TheThinkTank June 2013

thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org

49 participants
24 discussions

Introducing myself, and shop signage query
by David Eyer Davis 17 Jun '13

17 Jun '13

Hey y'all! I'm Davey, I'm taking over for Mr. Jonathan Morrison here at the Bicycle Collective in Utah. I've been subscribed to the list for many-a-year and have enjoyed picking our collective brains here. I hope to meet many of you at Bike! Bike! this year and at Interbike as well. Does anyone know of a good resource that documents community bike shop interior signage? I personally recall seeing great signage at Bike Kitchen in San Francisco and at Community Cycle Center, but I'm sure we have a ton of good examples betwixt us. I'm specifically interested in upping our signage game in the following ways: 1. An immediate sign with graphics of the different bicycle types and what they're typically used for, with details about how to size a bike for yourself. The intent would be to get a customer armed with the basics of bike purchasing without immediately taking too much attention from a volunteer. 2. placemats beneath plexiglass on bench surfaces with standard mechanical repairs simplified. What mechanical tasks have you found to be aided by diagrams? which are useless to explain through pictures? 3. Basic parts identification, the difference between a freewheel and a casette, the difference between one-piece, cotter pins and square-tapered cranks, threaded vs. threaded headsets, etc. 4. other things that I haven't thought of but you have. I'd appreciate links to pictures, and would be happy to compile a page on the bike collectives wiki of our findings. Thanks, David Eyer Davis Executive Director Bicycle Collective c: 801-230-6308 www.bicyclecollective.org The mission of the 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 Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.

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shop air quality
by Mark Rehder 16 Jun '13

16 Jun '13

Hi all, During the warmer months we have a few doors open so the stink in our shop is not so bad, but when all sealed up during our cold winters it's not ideal. We've thought about a large filter unit, and it has also been suggested to use a large exhaust fan, though that would also waste heat. How does your shop deal with this? Thanks, Mark Rehder - Coordinator re-Cycles Community Bike Shop http://re-cycles.ca

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The Alliance is hiring
by Mary Lauran Hall 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

Hi all, I'm excited to announce that the Alliance is hiring a Member Services Coordinator! Yes, really! When we first found out that Mike Samuelson, our current Member Services guru, was going to grad school in August, we were like... And I was all... But we all recognize that it'll be a rad new adventure for him. Really, we're happy that he's heading off for an exciting new chapter. So now, we're on the lookout for somebody great. Someone who is excited to assist state and local leaders in making communities and states better and safer places to walk... ...and to bike. If this sounds like a great opportunity, ...then come work with us! Our office is pretty fun. View the full position description and instructions for applying here. <http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/site/memberservices/all…> Best, MaryLauran -- Mary Lauran Hall Communications Manager Alliance for Biking & Walking mlhall(a)peoplepoweredmovement.org (202) 642 - 6617 P.O. Box 65150 Washington, DC 20035 *We've got big plans for 2013. Join or renew<http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/membership/welcome/> with the Alliance today!*

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Focus on education or D.I.Y.?
by Paul Nagel 13 Jun '13

13 Jun '13

Forgive the long email, please! With respect to workshops where the public can repair their own bikes: Does your organization perceive and market your workshops as being more about A) learning bike maintenance (particularly basic skills, i.e. most people come to learn) or B) an opportunity to use tools and equipment to do it yourself and save money (it's "ok" (tolerable?) if you don't know much) I imagine many reading this will want to answer "both" or more probably "both and much more". My thinking about this until now has basically just been "both and much more". The answer must vary depending on location, demographics served, the size and proportion of bicycle users in your area, the nature of your local cycling culture, etc. Here in beautiful Orange County, our visitors are from diverse backgrounds but they almost all come with very little knowledge of how to repair their bikes and a strong majority want to learn more (I don't have survey statistics or anything, this is just based on talking with people at workshops). This has me realizing that my group might bring more people in and clarify our purpose if we were to emphasize the learning aspect. This can have significant impact in terms of the primary wording of our flyers, the staffing of our workshops, the descriptions of our workshops, even the visual styling of our materials. It might shift our focus in terms of our target audience. Off the bat, I think it implies we should continue to present ourselves as an organization with broad appeal and strive to improve in this regard. In other words, conceptualizing things more as "come learn how to integrate bikes into your life" and not so centrally "come work on your bike using shared tools and used parts with the help of volunteers because its cheap and more fun and the capitalist exchange economy is destructive, etc." I believe the latter statement is valid. I also recognize bike co-ops are often complex organizations that serve many purposes and have a variety of symbiotic elements. However, to return the focus specifically to do-it-together bike repair, I'm just getting a strong feeling that we should be presenting ourselves as "Learning with a repair side effect" rather than "Repair with a learning side effect". Some might object to putting one before the other, but, again, I've been feeling that the reality of what people are looking for when they come to us and other stuff like the task of describing what we do is sort of calling for a priority to be chosen. I believe that if "learning" is put completely front and center, then you are sending a very clear message that people with few skills are totally welcome. I guess this is the meat of what I'm getting at. It helps take away ALL anxieties people might have about not knowing stuff about bikes. It makes it very clear that no humiliation awaits you if you come to a workshop and need step-by-step assistance. It also makes it clearer to ourselves that we need plenty of able volunteers to facilitate learning. It might furthermore give the other volunteers a clearer picture of their purpose at workshops, and they might even find the teaching part more inspiring than merely repairing bikes. I think this connects with maintaining a more "mainstreamed" appeal if we see that we are serving people of all kinds and creeds, and being welcoming toward beginners rather than bring more of a clubhouse for the initiated. This doesn't involve a major shift or wholesale whitewashing, but perhaps points toward the importance of doing all we can to keep things clean, organized, attractive (while still feeling free to express diverse opinions and tastes). Perhaps this balance between maintaining an uncomplicated welcoming atmosphere yet not suppressing the free expression of a co-op's regulars, volunteers, and staff is another discussion. I'd really like to know people's thoughts and definitely experiences with the learning-beginner/D.I.Y-initiated dynamic. For example, has anyone shifted their marketing/mission/image one way or the other (or honed down this image) and noticed any changes? Did this shift in image occur as a response to changes in clientele, or an improvement in assessing their needs? Supplementary thoughts: one concern is presenting too much of an image of being "for beginners" and turning off people with more experience. Another concern is not clearly communicating that people can actually repair their bikes, not just learn about doing it. Also, these thoughts come in conjunction with our group getting more involved in bike advocacy and also doing more bike rides (potentially getting League Certified Instructors involved), so that we can be a bit of a "one stop shop" for people looking to improve and increase their bicycle use. I hope this wasn't too much thinking out loud, I'd really love to hear any experiences with this stuff, because we are making some significant changes and opening a shop in half a year or so and I'd like to have our energies properly focused. Thank you, Paul Nagel The Bicycle Tree P.O. Box 11293 Santa Ana, CA 92711 http://www.thebicycletree.org info(a)thebicycletree.org

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Community Cycles is Hiring a Sales & Service Manager
by director 10 Jun '13

10 Jun '13

https://docs.google.com/a/communitycycles.org/document/d/1PgPaWzIPA0p7YJ3vm… -- -- 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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Community Cycles is Hiring a Part Time Seasonal Bike Mechanic
by director 10 Jun '13

10 Jun '13

https://docs.google.com/a/communitycycles.org/document/d/1xYmWZcLLfQzVnSKIp… -- -- 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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Re: [TheThinkTank] Bicis Rotas: Cycling and Bike Re-Cycling as Mental Health/Drug Therapy?
by Affordable Bikes Re-Cyclery 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

Hi, someone just sent us the first link and I thought it was really interesting, as we've been getting a fair number of customers in various stages of recovery. Just wondering if anyone has had contact with this organization or and/or is doing similar work? The first link led me to the second one. http://www.fundacionmanantial.org/blog/bicis-rotas/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundacion_Manantiales

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Focus on education or D.I.Y.?
by Vernon Huffman 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

When we explain our incentives for doing work in our admittedly funky space, we say "because this is a learning shop, we need all kinds working here. If you know what you're doing, we want to watch. And if you're not sure, we want you to ask questions. Learning requires both roles." We stress the cycle of studying theory, watching another do the job, doing it yourself with assistance, and then teaching the process to somebody else. Shop managers keep an eye out for opportunities to repeat a lesson to everybody in the shop, but we also refer new students to the one who just learned that lesson. We accomplish a lot of repair while focusing on maintaining the learning environment.

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Theft, punishment, etc
by Tim Buckingham 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

Here at Broke Spoke we have had an individual who has been stealing on a regular basis and who is more self-fulfilling than actually contributing to the mission of the space. It is to the point where we think we need to ask him to leave the shop and to not return. Anyone have any experience with situations like this? Any retaliation?

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Safe space policy
by Geoffrey Bercarich 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

Can I ask all collectives to give their interpretation of a safe space and a method to maintain a safe or safer space.

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TheThinkTank June 2013