Hailing from three separate Shimano Service Centers in the Netherlands, Jelmer Bijvang, Berend Bervoets and Kevin Smit (Team Netherlands) have been announced as the winners of the first-ever European Bike Mechanics Championship. Demonstrating their technical prowess, clear communication and teamwork, their ability to quickly identify and fix complex mechanic issues impressed the judges over the course of the Championship this past weekend.
The podium was a who’s who of bike mechanics:
- First Place: The Netherlands (Jelmer Bijvang, Berend Bervoets and Kevin Smit)
- Second Place: Italy (Tommaso Pastorino, Federico Sardu and Davide Bardelloni)
- Third Place: Germany (Patrick Rittmann, Klaus Molitor and Erik Stratmann)
Shimano was pleased to host the competitors, who traveled from across Europe (and Brazil), as part of the 2024 European Mechanics Championship, which took place 5 — 7 October 2024 in Mechelen, Belgium (BE). This exciting event shone a spotlight on the heroes who handle our bicycles and celebrated their indispensable skills, which play a vital role in keeping cyclists across Europe (and the world) moving.
With an ever-increasing number of bicycles on the market and the growing demand for professional maintenance, the need for well-trained, highly skilled mechanics has never been higher. Shimano is committed to advancing the quality of bike service by showcasing the expertise of mechanics from across Europe in this exciting competition.
Team Italy and Team NL faced off in an exciting final task that tested their knowledge.
Following the judges’ decision, Kevin Smit, of Wielercentrum Bruggemann in Ede, NL and Jelmer Bijvang, who works in Zwolle at Scholten Fietsgoed, were elated after finding out they won:
“In one word? Amazing! We actually won,” said Kevin.
“We did it! And that’s all we came here for, and we pulled it off,” added Jelmer.
Team NL’s Coach and Shimano Benelux’s Retail Store Concept Manager, Kenny van Hummel, had a little more to say about his team’s performance:
“I was truly impressed by our guys at the Bike Mechanics Championship this weekend. What stood out to me was their ability to balance speed with precision. They moved efficiently through the tasks, but never at the expense of accuracy, focusing on each step and detail of the challenges before them.
“The past few days have been incredibly exciting, and I’m proud of how our team performed. Berend [Bervoets] was so confident and said it already, ‘We’re going to win this,’ so we weren’t going for anything less. Now, the guys take home with them the experience of competing at the highest level, where they will continue to provide a high-quality level of service back at their Shimano Service Centers.”
Behind the scenes of the Mechanics Championship
The mechanics, who travelled from 14 countries to attend the Championship in Mechelen, competed in a series of technical challenges designed to assess their skills and knowledge in specific areas of bike servicing and maintenance.
The competitors faced seven demanding challenges, with multiple subtasks. These tests covered the widest range possible of bike maintenance skills, including:
- Drivetrain Setup: Installing a SHIMANO CUES front crank, choosing and installing a cassette that is compatible for the CUES drivetrain; fine-tuning the front and rear derailleurs using E-TUBE PROJECT Cyclist to customize SHIMANO ULTEGRA Di2 shift buttons.
- Wheel Maintenance: Servicing a freehub, replacing the freehub body and performing a brake bleed.
- Shimano E-Bike Systems: Installing a SHIMANO EP5 Drive Unit, and mounting the correct chainrings and cranks, and using E-TUBE PROJECT Professional to diagnose battery errors.
- Hub Gear Maintenance: Disassembling, cleaning and reassembling SHIMANO NEXUS internal hub gear.
Raising awareness
Through its extensive network of more than 2,000 Shimano Service Centers worldwide, Shimano is an essential partner within the cycling industry – providing training, high-quality servicing and advice to customers.
The mechanics of the future
The championships showed that becoming a bike mechanic is a future-proof career. Increased levels of cycling can play a key role in tackling climate change – reducing air pollution and congestion in cities. Around the world, cities are continuing to make changes to enable more cycling. The demand for skilled mechanics will only grow against this backdrop, and Shimano is at the forefront of providing the necessary education and training to meet this need.
Results
The full results, including additional imagery and videos will be published online, later this month, on the Shimano Service Center homepage.
