May 2010 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

19-32nds equals 15mm about
by Bob Giordano 04 May '10

04 May '10

We have found that 19/32 american wrenches work great as 15mm wrenches. We bought 50 at a pawn shop for $5. Used 30 to teach a whole 4th grade class how to remove and add pedals to crank arms. 19/32 equals 15.08mm to be more exact. The inferior metal ones will spread a little after awhile, so higher quality is the way to go. If both ends are open ended, we bend a short spoke and tape it to one end for hanging on our tool board. We paint all tools to keep them around and for easy put back onto the 8 different colored boards. Also, we cover the 19/32 part with masking tape, write 15mm on it, then cover that part with clear packing tape- lasts several months before a spruce up is needed. -- Bob Giordano Free Cycles Missoula. hotline: 406.541.7284 Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation www.strans.org, mist(a)strans.org, 406.880.6834

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Random Though: Buying U-Locks direct
by Jonathan Morrison 04 May '10

04 May '10

Bike theft seems to rise and fall with the temperature in Salt Lake City -- and the temperatures are rising. At the SLC Bike Collective, when we tell someone the vulnerability of "affordable" chains, cables and older locks with cylindrical keys and the advantages of u-locks with flat keys -- we have wasted their time (and ours) if they can't afford it. Would anyone be interested in doing a big group order? If you are interested, please let me know what your actual budget is, and your ideal price point. This isn't a sure thing, but I need to know some realistic numbers before I start shopping manufacturers. http://www.manufacturers.com.tw/bicycles/u-locks.html Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.

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trailer stuff
by Bob Giordano 04 May '10

04 May '10

We have lots of pictures- some too large to scan- and various instruction handouts. We try to spark ideas and let people run with them. We just supply endless bike parts. The main design, easily modified, is: -2 wheels, same size, in bike forks, with bike fork parallel to ground -stem comes out of each fork, with a top tube joining stems -another stem comes out of top tube on left side -another piece of bike tubing extends forward -another stem attaches to extended bike tubing -a seat post goes in stem and contains hitch to chain stay -hitch can be piece of tire (bead left in) that wraps around chain stay and is anchored with a bolt and wing nut, or a shopping cart wheel caster, or?? -hole can be drilled and pin inserted where twisting may occur at stems Other trailers have been made with crutches, bed frames, shopping carts, haywagons, and so on. -Bob G. Free Cycles Missoula http://strans.org/pedaltechnology.html veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com wrote: > Hey Bob, > > Care to share the instructions for trailer building? We'd like to teach a > workshop on how to build a trailer from bike parts, and are looking into a > few different designs.

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tracking statistics
by Mark Rehder 03 May '10

03 May '10

Chris or I have mentioned in the past that re-Cycles has always kept track of certain stats. And these past couple of years it has really paid off in showing how much growth we've had to cope with. As an example, in the old, windowless basement that we occupied until early 2008 we had about 1,500 people use our shop. This includes volunteers, folks doing DIY repair, and people buying stuff. In 2008, in our most recent location, that number jumped to 2,500. In 2009 that soared to 4,400! No wonder we felt a bit constrained and needed to move AGAIN. So we are now ensconced in our new digs (right beside the previous place) and we'll see how things add up this year. We also know that last year we took in at least 1,200 bikes! Many were scrapped, some donated away, and the rest built up for sale. And the last of those are selling fast. We'll exhaust our inventory of ready bikes in the next week or so, then back to our usual game of bikes going out the door as fast as we get them ready. Mark Rehder - General Manager re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca

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Funding
by charlie madden 01 May '10

01 May '10

To Whom... I am looking for grant funding (or any other source of funding) for Worcester (MA) Earn-A-Bike, Inc. Is anyone aware of such. I'm on the list of a number of the usual RFP postings but as of yet not come across anything even worth submitting a request to. Thanks, Charlie Madden Board Member Worcester Earn-A-Bike, Inc 34 Cambridge St Worcester, MA bikewithcharlie(a)gmail.com 206-669-2356 _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID2…

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