Joko Luzon (she/they) joined OCB this summer for a Canada Summer Jobs paid work experience. In this blog post Joko shares about her experience becoming a bike mechanic and finding employment opportunities in the cycling industry. We were pleased to have Joko join our team this summer!
It all started with Gear Up
I signed up for the Gear Up mechanics training program with no experience, and I came out of it with junior level knowledge. Gear Up is a 13-week program delivered by YWCA in partnership with Our Community Bikes. Through the program I learnt replacing tires and tubes, and how to remove and install different parts of a bike. This included bottom brackets, pedals, wheels, hubs, head posts and more. We also got the chance to repair and refurbish some donated Norco step through frame bikes which helped a lot in applying what I learned. Finally the class also gave me good practice of what to expect working in a bike shop and how to find a job in the industry.
From the classroom to the community
I occasionally work at HUB cycling as a mechanic for Go By Bike Week and I also volunteer for Kickstand community bike shop on my time off. Both have given me plenty of experience working with the public, diagnosing their bike problems and providing positive memorable interactions with community members . At HUB Cycling I only had a short time to do tune ups and quick repairs for the people who would come through the celebration stations, yet with little time I was able to get their bikes running smoothly. At Kickstand I get to work with a lot of old and vintage parts which requires a lot of creativity to work with. Being at Kickstand with the various bicycles is always a challenge and a puzzle, but very satisfying to solve.
Moving on to MOBI Bike Share
I worked as a bike mechanic at MOBI Bike Share and it was a great opportunity to learn production workflow from working on the same make and model of a bike versus tune-up stations where you work on a variety of different types of bikes. Even though we were repairing the same bikes over and over again, each fix would be a different problem to tackle. This was also a good chance for me to learn how to properly safety check which increased my ability to identify problems with a bike.
My summer at Our Community Bikes
OCB has been a fantastic workplace this summer. The people here are very accepting of people of many cultures, identities, and backgrounds. It is a place I can be myself and put my 100% into work. Everyone here is very patient and very good at teaching good mechanical technique and instructions. It has also been a great opportunity for learning event logistics and office skills – I’ve contributed to improving the event tracking tools, and utilizing my artist experience to help make posters and flyers for events. The CSJ program has been a big boon to my life!
Thanks Joko for joining our team this summer!
Our Community Bikes provides employment training opportunities to youth interested in getting into the bike industry. Find out more here