions. The trade unions were against it because they saw the creation of a sub trade accreditation for a specific skill as diluting the trade even though it was not part of any of those trades and the non trades unions saw it as a loss of membership. Weird. Eventually got it through as a cert3.

Was part of a skills development program on a much later project and this went off without a hitch. The training was thrown open and plenty of local farmers walked away with formal qualifications to operate all sorts of plant that previously they just knew how to drive from experience on the farm. Lots of upskilling of trade and non trade and overall a very successful program.

If there is no formal qualification or licensing requirement and you are competent and willing to upskill as necessary and have all the right tools then go for it, usual business precautions apply though, insurances etc.
 
jrewing

jrewing

Eats Squid
ozzybmx said:
People can become competent in many things quite easily, get qualifications, get experience and work in the same industry their whole life.

There are shit Tradies, shit Lawyers, shit Real Estate Agents, shit Graphic Designers... just shit workers in every field, all dripping in qualifications.

Its like any chosen career, there are those that excel, diagnose and fix stuff fast, neatly, properly and efficiently the first time.

Bike mechanics are no different regardless of paper qualifications.

Paper qualifications mean fck all.
Click to expand...
All lawyers are shit
 
Flow-Rider

Flow-Rider

Burner
Dales Cannon said:
What constitutes a trade and not is a thorny subject especially in construction. Seen plenty of examples of trades qualified people who somehow achieved that qualification without actually learning much. We used to like getting 3rd and 4th year apprentices on an exchange arrangement and give them specific training and then rotate them back into their previous roles while our guys got some shop based experience. General upskilling for work they could not hope to get in their workplace (exotic material welding and so). We grabbed one young bloke who was working at his father's shop and discovered that aside from burning heavy mild steel rods in a downhand run to build tree pushers he had no real knowledge of boilermaking. How, well the TAFE component was always in a "busy" time so he has his father sign off on some of that and was planning to do the lot in a final go. Poor bugger had no idea how to read a drawing, layout a job or even using MIG or TIG. He would have been spat out at TAFE in his final year. We put him with our best general hand (you know the guy who lays out 30m of 3m chrome moly steel sheet sections to build a casing wall and it comes out straight and flat) and soon had him up to speed. Another couple came in on visas as specialised pressure pipe welders from the country that gave us Trump and we ended with those guys building handrails such was their skillset.

During past projects had some interesting exchanges with the powers that be and unions. First off one of the project directors decided to make a name for himself and set up (with the aid of much government funding) a skills program. Great idea and really the first of what would be many similar schemes. Unfortunately it got derailed when he decided you could become a boilermaker or fitter/turner with a few weeks of study and 3 months practical. That was just dumb and got no traction and caused a few questions then to be raised over the other programs most of which were excellent.

We tried to get cert3 accreditation for some skilled technical roles for non trades qualified people and these met with huge resistance from the unions. The trade unions were against it because they saw the creation of a sub trade accreditation for a specific skill as diluting the trade even though it was not part of any of those trades and the non trades unions saw it as a loss of membership. Weird. Eventually got it through as a cert3.

Was part of a skills development program on a much later project and this went off without a hitch. The training was thrown open and plenty of local farmers walked away with formal qualifications to operate all sorts of plant that previously they just knew how to drive from experience on the farm. Lots of upskilling of trade and non trade and overall a very successful program.

If there is no formal qualification or licensing requirement and you are competent and willing to upskill as necessary and have all the right tools then go for it, usual business precautions apply though, insurances etc.
Click to expand...
Those onsite RTO's are garbage, they generally only get paid for 2x 1hr lessons per module and then paid for a pass only, so if they fail the student = no pay for the RTO, even if you have a student that is having trouble in 2x1hr lessons it comes out of the pocket of the RTO for more lessons which hardly ever happens.

You pull an apprentice away from their work at the worksite, they might not still be in the right headspace to learn due to work responsibilities, then you have machines and people interrupting the lesson that's more than likely and often enough held in the smoko room, and then you're meant to get across a week's module in 2 hrs. Cheapskate employers use this shit as to not lose the apprentice for 8 weeks a year and then attack you if you fail their apprentice or you lose your job because you aren't making the RTO enough money to cover your wages.

And what is worse, is that a lot of people that don't have the mental capacity to pass proper collage try to use these as a way to gain a trade cert.
 
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