It’s not all bling and glamour working for a professional cycling team. Tom & Simon investigate what the least favourite job is for a pro team mechanic.

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What would your least favourite job be? Let us know in the comments below 👇

Lasty & Si talk to mechanics on the build up to the 2017 Tour de France at the team hotels in Düsseldorf ahead of the Grand Départ.

Measuring bikes to the mm, or even smaller is without a doubt a tough job. One mistake could potentially end a riders season.

Living on the road is a very tough job, if a mechanic forgets a certain tool then they can be stuck up

Long transfers are certainly not a favourite, potentially driving through the night.

Gluing tubulars is, for many home mechanics a messy and most certainly a sticky job.

Working in the rain is not a favourite of Pim Heemskerk of Team Sunweb, he prefers to stay inside the car on those days!

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Watch more on GCN…
Tour de France 2017 📹 http://gcn.eu/TDF2017Playlist
Maintenance Mondays | Global Cycling Network 📹 http://gcn.eu/maintmon

Photos: © Bettiniphoto / http://www.bettiniphoto.net/ & ©Tim De Waele / http://www.tdwsport.com

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49 Comments

  1. I agree that driving between stages is not fun. As a spectator, I have sat in traffic jams for several hours to get off a mountain to go to the next stage

  2. When travelling between A and B, they should have a workshop in the back of a truck so the mechanics can continue their work whilst on the go.

  3. My choice for worst jobs as a pro team mechanic would be:

    – Routing internal cables
    – Gluing tubular tires
    – Repairing bikes during bad weather
    – Parts inventory management
    – Washing bikes

    Nevertheless, these mechanics will always do these jobs even in the toughest conditions. They are the true unsung heroes of pro cycling. Gained my respect forever.

  4. Why doesn't the bike industry make enough road tubeless for racing? Lightweight, no gluing and they could be a huge time saver and more economical, even being installed in the back seat of a team car. With sealant can even save a win. After a puncture, Just remove it and donate to a needy person for repair and reuse. a product the pros would more readily adopt than disk brakes.

  5. Years ago I knew a guy who had been a pro mechanic back when 6 speed free wheels were common. he said he would often have to change about 20 free wheels every night and every rider wanted their own ratios.

  6. Gluing tires, getting the millimeters right, and then having to wash the team cars, buses and trucks after all of that. Sponsors insist.

  7. Do you guys have a video talking about this stretching of tires and tubes (and gluing, what is that)? I've never heard of that till this video. Is this something the lay cyclist needs to worry about?

  8. Hello, mountain biker here, I want to ask, how could road cyclists got so many puncture in a race? I thought flat smooth tarmac won't "hurt" the tyres.
    Sfbe

  9. I'd gladly do repetitive bike maintenance tasks while someone else pays my travel expenses through Europe, whilst still giving me a wage..

  10. Strange thing is, at school when getting careers advice, there was never anything like 'mechanic for a pro cycle team' category. It is such a specific job that you could only do if you love the sport so having a worst job within the job itself is comparatively not so bad.

  11. Geraint Thomas road half way through the Tour of France on the wrong bike and no one noticed.
    Bike Fitting is half science and half feel. There is no such thing as the right position. There is a range of what is right. The more adaptable a cyclist is the larger the "range of right". Adaptable can be physical or psychological. So a main factor of bike fitting is personality. There are people who everything must be "just so" up to "rough enough is good enough". MM right or CM right.
    Cyclists need to forget about small differences. Its training and desire that get results.

  12. Fixing a dropped chain while running alongside a rider that is still moving forward – Orica Scott mechanic did it in the Giro Rosa TT this week for Annemiek Van Vleuten and only chopped up his finger a little bit.

  13. Hey GCN I need your help! I am 14 and started cycling when i was 11 and i done a few races till i was about 12 and a half then when i wenton holiday I had a foot injury and I got lazy and never went back. I want to go back to training and want to work to be a pro. Any tips on how to get to pro. Thanks very much Connor

  14. Someone tell this speaker to SLOW DOWN – Breathe – Get some cadence, pause between sentences, emphasis into your speech – don't be Speedy Gonzalez – listeners understand only half of what you're saying !

  15. So, none of the mechanics mind sticking their body out the back of a moving car in the middle of a race to reach down with their fingers and fix the rear derailleur?

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