>>1862514nah man lol
I do it
You have to be incredibly disciplined on a project to break even. People who know much about bikes generally won't want another man's project, and people who don't, can't tally parts costs, even when we're only talking about sensible consumables like new chain, brake pads, tires, etc. So they don't understand why a fully overhauled nice classic bike should cost $200-300.
Think of it as a way to satisfy your hobby for working on bikes without -spending- a lot of money.
Plus you do end up with a lot of cool shit for yourself if you're constantly lurking used deals and can steal parts off bikes you strip.
You make money by doing work people want you to do, even though it generally makes less sense than what you'd do yourself.
I'll sometimes do a complete rebuild on someone's nice classic for a flat rate of $100 + parts. Or you know like $20 for a tune up. That makes you money.
Or you can make money stripping bikes and flipping parts but that's kind of shady behavior imo.
People don't want you to explain anything. So the bikes you rebuild can't have any problems or idiosyncracities or near-future needs or operate in any way which is not intuitive to a normie. I find achieving that almost impossible.
You also have to be a good salesperson like have peak confidence and better yet good at marketing on social media. Beyond being a good mechanic that's probably the only way to actually get a premium on your work. Both of which I am terrible at. People come to me with bike stuff and my brain shuts off and I think of the good advise like an hour later.
