Head mechanic at Penny Farthing Cycles

Alistair Noblet

Name: Alistair Noblet

Age: 26

Role: Head mechanic at Penny Farthing Cycles, Auckland

Working hours: 9am-6pm, weekdays only.

Average pay: Starting rate $12 per hour. Head mechanics earn $20 plus per hour, depending on size of workshop and calibre of bikes.

Qualifications and institution: Six month British qualification in bike mechanics. New Zealand has unit standards in sales and servicing but no formal qualifications for bike mechanics.

Career prospects: Own workshop or mechanic for professional racing team.


What do you do?

I'm head mechanic at Penny Farthing Cycles, one of the oldest bike shops in Auckland. It is one of the few old-school bike shops left. It offers repair and retail and it has a bit of soul, this shop. There are two of us in the workshop and on an average day we would fix 16 to 20 bikes. I could be working on anything; valves, tyres, shocks, chain position, gear shifts, wheels and all kinds of braking systems. Our main clientele are mountain bikers and commuters. We also sell kids bikes.

What sort of training or experience do you need?

I'm from England and I did a six-month British vocational qualification in bike mechanics. There doesn't appear to be anything similar here yet for someone wanting to be a paid mechanic. You have to get into a workshop and learn from someone more experienced. You also learn by trial and error through, working on your own bikes at home. Shimano [global cycling manufacturer and distributor] also run short workshops.

Initially you are learning how to put bikes together, checking you've made them safe to ride. Then you start servicing bikes, taking them apart, cleaning and reassembling them. As head mechanic you fix bikes. You strip them down, replace what needs to be replaced, then reassemble.

Your history?

I started picking up a spanner when I was 16 and racing bikes. I'd break them down and sort out how to fix them again. Then I got the opportunity to get a job and a qualification.

I met my girlfriend, who is Kiwi, while on a snowboarding holiday. We then moved to New Zealand. I have seven years experience as a bike mechanic and I work on bikes all the time. At the moment I'm building a BMX out of spare parts. It will be my 27th bike.

What skills or qualities do you need?

You need to be organised, good with customers and capable of figuring out precisely what the problem is. Sometimes you may suggest buying new parts, other times you're able to fix the broken bits. You need a practical and mechanical mind and be able to use your initiative.

Best part of the job?

Seeing people peddling down the road on their repaired bike with a smile on their face. I also enjoy the challenge of working out how to fix something in a price range affordable to the owner, and within a good time frame for us.

I like the problem solving involved and the way bike technology is always changing so there are always new components to figure out.

Every day I'm surrounded by what I love.

Most challenging part?

Working out which of my 27 bikes to ride! Seriously, keeping to deadlines. And the grease. It gets into your pores. Some mechanics use gloves for protection but I prefer barrier cream because I find my finger tips pretty useful when I'm working on bikes.

Advice to someone wanting to do same thing?

Have a go. Practice on your own bikes. If you know how a bike should work, then think about what could be stopping it, and try to fix it.

There is a big shortage of bike mechanics at the moment so get known by bike shops. Our current trainee does mountain biking, and he was coming in for advice while working on his own bike. We needed a trainee and I could see he was making sense of my suggestions so I asked him if he'd like a job.

Career hopes for the future?

I could go to a busier shop and manage a team of mechanics. I could become a team mechanic for touring professional riders. That way I would get to fix bikes and travel.

The advent of DVDs and Sky Sport has meant heaps of filming of professionals doing extreme rides and such in the down seasons. There is a lot of money in that, and they need mechanics. You've got to be good though.