High School

Completion of high school or other formal education is not necessarily required for a job as a bicycle mechanic, although employers may prefer applicants who are high school graduates. If you are considering this kind of work, you will benefit from taking vocational-technical or shop classes in high school. Such classes will give you the opportunity to work with your hands, follow blueprints or other directions, and build equipment. Science classes, such as physics, will give you an understanding of the principles at work behind the design of equipment as well as help you to understand how it functions. Since you will most likely be working in a retail environment, consider taking business, accounting, or computer classes that will teach you business and related skills. Don't forget to take English or communication classes. These classes will help you develop your communication skills, an asset when dealing with customers, as well as your research and reading skills, an asset when your work includes reviewing maintenance and repair documentation for many different types of bikes.

Postsecondary Training

Bicycle maintenance courses are offered at some technical and vocational schools, and there are several privately operated training schools for mechanics. Bicycle manufacturers may also offer factory instruction to mechanics employed by the company's authorized dealers. Completion of many of the courses offered earns the mechanic certification that may help when seeking a job or when seeking a promotion.

Some bicycle mechanics learn informally on the job. At least two years of hands-on training and experience is required to become a thoroughly skilled mechanic, but because new makes and models of bikes are constantly being introduced, there are always new things to learn that may require additional training. Many times a bicycle distributor visits a bike mechanic at a shop to make sure the mechanic's work is competent before the shop is officially permitted to sell and service a new kind of bike. Because of this steady stream of new information, bicycle mechanics must have a desire to study and add to their knowledge.

Certification or Licensing

The Barnett Bicycle Institute and the United Bicycle Institute offer certification programs for bicycle mechanics. Contact the institutes for more information.

At least two years of hands-on training and experience is required to become a thoroughly skilled mechanic. Try to obtain experience by working as a helper at a bicycle repair shop and by repairing your bike or the bikes of friends.

Bicycle mechanics need excellent hand-eye coordination and a certain degree of physical endurance. They may work with small tools to make fine adjustments. Often much of their work is performed while they stand, bend, or kneel. Mechanics must be independent decision makers, able to decide on proper repair strategies, but they should also be able to work comfortably with others. Frequently they will need to interact with customers and other workers.