How millions use YouTube tutorials to perfect their trade
From bike mechanics to baking, the video-sharing site offers a goldmine of knowledge
Holding an Allen key in a grease-stained hand, João Cruz looks every bit the professional bike mechanic. Wind back five years, however, and this 39-year-old former journalist barely knew how to fix a brake cable.
“To be a good mechanic, you need tools and knowledge; I had the tools, but I needed to get the knowledge,” said Cruz, owner of Velurb, a small bike rental business in the Portuguese city of Porto.
In response, he spent the best part of a year trawling YouTube for tutorials on bicycle maintenance. Even today, he still regularly logs onto the video-sharing website for “tips and tricks” when faced with knotty technical
