Certification for cycling mechanics, simply stated, will begin the process of raising the level of technical professionalism in the cycling industry, and what a scary thought that seems to be for most mechanics.  Do I need to be certified to work on bicycles? The answer can be both yes and no.  You can certainly continue to work on bicycles without certification, but having that certification title after your name will identify you as a technician with a known, industry-recognized set of skills…and that will mean a lot to both your customer and employer.  

The PBMA has sent out an industry wide proposal requesting that all the stake holders for technical education and professional development come together to start the process of developing a centralized certification process.  
Our long term goals are:

• Identify a minimum standard for a professionally certified bicycle mechanic
• Identify and develop continuing education opportunities to support the certification process.
• Provide readily and easily available certification development training locally, regionally and online.
• Develop vetting processes and options for those already tenured in the industry

These goals are not intended generate funds or make individual mechanics do anything that they are not already doing.  These goals are intended to set apart those who are true professionals and want to be considered as such.  These goals are targeted at a certification and ranking program that is recognized by the entire cycling industry and intended to better the entire technical side of the profession.

The future for professional mechanics is bright.  Bike sales will continue, be it from bicycle retailers, online or big box. There are bikes that will always need servicing and we, as professionals, can't wait until the future to plan for the changes that we all see happening.  Planning now creates opportunities for the future and starting this conversation now means that consumers will be educated, beginning today, on the difference between a professionally certified mechanic and the guy slapping bikes together at your favorite big box store.

You can read our press release here and you can view our proposal to the industry here.  The PBMA will not be able to complete this task without the help of the entire cycling industry.  This program will branch into all aspects of the technical side from manufacturing to final assembly in the shop.  

Looking at a resume on paper is a simple way to judge a mechanic’s skill set. Seeing that the mechanic is certified and has continued their educational training makes them a better, stronger job candidate. Our aim is to use the certification process to show the cycling public the value inherent in working with a professional mechanic.

We have shared this information publicly because closed-door, back room meetings are not what we are about.  Open communication and sharing of information create community and build stronger and better industries.

We know that this pathway may very well upset some mechanics. We simply ask that you consider the future of our industry, as well as the future of your career.  We ask you to think a little bit outside the box and look at other trade crafts and envision how can we grow without a pathway of our own to grown on.  Ask what could set yourself apart from the person working next to you.  Ask yourself how do you show that difference in simple terms to a consumer or prospective employer in just a brief moment.

We hope you'll join us on this pathway.  It will begin with regional training opportunities in the near future to continue to add upon the skills that you already possess.  We aren't building this alone and we will not be dictating what it will be…instead, this is a team process, involving the entire industry.  We are simply facilitating an industry-wide process and focusing our vision on a goal that will benefit everyone involved.

Thank you

The PBMA Board of Directors

First - who are you?
Stephen Richmond - Solvang CA - DR. J's Bike shop mechanic

What started you being interest in bicycles?

I always loved riding my bike when I was little. I would always ride my bike to school. Our friend Paul Smith started introducing me to mountain bike riding through our youth group and then with a program he started called trips for Kids. I will never forget my first time going to the dirt club in Los Olivos. I met Paul out there.  He had some adult volunteers and other kids from Buellton Recreation. It was a great experience. that was in 2010. Ever since then I have loved to mountain bike. I have raced in a couple Jr. high and High school races. Sea otter Classic in Monterey CA was one of my biggest races and thats were I realized how amazing the mountain bike community is, and I knew that when I get older I wanted to do something with bikes. I was one of those kids who loved to take things apart and put them back together. Paul had given me my first mountain bike, I loved taking it apart and learning how everything works, and now I’m working at our local bike shop.    

You were the youngest competitor in the Interbike Mechanics Challenge - how does that make you feel?

I was pretty nervous because there was no other kids but all the people there were very nice to me and were cheering me on. After every challenge it just kept getting more and more fun. When I finished I was so glad I did it and I felt accomplished. It was an experience that I will never forget.  

Do you know how many people you beat?

I have no clue how many people I beat, but all I know is that it was really exciting and fun to compete in.
    
What would be an experience in cycling that you would love to do next year?

I would love to see what its like to be a team mechanic for mountain biking or have a chance to be trained by a professional mechanic.
    
What do you want to be when you grow up?  - No not really, we know you’ll become one of the best mechanics.  What is your favorite type of bike to work on?

My favorite type of bike to work on are mountain bikes, but as a mechanic working in a bike shop, you have to learn to work with any type of bike that comes your way
    
Tell us about Trips for Kids.

Trips for Kids is a state wide organization that cites can use to get kids active and teach them about riding and working on bikes. Paul chose to use this program for his after school club. For the rides, kids can bring there own bike or they can use the fleet of bikes that are donated from  bike manufactures. Every Wednesday there was a ride, it was a great way to introduce kids to cycling and get them active. Now I am a leader when we go on the rides and I assist Paul. 

What else should the readers know about you?

About 2 years ago I got a resume for the bike shop. But Cory said that he didn’t need any help. I started taking online mechanic classes and one day I went into the bike shop and Cory told me that I start working next week. I have learned a lot working there and have enjoyed it very much. Its hard being a mechanic my age because most people think that I won’t know much but now that I’ve been working there for almost 2 years most people who come in know me.

October 20th and 21st the PBMA will be at Fall CycloFest at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte North Carolina.  Will we have a booth?  Nope!  But we will have some dedicated times you can find us at the booths of our friends.  
For sure you'll find us:
Park Tool - Booth #623 (area A) from 2ish to 5ish, Thursday and Friday
SRAM - Booth #518 (area A) Noon to 3ish Thursday and 10:30 to 2ish on Friday.

If you're looking for us follow us on Twitter or Instagram (@probicyclemech) for the latest info on where we will be.  We will make announcements of where we and be posting photos while we're out there!

We hope to see many of you there, find us, swing by and say hello.  We'd love to meet you, hear what you have to say and tell you more about the PBMA.

In case you've been off the grid check out the line up of demos, tech clinics and happenings for Cyclofest by clicking here

There has been a lot in the news lately.  NBDA purchasing Barnett Bicycle Institute.  This story isn't about that.  This story is about a man who for more than 30 years has been providing bicycle education to people and building an endless book.

Tell us about your history in the bike industry...how did you get involved in the beginning, who taught you and what has your path looked like up to now?

In 1965 I was perusing a Sears catalog, looking for potential Christmas presents to request. Kids my age were just getting into riding Sting Rays and doing wheelies. In the catalog, I saw an Austrian 10-speed road bike. I had never seen or heard of such a bike, before. At the age of 13, I understood things like mechanical advantage enough to project that the different gear ratios would make this bike a wheelie monster. I didn't know enough physics to factor in the disadvantage of the much-more forward center of gravity. I ended up with the bike, and discovered something far more important than wheelies: independence and freedom.
 
Like any bike that arrives in a box from a retailer, it was not at all ready for riding. Not knowing anyone who had ever even seen such a machine, I just figured it out myself. Later (and before I'd ever worked in a shop) I'd stripped a bike down to a bare frame and put it back together successfully. Eight years later I was an adult between jobs, and I kept seeing an ad for, "experienced bicycle mechanics needed." After seeing it run for eight weeks I figured that I must be as qualified as anyone, so I asked for the job. They asked one question, "What can you do?" I cagily answered, "anything I've ever tried". By chance, I had walked in on the day the store had decided was the deadline to hire the next eight warm bodies that walked in the door. A month later, three of us were left. A month after that, they sent me to Schwinn School, where the only new thing they were able to teach me was Sturmey Archer 3-spd hub overhaul.
 
Thirsty for knowledge, I read all of the "fix your own bike" books in print at the time, and quickly realized I was already functioning well above the technical level of sophistication of the collective authors. As an aspiring writer, I immediately started imagining writing the definitive professional procedural manual for bicycle mechanics.
 
Personal adventure ultimately took me from Austin to Colorado Springs, where I had the good fortune to be hired by a small, but very sophisticated, pro shop called Criterium Bike Shop, owned by Chris Caunt. This was my fourth job as a mechanic, and it was the first bike-shop job where I learned that I still had much to learn.
 
Who was the most influential person to your career and why?

This is a tough one, because so many people qualify. I refuse to single out one. Frank Cook, founder of Austin's Freewheeling Bicycles (and his manager, named Jay) opened my eyes to the difference between basic bicycles and what were then simply called "pro bikes". Howard Sutherland, through his publication of the original Sutherland's Handbook For Bicycle Mechanics, helped me see bicycles through an engineer's eyes, where everything was quantifiable. The aforementioned Chris Caunt, because his shop is where I first got an insider's view of what was then called a "pro shop".
 
Looked at another way, Ms. Wilbanks, my high-school English teacher was responsible for two indispensable things; how to utilize the power of words, and just how to use my mind to it's full potential.
 
These people are like ingredients in a cake. Can you ask, what is the most important ingredient in a cake recipe? It's pretty much not a cake when you leave out an ingredient.
 
We all know you've been educating mechanics now for 30 years. Tell us what motivated you to become a full-time instructor?
 
I started working at Criterium at the same time as I became a first-time parent. The profession I loved could not support my family through the winter. At the end of that first winter, I overheard Chris bemoaning the fact that applicants for mechanic positions never could say they'd been to school for that purpose. It was one of those "Eureka" moments, when, without any deliberation, my idea of writing a book instantly transformed into the idea to teaching professional bike mechanics. It started as an off-season activity at the bike shop, but after a few years, it was Chris who saw that I needed a push to switch to full-time at teaching, which I started doing in 1986. I've actually been teaching since 1981, which makes this the 35th year.

What was the transition like going from being a shop mechanic to becoming an educator of mechanics?
 
Mind bending. There's nothing like seeing your inability to teach someone something about which you feel fully competent to help you realize the degree to which you don't fully understand it, yourself. When you asked who was most influential, I easily could have answered, "collectively, all of my students." I can comfortably say that absolutely no technique I currently teach was exactly how I did it when I was just a mechanic.
 
What do you feel is the largest road block for mechanics going to that next level of professionalism?
 
All of these quantification questions about things that are anything but quantifiable! There's a chicken-and-egg question here: Do low wages keep professionalism down, or does lack of professionalism keep wages low? Either way, there has to be expanded access to education, and shop owners need to expand how they value a well-educated mechanic.
 
I went through your school in 2000. What has changed since then on the technological side?
 
In respect to new technologies affecting curriculum, in that time, suspension went from a novelty to being mainstream. Disc brakes really started right about 2000. Electronic shifting is poised today to explode much like suspension did a decade and a half ago. Electronic shifting won't end up on every bike like indexed shifting did, but it will definitely outgrow being a niche.
 
...and on the school side itself?

There have been massive gains in the mechanical-experience level and teaching-skill level of BBI's instructors, and the Barnett's Manual that is the foundation of our curriculum has grown more than twelve fold in size since 2000. As part of that growth, instructions in the manual have become less generic and far more brand and model specific, The manual has changed from something that was 90% text and 10% images to just about the reverse ratio.
 
How has technology changed what you do?
 
What I mostly do is write the manual. Initially, it was a lot of typing, complemented by some technical drawing (utilizing software). Publishers did the editing and layout. With the advent of digital photography and the incredible software that exists to enhance images, I would say my number one activity is now shooting and processing images. The other big change is that the manual went from a print publication to a purely digital publication. As a result of this, I am now the editor, I do the layout, and I even program the publication to be self-installing on PCs.
 
By utilizing the potential of software to change how we can navigate large amounts of information, the publication went from being a two-dimensional linear event to being a four-dimensional spider web of data. Here's an example. When I recently added a Fox damper service to the manual, I made changes in more than a 100 locations spread out over about a dozen source files so that information could be accessed from whatever related topic at whatever point the user might have started, Then, following completion of the damper service, the user can continue to an equal number of other related topics that might logically follow completing the damper service. This change is reflected in the classroom. Where our students used to work from printed worksheets, they now work almost exclusively from a computer to guide them through a procedure. I like to say the first tool any bench should be equipped with is a computer.
 
How would you categorize hands on learning vs online learning in terms of value?
 
For the individual who gets the opportunity, hands-on learning is superior by many magnitudes, because getting feedback from an instructor is only possible in a hands-on environment. Online learning is fundamentally handicapped because this feedback loop can't exist, but on the other hand, online learning increases access by many magnitudes.
 
In your career what has been the most interesting / intriguing technological advance in your opinion?
 
In my cycling life, I have seen bikes go from being single speed to 3x11. I have seen bikes go from toys for juveniles to lifestyles for adults. I have seen bikes go from being prisoners of pavement to being the best way to get as deep into the wild as has ever existed. I have seen bikes go from unsuspended to suspended, I have seen the advent of indexed shifting, clip-in pedals, disc brakes, and electronic shifting. "Most"? I could not say.
 
Anything that reduces barriers to riding is uniquely revolutionary. Each of these things I've listed has reset the existing limitations of cycling. If you made me pick one, the acceptance of derailleur-equipped bikes as a norm for adult transportation and recreation (the bike boom of 1973) has single handedly expanded cycling more than any of the other items I just listed. It's not the most exciting answer, but without that single event, you wouldn't be here asking me any questions. If I could erase from history any other of my listed events you and I still end up here in this interview.
 
Interestingly, no one has a convincing answer why this single most important development ever occurred. In a way, the bike boom of 1973 is to cycling as the big bang is to the universe. We know it happened, we wouldn't be here without it, but we are completely clueless about why it happened. To further the analogy, despite both events critical nature, very few people put either event at the top of their "most important" list.
 
...how has that affected the way a mechanic must think and work?
 
Without the bike boom of 1973, little of the more exciting technical innovations I listed are likely to have occured. So when I began, before all of the technology innovations, it was a reasonable-sounding falsehood that good mechanics could have in their heads everything they needed to know. Today, if a mechanic doesn't recognize his or her absolute reliance on reference materials, I might consider them delusional. I look stuff up absolutely every day, including in my own book.
 
What would be the one thing you would want a graduate of your program to say to a potential employer?
 
"I've been trained in methods that enable me to perform at the highest technical standards that any shop might have, but you are the sole determiner as to what level of standards I must adhere."
 
What is your vision of the future for BBI?​
 
My vision from the beginning was that the professionalism of mechanics would be increased, certification would become the norm, and that as a result, everyone who wanted to be a bike mechanic would not have to choose between a profession they love or a profession that would support a comfortable lifestyle. My aptitudes as a mechanic and an educator have always been up to that task, but my tendency to stay in my comfort zone as a business person has always kept me from taking the logical next step to expand BBI. I see the acquisition of BBI by the NBDA to be the logical solution to that limitation. With this partnership, I fully expect BBI to ultimately realize my original vision.
 
What is the one piece of advice that you would give to someone wanting to become a bike mechanic?
 
One? Comprehend that bike mechanics as a field requires a degree of sophistication, commitment, and a sense of responsibility on a par with many professions that require a degree and a license. Sure it's fun, but it's no joke.
 
Here's number two: Remember, your job will never be about optimizing the performance of bicycles, it will always be about optimizing the cycling experience of your customers.

Do you have a favorite tool?

Barnett Bicycle Institute's Fork Bushing Removal/Installation Tool (#FBT-3). Personal pride is at the root of this choice. None of the major fork manufacturers were ever able to come up with a viable design. My design is viable, works elegantly, pushed my creativity to its limits to conceive and engineer, and it removes and installs bushings on all the major brands. The ultimate validation? Fox made it their official tool and Fox has bought hundreds from BBI for resale as a Fox product, and for use at all official Fox Service Centers. 
​
What's next for John Barnett, personally?
 
I remain committed for some time to remain actively involved with BBI after ceasing to be it's owner. I suspect the end of my relationship with BBI will be subtle and drawn out. Perhaps I will only know when its actually over some considerable time after it is actually over. Like a derailleur that outlives it's useful life, but you missed noticing when was that last day it was still truly useful.
 
Writing and visual arts were core interests of mine before I invented a career that required me to utilize writing and photography as a way to maximize taking advantage of my interest in bicycles. My career has left me somewhat stuck indoors and rooted in one place. Immersing myself in nature predates my interest in bicycles, writing, and photography, so my best prediction is that I will ultimately end up back in nature, and communicating my experience through the written word and photographs. Put another way, there's an artist in me waiting for a turn at being in the forefront.

​Who are you - what is it that you do?
Zane Free, Mechanic for Rally Cycling 

How did you get started?
Working on my bike with my dad. Started off fixing my bike because I could and because I couldn't afford someone else doing it. Later on people started paying me to do it. Bonus!

What was the catalyst to where you are now (work wise)?
Ha, well a bit dramatic but all for the better. Got fired from a good job and my fiancé left me in the same month. Always dreamed of being a race mechanic but the other two things held that back because of travel. After that happened I went for it. I definitely came out on top.

What is it you love about your job?
The travel! Within a two year span I have seen the 48 contiguous states, four provinces of Canada, and got overseas.  Driving is my favorite, I like to take the small back roads (if time permits it) and see this country the way it should be seen. 

What are the challenges one faces when making the transition from shop to race mechanic?
The speed, discomfort, and personal sacrifice. The speed goes from dead stop to full gas. It took some time to learn how to make good use of the down time so things stay smooth at full gas. The discomfort of not having your usual around you. Having to deal with a new place, new climate, new roads. The personal sacrifice. You don't get to ride as much as you want, you don't get to see your local friends and family much, you don't get your bed.

What is your favorite on the road snack?
Popcorn. It's annoying because it's messy as hell but for some reason I can't get enough while driving. It used to be gummy bears but once the package is opened I destroy the whole bag and get sick. 

What makes for a good co-worker in your world?
Someone who is aware of their surroundings. The usual hard working, honest, etc but being aware of everything that's going on is a big help when things get wild. 

What else do we need to know about zane?
I can wiggle my right ear