Get your wheels in motion with the Professional Bicycle Mechanic's course at Winterborne Bicycle Institute (WBI)! This 11 day intensive course provides students with the opportunity to learn all the systems on a bicycle.
WBI is the brain child of co-founders Jay Filer, and Alan Medcalf, and has been an off-campus training partner with Conestoga for five years. Not only is Jay an owner, he is also the Head Mechanic at WBI. "We take our student feedback very seriously and continuously look for opportunities to improve the course based on the needs of the industry."
The course is industry focused and (bicycle) shop owners have come to rely on it for training or hiring prospective employees. The course covers a wide range of topics and goes beyond simple brake set-up and bearing adjustment. Students also cover subject areas such as service management, bicycle frame metallurgy and performance fitting. "We have carved a niche in the Canadian Bicycle Industry, a reliable one, where folks in the industry have come to recognize our graduates as having a thorough foundation and the necessary competent skill set to repair and assemble any kind of bike on the market from entry level models sold at big box stores to an understanding of how to work on extremely high end modern carbon fiber bikes worth thousands of dollars" says Filer.
WBI started out offering weekend mechanics training under the Park Tool School. This is where Alan and Jay met and formed a partnership to offer professional mechanic training. Alan's ultimate goal was to get more people on more bikes more often. Alan and Jay thought one way to accomplish this would be to provide training to mechanics that in turn provide cyclists with safe and well operating bicycles. Who wants to ride a bike if it doesn't work as it was designed to work? Cyclists have enough to worry about on our busy roads without the additional challenge of a poorly operating bicycle, or even one that has never been set up correctly in the first place.
Since starting the Professional Bicycle Mechanics course in 2005, demand for the course has continued to increase. As a result the course is now offered more frequently. Approximately half of our students are coming from outside of the bicycle industry. Many of the non-industry students have various reasons for attending including "just wanting to know everything there is to know about a bike." Many of our students will come to the course because of the love they have for their bikes, and the desire to want to learn how to maintain them. Students from all across Canada, the US and even Brazil have attended the course.
There are only three professional bicycle mechanic training facilities in North America. WBI is the newest. WBI holds a unique position of being able to offer official recognition not only through a very highly recognized educational institution like Conestoga, but also offer our students certification from the industry's leading component manufacturer Shimano. You can count on an excellent educational experience as all of our instructors and guest speakers are currently employed in the bicycle industry. Come take our course you’ll have a great time and learn a ton!
Here's what some of our former students have had to say about their experience here at WBI.
"Credentialing bike mechanics is a must for our industry. WBI has done a superb job leading the way" Andre R, bike shop owner, WBI grad.
"As an employer, I look at a job applicant favourably when they have WBI graduate on their resume" Joel C, bike shop owner, WBI grad.
"Of all the exposure I have had to higher education the WBI course is honestly one of the best organized and most well taught courses I have ever seen" Dr. Krista H, WBI Grad.
"As an employed mechanic I enjoyed this course and gained more knowledge and experience than I had, my skills have reached a whole new level" Jason S, Pro Mechanic, WBI grad.
I was laid off in July, 2009, with little prospect of returning to my job. Conestoga College is a tried and trusted institution and on checking what was available through them I noticed the Professional Bicycle Mechanics Course. Knowing that the public are becoming more aware of the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle then the bicycle is certain to become a greater part of this lifestyle, bringing with it greater employment and business opportunites. There it was, my new career.
The course was excellent, but, be prepared to work hard. I was not a bicycle-literate person and had no idea of the depth of the subject, the instructors were first-rate, as was the program, it was well prepared and thorough, every question I had was valid and was answered to my satisfaction. Although intensive, the atmosphere was light-hearted and thoroughly professional. I made several good friends through the course. I highly recommend it. Richard K.
