December 2013 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Webhosting/domains
by Bike City 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

Well, I recently threw together some hand-written HTML and slapped it onto a free (and ad-less) webhost. This seemed great at first, regardless of the weird URL. But after lots of other publicity and potential traffic, I've seen it get hacked twice (by a radical Islamic group after the whole host, nothing personal), and lately it's either painfully slow to load or completely down. So, I haven't done this for about a decade and I'm out of the loop. I'm really not willing to suffer any ads, but since our budgeted is obcenely limited for such fluff, does anyone have recommendations? Are there any more reliable ad-free free hosts? (Probably not, for obvious reasons.) Otherwise, how do you guys handle web hosting? How much does it cost? What's a good balance between reliable and affordable? How much is domain registration nowadays? We don't have our 501(c)(3) status yet so we won't get a deal until later this year, by the way. Anyway, please help. It's rough to find time to FTP an update and find the site's down. Thanks, andrea Bike City Recyclery of Fayetteville, Arkansas http://bikecity.uuuq.com/ (hahaha)

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Reusable Repair Checklist Tag
by director 02 May '23

02 May '23

Hey All, We just spent some time and redid the tag we use to track repairs on a bike. I'm sure your shops are similar to ours in that many mechanics of varying skill levels will work on a single bike before it's distributed back to the world for use. This make it challenging to ensure a standard of quality on any given bike leaving the shop. As we fleshed out the tag we realized that it could function loosely as a curriculum. For most mechanics, especially students we suggest starting at the top and working down the list. I've come to realize that no two mechanics will do things in the exact same way, everyone has their own style. We've been suggesting that folks do the first two items in order and then address the rest of the repairs at their discretion. Of course we couldn't put everything on a half page so we had to make compromises. You'll notice as you get closer to the bottom of the tag the categories are a little more broad and don't get into the finer details. We're working on a final check list that will include finer details like checking bearing play, tire wear, fine tune derailleurs and brakes... The final checklist won't hang on the bike but it'll be around the shop and part of our training. Stay tuned for this. We print these double sided, cut them in half and laminate them. We hang them on the handlebars and fill them out with a Sharpie. When the bike is done and gone we clean the Sharpie off with 90% rubbing alcohol and a rag. This allows us to use one tag over and over and over. We've been using these tags for about 2 weeks now and it's been awesome. Communication between mechanics is much clearer and bikes are getting done faster. It's really helped orient Earn-A-Bike students to what needs to be done next on their bike. Anyway if you think it's a good idea feel free to adapt it to your shops needs. -- Ride On! Rich Points http://communitycycles.org Executive Director (c)303-589-0597 (w)720-565-6019 Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. Find us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles

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no boys allowed zine from bikebike?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 27 Sep '18

27 Sep '18

hey all, i'm looking to get in touch with the person who wrote/published the "no boys allowed" zine which was passed out at bikebike in san francisco. it was part of one of the oppression and gender identity issues workshops. we're looking to start a women's night here at community cycles, and i'd like to scan my copy as a pdf and email it to potential volunteers, as well as make some copies to have in the shop... if you're on the list, or if you know the person who wrote it (her name escapes me), please get in touch with me off list... thanks! josh. community cycles boulder

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members and sign up database software
by Jesse Cooper 23 Sep '15

23 Sep '15

Hey Folks! So at Our Community Bikes in Vancouver, we're thinking it's time to set up a proper sign in / sign out system, combined with a membership and volunteer database. Ideally we would like to know what software is out there that can track people coming in and using our space, a simple laptop or desktop kiosk where folks can type in info, and it would enter our database. Also to serve as a database that members can register into, and again wherein volunteers can sign up, and log their hours, and tasks accomplished. sooo.. any ideas? Jesse Cooper

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U locks
by Mark Friis 27 Dec '13

27 Dec '13

We were wondering if any one has had luck getting "U" locks donated in bulk or have a good source for buying them. We want to get people to start using them instead of the cheap Walmart stuff. Also, we are opening our third Co op and the city asked for a business plan. Does anyone have a generic one for a bike co op? Thanks Mark Friis Executive Director, Inland Empire Biking Alliance PO Box 9266 Redlands, CA 92375 909-800-4322 *mfriis(a)iebikingalliance.org*<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/mfriis@iebikingalliance.org> <http://goog_1035360530>WWW.IEBIKE.ORG

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Pricing structures for tools & space?
by Bob Giordano 19 Dec '13

19 Dec '13

We do free use of shop stands, tools, advice/help and basic parts. It keeps it so simple, and people almost always throw something in the donation jar. People can also take a BikeWell class, volunteer 4 hours, and then build a bike with our help, or pay $20 to skip the vol time. We then have a whole other batch of bikes that takes more time or more money. We also have a batch of bikes that are basically money only- we cannot exist on time nor outside help alone (nor do we want to). I realize this will not work for all shops, but we are able to raise good money with events, small grants and so on, as people really like that we exist and help people in the way described above. We revisit this 'philosophy' at least twice a year, and have arrived on this 'formula' after nearly 20 years of trying just about everything. That said, we are always wondering about this topic and how it relates to fairness, the current economic system and building bike culture. -- Bob Giordano Free Cycles Missoula Shop: 732 S. 1st St. West, 541.7284 10AM-6PM Mon-Sat Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation www.strans.org, mist(a)strans.org, 406-880-6834 Lauren Warbeck wrote: > Here at Our Community Bikes in Vancouver, we're wanting to change our pricing structure for use of our tools and space. I'm interested to hear > what pricing systems other shops are stoked on and why. I know this has been discussed many times before, but lets get real: I don't remember and > I > didn't save them. So here we are again! > At present, we have a three-tiered system: > $6 to use our tools with no help > $12 to use our tools with help > $18 you stand there looking on blankly while we do it for you. > It's a flat hourly rate, all day every day. No caps. > This system doesn't actually reflect how we charge. No one gets the $18 treatment, even if they ask for it. We don't have the staff to do it, and > its not really what we like to do anyway. More often that not, when a service user comes up to pay after using our tools, we ask them > approximately how much time they worked alone, and how much time they had > help, and agree on some combination of the $6 & $12 rate. Now, I love qualitative analysis as much as the next community bike shop employee, but > even I can appreciate that this leaves big gaps in terms of assessing appropriate payment, making the money that keeps us afloat, and makes our > payment system ultimately unclear to our service users. > How does your shop charge for tools and space? How did you arrive at that > system? Does it present any barriers to meeting your service users' needs > or reflecting your shop's values?

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Pricing structures for tools & space?
by Lauren Warbeck 19 Dec '13

19 Dec '13

Hey folks! Here at Our Community Bikes in Vancouver, we're wanting to change our pricing structure for use of our tools and space. I'm interested to hear what pricing systems other shops are stoked on and why. I know this has been discussed many times before, but lets get real: I don't remember and I didn't save them. So here we are again! At present, we have a three-tiered system: $6 to use our tools with no help $12 to use our tools with help $18 you stand there looking on blankly while we do it for you. It's a flat hourly rate, all day every day. No caps. This system doesn't actually reflect how we charge. No one gets the $18 treatment, even if they ask for it. We don't have the staff to do it, and its not really what we like to do anyway. More often that not, when a service user comes up to pay after using our tools, we ask them approximately how much time they worked alone, and how much time they had help, and agree on some combination of the $6 & $12 rate. Now, I love qualitative analysis as much as the next community bike shop employee, but even I can appreciate that this leaves big gaps in terms of assessing appropriate payment, making the money that keeps us afloat, and makes our payment system ultimately unclear to our service users. How does your shop charge for tools and space? How did you arrive at that system? Does it present any barriers to meeting your service users' needs or reflecting your shop's values? Thanks pals! Lauren @ OCB

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justin pogge invited you to check out Dropbox
by justin pogge via Dropbox 18 Dec '13

18 Dec '13

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LeadsOnline experience
by Doug 15 Dec '13

15 Dec '13

Our local Police Dept has requested that we start logging the serial numbers of all bikes donated or dropped off after hours at our shop. LeadsOnline is a nation-wide database that law enforcement uses to track stolen property. I am very supportive of reducing bike theft, but I'm concerned about effectively training our volunteer staff on this new procedure. Can some of the other organizations share their experience with LeadsOnline or any best practices you have developed for streamlining the serial number logging process. Thanks, Doug Cutter Fort Collins Bike Co-op

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 88, Issue 12
by mike r 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

Sorry, but I'm an engineer. Be careful in talking about CO vrs CO2. Both are in auto exhaust. CO is a component of air pollution. The EPE regulates CO at the tailpipe to around 3.4 to 4.4 g/mile, measured with the engine at an idle. Nearly all of the rest of the carbon going out the pipe is CO2. CO2 is the Greenhouse gas. When you burn gasoline or any hydrocarbon, almost all of the Carbon leaves as CO2, a small amount is CO, and a very small amount very small amount is HCO. All the carbon going into the fire comes back out as Carbon+something. There is a calculator at cotap.org for estimating CO2 based on MPG and miles driven. Good Luck ________________________________ From: "thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org" <thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> To: thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org Sent: Monday, December 9, 2013 2:19 PM Subject: Thethinktank Digest, Vol 88, Issue 12 Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to thethinktank(a)lists.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)lists.bikecollectives.org You can reach the person managing the list at thethinktank-owner(a)lists.bikecollectives.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Measuring carbon emission reduction or car use reduction (La Bikery) 2. Re: Measuring carbon emission reduction or car use reduction (Martin, Eric Vance) 3. Re: Measuring carbon emission reduction or car use reduction (james bledsoe) 4. Re: Measuring carbon emission reduction or car use reduction (Martin, Eric Vance) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2013 13:37:12 -0400 From: La Bikery <labikery(a)gmail.com> To: The Think Tank <Thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> Subject: [TheThinkTank] Measuring carbon emission reduction or car use reduction Message-ID: <CAFanTAEQ6+JPodTU_fAw_dg4YnNSjJNtt28Kj5Qm7f54vkgGng(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hello Friends, We are in the process of applying for a grant and want to make a case that we contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions and reduction in car use. Does anyone have experience or ideas about how we might be able to measure our impact on that specific issue? Cheers, Amanda -- *Coop?rative La Bikery Co-operative * *Centre de v?lo communautaire /Community Bicycle Centre* *120 boul. Assomption blvd, Moncton NB* *Jeudis: 17 h ? 20 h/Thursdays pm-8pm* *Samedis 11 h ? 14 h/Saturdays 11am-2pm* www.labikery.ca

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