TheThinkTank June 2009

thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org

56 participants
36 discussions

Website, hosting...
by Jason Moore 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Hi, I'm with the Davis Bike Church and we are looking to setup a new website for our group (we've been using the daviswiki.org). I want a site that will allow anyone with permission to add content, allow for calendars, forms, online donations, etc, and have our own domain name and a decent amount of server space (~1GB) so we can use it to share files and documents. I want to run an open source content management system such as plone, joomla, drupal, etc to do these things and wanted to ask some questions about how other groups handle this: 1. Recommendations on which CMS if I've never used a CMS before? Which one offers functionality that bike collectives typically need? Which one is easiest for end users? 2. Where do you host your site? How much is it? Can non-profits get free or reduced price hosting? 3. Any other tips on website related stuff? Rev. Jason Moore Davis Bike Church

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Business Licensing mumbo jumbo
by Erik at Recyclery 26 Jun '09

26 Jun '09

I know laws aren't all the same everywhere, but The Recyclery has been told that we will be needing a second-hand business license because we sell used bicycles and parts. We don't pay for anything used--everything is donation-only--and this would mean that we have to take IDs from every buyer and donor. There are a number of other prohibitive restrictions obviously aimed more toward pawn shops than charitable organizations, but our indepented 501(c)3 status hasn't gone through yet. As of now we are just planning on not holding sales in our new shop. Has anyone else had to grapple with this while trying to open as a "legitimate" business? erik -- The Recyclery Collective 7628 N Paulina Chicago, IL 60626 P: 773.262.5900 F: 773.751.5241 www.therecyclery.org

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helmets, lights, locks, and other essential accessories
by rachael spiewak 25 Jun '09

25 Jun '09

Hi, everyone. For those who have distributor accounts, do you order and distribute helmets, lights, and locks? How does that work? -rachael -- Sopo Bicycle Cooperative 404-425-9989 www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm

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Cutting Bike Locks
by Scott Beardsley 25 Jun '09

25 Jun '09

I'm involved with the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen in California. We recently sealed a deal with the local Police to take 30-40 bikes/month off of their hands in return for working with troubled (meaning law-breaking) teens (something we're doing already anyways). I'm really excited about this and it'll bring even more exposure to our quickly growing shop/org along with giving us a ton of extra used parts. I have a question about breaking/cutting locks. Most of the bikes we will get still have locks (U-locks, chains, cables locks, etc) on them. What is the best way to remove these? Right now we are passing it on to the customer, but it'd be nice to at least have the proper tools if they wanted to DIY it. So far we have zero power tools in the shop. This might end up being the exception. What do we need to consider? Eye protection for everyone? Tell me how you handle these issues in your shop. Thanks! Scott

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Wheel Building classes
by Jason Tanzman 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

Hi Rich and others, At Sibley Bike Depot in St. Paul, MN we've taught a number of successful wheel building classes. We usually have 8-14 participants. We usually have two instructors (pretty much for all of our classes) which includes one mechanic with reasonable wheel building experience and one mechanic who works at Quality Bike Products in the Wheel Building division (so he is truly an expert). We've tried both used parts and new parts for our wheels; since we're usually low in 27" rear wheels, in our last class, we deconstructed 27" front rims (which are always in abundance) and rebuilt the rims with rear high flange Normandy hubs (in abundance off of old schwinns and others). This ended up not working super well - the single wall used rims did not rebuild well, and we had a couple wheels literally taco in my hands when I was attempting to de-tension spokes. We built a few wheels using the rear normandy hubs and new Sun CR18 rims - those worked way better. We used new spokes for all wheel builds. In general, wheel building is pretty hard to teach, especially if you're using used rims. For future wheel building classes, I think we will build with all new parts - we've built a number of track wheels using dimension/formula hubs - it comes to around $65/wheel wholesale in parts but you can sell those wheels for $100-120, or put them on old road bikes and add value (especially if your shop is having trouble getting decent bikes donated for your sales floor). You can also charge $20 for parts/materials for the class to offset the investment in expensive new parts - that's what we do (registration is free for all classes, except for the parts/materials offset for wheel classes). We have always let people purchase parts at retail prices and build wheels for themselves - it gives us a bit of revenue, and people get to build something that they can keep. Jason Tanzman jtanzman(a)riseup.net thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org wrote: > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)bikecollectives.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Cutting Bike Locks (Scott Beardsley) > 2. Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum? (Rich Points) > 3. Re: Cutting Bike Locks (Stuart O Anderson) > 4. Re: Cutting Bike Locks (reno bikes) > 5. Re: Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum? (Sam Santos) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:25:22 -0700 > From: Scott Beardsley <scott(a)sacbikekitchen.org> > Subject: [TheThinkTank] Cutting Bike Locks > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Message-ID: > <67b59b4e0906231525r103fccd9w6f9b84b37540e9b8(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > I'm involved with the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen in California. We > recently sealed a deal with the local Police to take 30-40 bikes/month > off of their hands in return for working with troubled (meaning > law-breaking) teens (something we're doing already anyways). I'm > really excited about this and it'll bring even more exposure to our > quickly growing shop/org along with giving us a ton of extra used > parts. I have a question about breaking/cutting locks. Most of the > bikes we will get still have locks (U-locks, chains, cables locks, > etc) on them. What is the best way to remove these? Right now we are > passing it on to the customer, but it'd be nice to at least have the > proper tools if they wanted to DIY it. So far we have zero power tools > in the shop. This might end up being the exception. What do we need to > consider? Eye protection for everyone? Tell me how you handle these > issues in your shop. > > Thanks! > Scott > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:27:16 -0600 > From: Rich Points <rich(a)communitycycles.org> > Subject: [TheThinkTank] Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum? > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > Message-ID: <4A4156C4.6030207(a)communitycycles.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed" > > Hey All, > We're developing a wheel building class here at Community Cycles. We > have a rough idea of what we'd like to do but we could use some help > smoothing it out. > > We're thinking the class would be three 2 hour sessions at a cost of $X > to 6 - 8 students. > > We've thought of two ways to go about supplies for the class. One would > be to use recycled rims, hubs, nipples and maybe spokes. Another way > would be to buy the parts from our wholesalers. The latter option means > we could have control of what the class is working with. The former > option could mean a lot more on the fly problem solving for the > instructor and class but it'd be a lot cheaper for us and our students. > I'm leaning towards the new parts option because I think it'll provide > the highest quality of instruction. What do you guys think? > > Another question we're trying to figure out is what happens to the > wheels that get built in the class. At our shop we're always in dire > need of 700cc wheels. So we're thinking the class could build 700 > wheels and they'd be used by the shop. However people taking the class > may want to build wheels that they'd keep as their own. If we structure > the class to just build 700 fronts we have more consistency and > control. If we let folks build wheels for their own projects the class > might have more general appeal but presents logistical and supplies > hurdles. > > Please let us know how your shop is teaching wheel building. > > Ride On! > >

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bylaws
by KRANK IT UP community bicycle shop 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

there is a new info shop opening here in tallahassee and they are working on bylaws so they can start working on their 501(c)3 and state nonprofit paperwork. the organization is a collective and i suggested setting up the board of directors as an advisory board that has no decision making ability, much like the yellow bike project in austin. my question is: do the bylaws have to contain the decision making methods of the collective, or can they just have information on the board and just state that decisions are made by the collective counsel? i guess the benefit would be that the collective can have be more fluid in its structure if its not contained in the bylaws, but if the board has no decision making ability, will the government accept bylaws without the collectives structure? justin krank it up! community bicycle project 663 industrial drive tallahassee, fl 32310 www.krankitup.info > From: thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org > Subject: Thethinktank Digest, Vol 34, Issue 27 > To: thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:00:58 -0700 > > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)bikecollectives.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Wheels and Truing Workspaces in your shop > (Urban Bike Project Wilmington, DE) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:37:23 -0400 > From: "Urban Bike Project Wilmington, DE" <urbanbikeproject(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Wheels and Truing Workspaces in your shop > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Message-ID: > <eddde2f70906211537s25a53615g25a59291d969dd52(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Here's a picture of our modest truing station...The cone wrenches reside > next to the station on the master toolkit, along with chain breakers and > other stuff. The whole setup is movable, though it usually stays right > where it is. As you can see, it tends to collect random junk/parts, like > all flat surfaces in the shop. > > Brian > > Urban Bike Project of Wilmington > -a 501(c)3 non-profit bike shop- > 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) > Wilmington, DE 19802 > > Hours: > Thursday 6:30-9:00 > Saturday 1:00-4:00 > > Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org > > > On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 1:45 PM, <veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Here's a picture of the bicycle kitchen (LA)'s wheel truing "room",<http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Ms7n82ikuU5mhdJSEq_aTA?authkey=Gv1sRgC…>taken when I was visiting late last year. > > > > The thing I liked most about it was the directional lighting above each > > stand. It's also set up at a sitting height, with chairs. Presumably, when > > you're using a truing stand, you'll be at it much longer than if you were at > > a vise or something. It's also outside of the normal flow of traffic/shop > > floor, so you can focus more readily on the wheel you're working on without > > being distracted. Very nice. > > > > > > On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 11:07 AM, rachael spiewak <rachael(a)sopobikes.org>wrote: > > > >> We keep the cone wrenches by the stationary truing stand, and that's in > >> the back of the shop, so you have to travel a long way to get to those > >> wrenches. The box wrenches live near the front of the shop, far far away > >> from the cone wrenches. Seems to help. I do think people get hungry > >> sometimes and gnaw on the cone wrenches. > >> > >> The freewheel tools are in the center of the shop, next to the vice. > >> > >> -rachael > >> > >> > >> On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 12:56 PM, Rich Points <rich(a)communitycycles.org>wrote: > >> > >>> Collectives, > >>> We're about to start digging into setting up our new space, specifically > >>> the wheel and truing station. Right now we have a dedicated work space for > >>> a truing stand, spokes and hubs but our cone wrenches, free wheel and > >>> cassette tools are mixed in with our general tool bench. Because of this > >>> our cone wrenches are often used for the most inappropriate jobs imaginable. > >>> We also have a couple extra truing stands that float around the shop. > >>> > >>> Now that we have a little more space we want to set up a wheels and > >>> truing area of the shop. I'd love to see photos of how you do this in your > >>> shops. > >>> > >>> Looking forward to your responses. > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Rich Points > >>> Community Cycles Director > >>> http://CommunityCycles.org > >>> Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org > >>> 720-565-6019 (W) > >>> 303-589-0597 (C) > >>> Donate your old car to Community Cycles > >>> http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html > >>> Make your ride count! Register for Bike to Work Day June 24, 2009 > >>> http://www.drcog.org/btwd2009/index.cfm?page=Register > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Thethinktank mailing list > >>> Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > >>> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to > >>> TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > >>> To manage your subscription, plase visit: > >>> > >>> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Sopo Bicycle Cooperative > >> 404-425-9989 > >> www.sopobikes.org > >> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > >> Hours of operation: > >> Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm > >> Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Thethinktank mailing list > >> Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > >> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to > >> TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > >> To manage your subscription, plase visit: > >> > >> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > >> > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thethinktank mailing list > > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > To unsubscribe, send a blank email to > > TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > > To manage your subscription, plase visit: > > > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > > >

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Cutting Bike Locks
by Will Wolfe 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

Sticking with the human powered method, we use a 4 1/2 ft. industrial grade, monster of a bolt cutter to get through U-locks and anything else that stands in the way. Don't know where it came from, but its quick and quiet. -Will 21st St. Coop Bike Project --- On Tue, 6/23/09, reno bikes <renobikeproject(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: reno bikes <renobikeproject(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Cutting Bike Locks To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 11:16 PM angle grinder with cutting wheel. On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:56 PM, Stuart O Anderson <soa(a)ri.cmu.edu> wrote: Bolt-cutters are low cost and pretty safe, and will get you through cables and chains. A hacksaw is slow and labor intensive but will eventually get you through a u-lock. An angle-grinder with a good cutting disc is my preferred tool for this work, although I wouldn't feel comfortable handing it to a random volunteer. If you do get an angle grinder, consider getting a 6" one so you can use it to cut up frames too, I've also heard (but never used myself) that a portable hand-held bandsaw (http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_20030896…) works well for this... Stuart On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 6:25 PM, Scott Beardsley<scott(a)sacbikekitchen.org> wrote: > I'm involved with the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen in California. We > recently sealed a deal with the local Police to take 30-40 bikes/month > off of their hands in return for working with troubled (meaning > law-breaking) teens (something we're doing already anyways). I'm > really excited about this and it'll bring even more exposure to our > quickly growing shop/org along with giving us a ton of extra used > parts. I have a question about breaking/cutting locks. Most of the > bikes we will get still have locks (U-locks, chains, cables locks, > etc) on them. What is the best way to remove these? Right now we are > passing it on to the customer, but it'd be nice to at least have the > proper tools if they wanted to DIY it. So far we have zero power tools > in the shop. This might end up being the exception. What do we need to > consider? Eye protection for everyone? Tell me how you handle these > issues in your shop. > > Thanks! > Scott > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > To manage your subscription, plase visit: > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives..org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- www.renobikeproject.com Wed-Sat 11-6pm 541 E. 4th Street. Reno, NV 89512 775.323.4488 Please let us know if you would like to unsubscribe to our email list. -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.…

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collective call
by bike talk 22 Jun '09

22 Jun '09

Hi, I stopped writing our weekly emails to the thinktank list because some collectives were getting kind of cranky (pun!) about all the email and the local issues we put out, but I think this is a valid query: does anyone want to be part of a collective phone call, otherwise known as a conference call, about collective issues like spreadsheets, shop space, volunteers, structure, and management? I think we'd be doing it thurs. night. Nick -- please let us know if you want to be taken off this list. Hear Bike Talk! live on www.killradio.org, 10am-noon Saturdays. Call in at (213) 252-0998. Hear the podcast at kpfk.org: http://www.kpfk.org/programs/170-bike-talk.html See what's new with us at www.biketalk.us

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Wheels and Truing Workspaces in your shop
by Rich Points 21 Jun '09

21 Jun '09

Collectives, We're about to start digging into setting up our new space, specifically the wheel and truing station. Right now we have a dedicated work space for a truing stand, spokes and hubs but our cone wrenches, free wheel and cassette tools are mixed in with our general tool bench. Because of this our cone wrenches are often used for the most inappropriate jobs imaginable. We also have a couple extra truing stands that float around the shop. Now that we have a little more space we want to set up a wheels and truing area of the shop. I'd love to see photos of how you do this in your shops. Looking forward to your responses. -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html Make your ride count! Register for Bike to Work Day June 24, 2009 http://www.drcog.org/btwd2009/index.cfm?page=Register

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volunteer application
by Liza Mattana 20 Jun '09

20 Jun '09

Hey, Does anyone have a volunteer application they'd be willing to share? Pedals2People is finally seeing a lot of interest from possible volunteers, and we feel like we should have a more formal process for new folks. Before, it was all friends-of-friends showing up, but now we're actually growing (yay!) and meeting many new people. If there's a helpful application out there, please send it my way! Thanks, Liza -- Liza Mattana president www.pedals2people.org Spokane, WA

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TheThinkTank June 2009