AI exposure: Bicycle Repairers
Repair and service bicycles.
Reading this score
computedAt 14.6% of weighted task load, Bicycle Repairers sits at the 23th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 78.8% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 18 tasks it averages 2.41 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Order bicycle parts, at 80.0%. The least is Weld broken or cracked frames together, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within installation, maintenance and repair occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 50 roles in the group is 12.8%, and only 21 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 18 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 14 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 0.79 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.41 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.31 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.63 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.13 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.28 | 0-3 |
Task by task
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order bicycle parts. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.43 | exposed |
| Help customers select bicycles that fit their body sizes and intended bicycle uses. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.07 | exposed |
| Estimate costs of repairing bicycles and write service tickets. | 53.7% | 29.6% | 16.7% | 4.62 | exposed |
| Sell bicycles and accessories. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.38 | exposed |
| Make adjustments to bicycles to improve customer fit and riding position. | 7.1% | 5.4% | 87.5% | 4.28 | untouched |
| Paint bicycle frames, using spray guns or brushes. | 6.3% | 2.0% | 91.7% | 2.65 | untouched |
| Install and adjust speed and gear mechanisms. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.70 | untouched |
| Install and adjust brakes and brake pads. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.64 | untouched |
| Install new tires and tubes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.63 | untouched |
| Assemble new bicycles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.63 | untouched |
| Install, repair, and replace equipment or accessories, such as handlebars, stands, lights, and seats. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.61 | untouched |
| Clean and lubricate bicycle parts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.59 | untouched |
| Align wheels. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.33 | untouched |
| Disassemble axles to repair, adjust, and replace defective parts, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Build wheels by cutting and threading new spokes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.48 | untouched |
| Shape replacement parts, using bench grinders. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.41 | untouched |
| Repair holes in tire tubes, using scrapers and patches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.59 | untouched |
| Weld broken or cracked frames together, using oxyacetylene torches and welding rods. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.05 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.