Mechanic Shortage Reported In Europe

 

We talked about the mechanic shortage on the latest Guitar Ted Podcast.

A recent study conducted in Europe revealed that there may be a severe shortage of bicycle mechanics and this is forecast to only get worse. The story was posted by "Bike Radar" and was referred to me by a podcast listener, or one of you dear readers, I'm not sure which.  (Oh....and N.Y. Roll pointed it out also)

I've done some research into the reactions to this article, and I mentioned some of those comments in the podcast episode posted last week. (HERE) 

The article resonated with me on several levels. I wanted to address some of this here and also give my considered opinions on the fate of local bike shops (LBS) in the future. 

The issues facing bicycle shops are very difficult to overcome due to, in large part, our overall perceptions of bicycles, the size of the USA, and by our climate. These three barriers to cycling participation present a bar so high that, as I've always thought and said, will not allow the USA to be anything like Europe when it comes to cycling. 

Briefly then: Weather changes with the seasons, severe weather occurrences, and  American's aversions to be subject to the whims of weather are insurmountable as long as we have automobiles to insulate us from the onslaught of oftentimes difficult weather conditions for cycling. Be that heat, cold, wind, or precipitation, all are huge hindrances for many folks when cycling is suggested as a transportation alternative. 

The sheer distances Americans have to travel to get basic goods and services is another huge barrier to cycling. As an example, citizens of Waterloo, Iowa's East and North reaches have to travel upwards of four to five miles, one way,  to get to a grocery store and this is in a town of 70,000 folks. While this seems like nothing to some of you, cycling that distance is difficult for many people now. Yes - there are solutions to this issue, however - in concert with the weather issue, this becomes a mountain too tall to scale for many. 

The final issue is how bicycles are perceived here. If you "have to ride a bike" this generally puts you in the criminal categories. "Oh! This person must have gotten too many Driving Under the Influence (DUI's) tickets to drive", or they are too poor to own a car, etc. Bicycles are only ridden by 'normal citizens' for recreational purposes. Then we get into the entire infrastructure issues and most folks won't even consider riding a bicycle. 

Example: I dropped my vehicle off Friday at a body shop for an adjustment to the end gate. I planned on riding home after I dropped of my vehicle. It's 4 miles from my home. The lady at the front desk of the auto body shop was amazed I would even consider riding and tried to talk me into taking a ride. This is pretty representative of how people think about bicycles, at least around here. 

All of these issues affect mechanics. If the vast majority of people think like the lady at the body shop, (and I am pretty convinced most folks do), then why would anyone ride a bicycle outside of primo recreation days found in Summer, maybe Fall, and late Spring? Late Fall through early Spring are completely dead times. Keeping a mechanic well-paid through those months is next to impossible for many shops. Lower pay? Maybe the shop will keep you around with severely reduced hours for six months. You surely are not going to get ahead of monthly bills being a bicycle mechanic in the Mid-West. 

Of course we have poor infrastructure for cycling, people do not value cyclists as humans when they are riding, and bicycles are getting far too complicated. Add in the ever increasing "innovations" which require new tools, knowledge, and experience, and it is easy to see how we got to this point  And the pay? Ha! It's horrendous. Why would any young person want to consider being a bicycle mechanic? It's a curious, dead-end career with little upside and it has been this way for decades. 

And we wonder why mechanics and LBS are disappearing?