Today, bicycles are lifestyle products containing an increasing amount of technology. This is why, today, bicycle mechanics are known as mechatronic technicians for two wheeled-vehicles. The job has a future.
If your job is to repair bicycles, these days you also need to know about electric motors. Daniel Pfeiffenberger is training as a mechatronic technician for two-wheeled vehicles.
Advising customers, purchasing replacement parts, repairing wheels - in the summer months, Daniel Pfeiffenberger wishes he had more than two hands. "I have to be able to do everything in our small shop" said the 24-year-old who is training as a mechatronic technician for two-wheeled vehicles with a specialism in bicycle technology in the small town of Giengen bei Ulm.
The bicycle shop belongs to Bernd Willer and is called 'Radelmeister'. There is already another customer outside who is bringing her bicycle to be repaired. "The gears don't work," she says. Pfeiffenberger has just sold a luggage carrier to an older gentleman. "Can you fit it now?" he asks.
In addition to the trainee, Willer also employs a fitter on a permanent basis, a part-time worker in the office and also three temporary workers in the workshop during the season. Sometimes all five mechanics have to fit in the workshop with an area of 20 square metres.
Willer, 55, is actually an automotive master craftsman. However, because he has worked in the bicycle business for a long time, he is also permitted to provide training in this skilled craft. He took over the business in 1999 and has been providing training since 2002.
"Bicycle mechatronic technicians need to have an affinity with the bicycle, a clear understanding of how mechanics, electronics, and hydraulics function, as well as dexterity," he said. He added that this occupation relies on dexterity and skill. And you must also like contact with the customers.
Pfeiffenberger enjoys this as well as his profession. "It is varied. I get to deal with people and technology and see success everyday if I have repaired a bicycle." More than half of all the bicycles which Radelmeister has sold this season have an electric motor.
"The increasing degree of technology in bicycles was the reason that the training occupation of mechatronics technician for two-wheeled vehicles was updated, from the 2014 training year onwards, to become mechatronics technician for two-wheeled vehicles with a specialism in bicycle technology," said Udo Stocks. He is responsible for vocational education and training at the Federal Craft Guild based in Düsseldorf representing Germany's two-wheeled vehicle skilled craft.
Approximately 207 young people started to train for the new occupation in 2014. The number of new vocational training qualifications is therefore at the level of the previous occupation. The fact that most of the trainees are male also remains unchanged. However the sector would like to attract more women.
There are no plans for a specific school leaving certificate. "However, businesses prefer applicants to have at least a good lower secondary school leaving qualification," said Werner Metzger, head of the Craft Guild of two-wheeled vehicles based in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
You will not become rich while training as a mechatronics technician for two-wheeled vehicles: Average earnings for trainees in the first year are 500 Euro and in the last year 725 Euro. When entering the profession, assistants are paid around 1,900 Euro gross. The starting salaries of bicycle service technicians are slightly higher as are, of course, those of the master craftsmen in the skilled craft of the bicycle mechanic.
After receiving his lower secondary school leaving certificate, Daniel Pfeiffenberger first worked as a waiter in a pub. He then read the Radelmeister job advertisement. The keen cyclist was interested in the job description. So he wasted no time in introducing himself in the shop. The training actually takes three and a half years.
Pfeiffenberger was permitted, however, to complete this more quickly because he had already had vocational experience. Vocational school teaching is of course also part of the training. In addition to general education subjects such as German and mathematics, this is where the aspiring mechanics learn about electronics, mechanics and operating in a workshop environment.
The practical training takes place in the business. At Radelmeister, Pfeiffenberger completes all the work which needs to be done in the workshop. This includes adjusting gears, changing brake blocks and serving customers. If it is worn, it is replaced; if it is broken, it is repaired. He also completes software updates on e-bikes, assembles new wheels and changes tyres. The assistant checks his work. If the business is slightly quieter, the boss makes time to show things to his trainee and to prepare him for the examination-how to build a bicycle yourself, for example. This is a requirement of the journeyman's examination.
Today bicycles are far more than merely a means of transportation. There are lifestyle products for different purposes including road, sport and off-road. They have suspension, disc brakes, bright LED lights and electric motors. And they are much more expensive than they were just a few years ago. Those who can afford it really will spend a few thousand euros on a bicycle.
"Costing this much money, the customers expect competence and trust besides a professional service," explains Willie. The percentage of sales in the total turnover also reflects this. This is where he earns most money, the workshop accounts for only one fifth of this. Nevertheless, service is important to him because ultimately customers who have had good experience with the repair service remain loyal to the business.
The business does experience strong seasonal variations. During the summer, Willer could employ three fitters on a full-time basis. "In winter one is almost too many because sometimes we don't open the till at all," he said. So that he also has work for his fitters in the winter months, the team writes to customers and offers, for example, service and repair work.
"During this period we also assemble bicycles for the new season, sort out the store, replenish the stocks and re-equip the workshop. There is no time for this in the summer", explains Pfeiffenberger. There are already two new customers standing behind him. And each would prefer to have their problem solved immediately.