November 2016 - 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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Employee insurance
by Damon Richards 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

Our shop has 3 full time employees and we'd like to get them health insurance coverage. Does anybody have a good solution? Thanks in advance, Damon

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Capital Campaign Support documentation *LARGE(ish) FILE WARNING!*
by Jude Wilhelmsen 03 Dec '16

03 Dec '16

So I whipped this up... It's a largeish PDF, sorry for any inconvenience. It would take me probably another 2-3 hours to prep it for consistency and proper printing. It's just a template. This is a wordy example. For an actual brochure I would be looking to cut the word count and/or reduce font-size if I absolutely needed all that verbiage. I'm not sure how attachments work in this here list, but if you're having trouble shoot me a direct email and I'll send you the template in whatever form I can (PDF, .indd, whatever). Y'all are free to use it, though I'd have an actual graphic designer give it some polish/panache as well as an edit/revision by a copywriter before it went public, if you have either of those in the ranks of your organization, or can afford external services. I appreciate feedback of all kinds, so let me know what you think about it! Keep up the good work everybody! -Jude

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Small pedicab operations
by breathingplanet . 30 Nov '16

30 Nov '16

Hi thinktank Does anyone know any companies or people in your town who fit either of these descriptions: -operating a very small pedicab business (2 to 3 cabs) -runs a pedicab business that only operates for special events If so, please send along names or contact info (off list is ok). I have some insurance questions and looking for any help I can get. Thanks Andrew Troy Bike Rescue over&out, A (mobile)

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike Coalitions?
by scottwilson6100＠juno.com 27 Nov '16

27 Nov '16

The Washington Area Bicyclists Association, WABA, is similar ____________________________________________________________ How To Remove Eye Bags & Lip Lines Fast (Watch) Womans Weekly http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/583a5e82c2f6f5e826c49st04duc

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Bike Coalitions?
by Josh Bisker 26 Nov '16

26 Nov '16

Is anyone part of a bike coalition in their city? Either a coalition of bike groups or a coalition of social justice groups in which you're the bike folks? I'm about to have the first tentative meeting of an NYC Bike Coalition and would love some perspective from people about what's working and what's not, and any "if I had known, I'd have had us do this thing at the get-go" advice. My goal for this is to have bike groups work with each other and with non-bike groups to develop a shared understanding of institutional discrimination and co-create plans to combat it.

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Velo-Ecole du 20eme: Free Bike Riding Classes in Paris (France)
by Anne-Lise 23 Nov '16

23 Nov '16

Are you an adult who never learned how to ride a bike? Well, it's not too late. The Vélo-école (Bike School) in the 20th arrondissement of Paris offers a free 2-hour initiation to bike riding for adults. After you overcome your initial fears regarding bike riding, you can sign up for 10 hours of lessons for 30EUR. The Vélo-école will provide you with a bike adapted to your morphology and a yellow safety vest. An experienced instructor leads the lessons. No worries if you don't speak French. The class mostly consists of imitating the appropriate gestures to adapt when riding a bike and the instructor also speaks English and Spanish. Classes take place every Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m in the Fougères district near la Porte des Lilas and the association Cyclofficine. ABOUT THE VÉLO-ÉCOLE DU 20ÈME The Vélo-École du 20ème is new on the bike class scene, offering lessons to the public since June 2016. Anne-Lise, a long time cycliste and volunteer bike riding teacher La Vélo-École de Montreuil, founded the association. For Anne-Lise, being able to ride a bike can be a source of autonomy and freedom for adults who never learned when they were younger. Her goal is to provide small group classes (there's a maximum of six students per class) at an affordable rate so that students can learn at their own pace. If you're interested in learning more about the Vélo-École du 20ème or signing up for a class, send an email to anne-lise(a)cyclocoop.org. Sign-ups for Saturday classes must be done before Friday at noon.

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Safe space policies, WTF definitions, greeter scripts!
by Benita Kliewer 22 Nov '16

22 Nov '16

Hi all you fine folks, In Winnipeg we've been running a series of workshops for Women, Trans, Femme and Non-binary folks both for people already involved in community bike shops and those entirely new to bikes and the cbs world. While most of the workshop have been mechanically-focused, last night's was a facilitated discussion about safe space creation and being assertive in (traditionally) male-dominated spaces. It was a really good workshop and included a number of people already involved in Women&Queer/WTF nights. The workshop was relatively broad and there was strong interest to follow up with a discussion about more tangible details that could be incorporated into shop experience. Before we reinvent the wheel, we'd love to hear what you folks have been doing at your shops. Specifically: - How do you decide who is included in WTF etc nights? How do you describe this (in advertising, in talking to people about it...) without it getting to be a super long and cumbersome title? - What sort of a script does your greeter use on WTF nights to let people know who is welcome and who is welcome to come another night without making everyone feel overly policed? - What sort of a script do you use with people who insist on using the space when it is a time designated for a WTF night? - Does anyone have clear and detailed safe-space policies including consequences of behaviour outside of those policies/guildelines? It'd be great to work out some more specifics beyond the relatively general shop rules all of the CBSs! - How have you approached educating new volunteers about safe spaces in volunteer orientation? We're interested having a more expanded section about safe space discussion in our various shops' orientation sessions (how to conduct yourself as a volunteer; how to approach others who are behaving inappropriately...). I know many of you have put a lot thought into these sorts of questions and we would love to hear your wisdom! Thanks! Benita

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Capital Campaign Support documentation (CZ Mike)
by Jude Wilhelmsen 21 Nov '16

21 Nov '16

Hello CZ Mike and everyone in this community! My name is Jude and I am a worker-member of Hub City Cycles Community Cooperative in Nanaimo, BC I don't have examples for you, but I have worked on sponsorship packages for athletes, discussed promotional materials for a similar campaign at length with some of the great folks at Makerspace Nanaimo, and done a fair amount of research on writing grant and loan applications. From this experience I have learned 3 things: 1. If you need $10,000, ask for $12,000 2. Multiple tiers with set prices and clear outcomes are highly effective 3. Be concise with words 1: This gives you a margin to bargain with and at best results in a surplus! The precise percentage has to do with your audience and the number of zeros you're dealing with. Knowing the spending habits your audience and how much the outcomes you're offering typically cost (i.e. advertising/marketing for the business, educational programs for the community, transportation, etc.) will go a long way to determining a feasible margin without pricing yourself out of funding. 2: I've had great success offering pieces of leather suits worn by athletes for set prices based on size/placement of company logos. I like to offer three tiers with value added outcomes (i.e. hi-res photos for company use, video production, online product reviews... athlete sponsorship packages are my primary practical application thus far, these can be reworked for your organization). A number with a bullet point list of outcomes below it will immediately outline a range of options and begin to develop an idea of *why* one might want to invest more than the (perceived) minimum. 3: Given that the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels of financial commitment are fresh in the mind of your reader, having perused them as soon as they opened your brochure, a simple outline of WHO and 'WHUD' (with some great photography to accompany it) is likely all the words you will need. What Have yoU Done is a great place to build confidence in your reader that you are exceedingly capable of following through on the commitments of each tier. Who you are could be as simple as your Mission Statement, perhaps with some detail on the individuals directly involved in the project, or the community you're serving. I hope that helps. One year, a friend and I were looking for at least 5 sponsors at a $500 (silver) commitment level and ended up with 2 Gold sponsors at $1500, all because we had a great brochure, obviously ;) Unfortunately I lost the file in an un-backed up hard-drive failure... It turned out to be a huge amount of work to pull off the Gold-level media-production and marketing outcomes we had promised for 2 separate sponsors, and a steal of a deal for companies who are used to paying much more for those services. Be careful to set your outcomes well within the capacity of your organization, it might just work beyond your wildest dreams! I'll mock up a visual example and send it around, though my inDesign skills are a wee bit rusty of late. Cheers, -Jude

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Capital Campaign Support documentation
by CZ Mike 21 Nov '16

21 Nov '16

Greetings! Urban Bike Project of Wilmington Delaware will be launching a major capital campaign in 2017 and we are looking for examples of support material so we can produce a capital campaign brochure to distribute to potential funders. Surely there are some good examples from others out there? Please let me know if there is anything anyone can share, Thanks!

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Bike kitchen Insurance
by Olivier 19 Nov '16

19 Nov '16

Hello, here is Bikes del Pueblo from San Diego! Our bike kitchen just moved into a space and we are looking for some advice for insurance? After searching the thinktank archives, I found some messages rather old (2012) and was wondering where you all get your insurance? We got a quote for $2000 a year for our operation (out of a shipping container on a vacant lot) and we are a 501(c)(3) and we were wondering if that is a good price. Any feedback appreciated! Thanks! Oli

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Looking for interactive learning tool ideas
by AMS Bike Co-op 18 Nov '16

18 Nov '16

Hey Folks! I'm looking for ideas for hands on learning tools for teaching bike mechanics. The Bike Coop/Bike Kitchen is in the planning stages of a project that will one day be installed in our new shop space and serve as an education tool as well as a fun thing to welcome people into the shop. Our concept is to create an interactive wall display that illustrates some basic mechanical concepts. In particular we'd like to use this to connect with kinetic learners, non-English speakers (as English is the predominant language in our shop), and folks who are a bit intimidated to just start working on a bike. So! I'd like ideas from you about learning tools that we can include on this amazing wall! Modified bike parts that you might use in your intro to mechanics courses, analogies that you use to explain tricky concepts, even wild stuff that you have thought of but has not yet existed (we will likely seek out partnerships with engineers/designers at UBC to help us create some of these things so no idea is too big) Huge thanks to all - Hannah -- *AMS Bike Co-op* University of British Columbia 6138 Student Union Blvd | Vancouver, BC | V6T 1Z1 604-822-2453 | bikecoop.ca | @ubcbike

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Guadalajara collective
by Anne Duggan 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

Friends, At Bike!Bike! Larry Fitzpatrick and I (two of the Iowans) talked with folks from Guadalajara about a mechanics exchange. Larry and I would love to work for a couple of months this winter. Unfortunately, we lost the contact information! Por favor, escribeme a annem.duggan(a)gmail.com. Gracias, Anne Sent from my iPad

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Looking for interactive learning tool ideas
by jack 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

Here's our gear shift demo, FrankenBike. Also has a generator and lights, it works great as a hands-on activity for kids. Jack Murphy Bike Walk Wichita <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: AMS Bike Co-op <info(a)bikecoop.ca> </div><div>Date:11/17/2016 6:22 PM (GMT-06:00) </div><div>To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> </div><div>Cc: Hannah Fiegenbaum <education(a)bikecoop.ca> </div><div>Subject: [TheThinkTank] Looking for interactive learning tool ideas </div><div> </div>Hey Folks! I'm looking for ideas for hands on learning tools for teaching bike mechanics. The Bike Coop/Bike Kitchen is in the planning stages of a project that will one day be installed in our new shop space and serve as an education tool as well as a fun thing to welcome people into the shop. Our concept is to create an interactive wall display that illustrates some basic mechanical concepts. In particular we'd like to use this to connect with kinetic learners, non-English speakers (as English is the predominant language in our shop), and folks who are a bit intimidated to just start working on a bike. So! I'd like ideas from you about learning tools that we can include on this amazing wall! Modified bike parts that you might use in your intro to mechanics courses, analogies that you use to explain tricky concepts, even wild stuff that you have thought of but has not yet existed (we will likely seek out partnerships with engineers/designers at UBC to help us create some of these things so no idea is too big) Huge thanks to all - Hannah -- AMS Bike Co-op University of British Columbia 6138 Student Union Blvd | Vancouver, BC | V6T 1Z1 604-822-2453 | bikecoop.ca | @ubcbike

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Cycles for Change (St. Paul/Mpls, MN) Hiring a Program Director
by Jason Partridge 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

Cycles for Change, which operates two community bike shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN is hiring for a Program Director. This position will play a key leadership role in the organization, with substantial responsibility for shaping and leading C4C's programming (which includes weekly open shops, women/trans/femme night, youth apprenticeship, bike grant (free bike) program, and our community organizing/leadership development/advocacy work). Please consider applying! http://www.minnesotanonprofits.org/job-details?id=124614 Feel free to reach out with any questions. Women/trans/femme and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply. Jason

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Bike theft and redemption
by Andy Fry 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

Hi all, Through time we have had tools and components and a bike or two go missing. Most recently we had an incident where a young man took a bike, despite having plenty of hours and clearly being told said bike was for sale and not a bike to earn. The bike was returned via some back circuit channels in which the principal at this school rides. His mother would like him to volunteer at the shop some in a sort of apologetic or community service sense. I wondered what experiences or policies you all had for such instances. We have banned other folks in the past for similar deals, but being younger and perhaps misguided I was hoping we could come up with a constructive solution that might allow him to realign his perspective. Thanks, --Andy Fry Topeka Community Cycle Project www.cycleproject.org facebook.com/cycleproject

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Volunteer descriptions, roles, responsibilities.
by Tom Martin 14 Nov '16

14 Nov '16

Good Afternoon all: Rosewood Bikes is reviewing its volunteer roles for the next season. In our first year we took whoever we could get and just used them for whatever we needed at the moment. While it was successful and met our immediate needs, it has been a bit chaotic and unplanned. So, we would like to change that. The bike shop functions out of an awkward back room but we also have other resources to make an impact on our communities that aren't necessarily dependent on a space, like transportation and land use subcommittee meetings or tabling at events. I am asking the Hive Mind that makes the thinktank: - how did your volunteer orientation and trainings develop - what volunteer positions are established in your co-op, collective or community bike shop - if the position descriptions are documented, can you share it with me here or via direct message - As your program or project evolved, how did the positions evolve? - What volunteer gigs turned into paid work? what paid gigs turned into volunteer opportunities? and when/how did that happen- program funding changes? A greater/lesser need? community input? BOD expectations? So far, Rosewood is developing the following volunteer positions and descriptions: volunteer mechanic, ride lead, active transportation coordinator, marketing coordinator. What are we missing? Who volunteers for you and what do they do? Your assistance and advice would be very appreciated. Tom Martin Rosewood Bikes Program Director 16126 SE Stark Portland OR, 97233 Shop: 503-568-1938 Personal: 510-996-8655

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What the Election Means for Bike Co-ops
by Josh Bisker 14 Nov '16

14 Nov '16

This is a message I sent to the Mechanical Gardens. I'm passing it on to you here. Feel free to repurpose. Love and strength and sorrow, everyone. Josh ___________________ This is a message of hope and strategy. Today we enter a broken future, and the dangers that now loom on the horizon are too numerous to be counted and too massive to be properly appraised. In consequence, we as the Mechanical Gardens now have a tremendous responsibility. "We've got our work cut out for us," is a saying that's been in the air. Here's what I believe that looks like for us. We must make our co-op a place that actively opposes the agenda of hatred, and defends and elevates women, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ folks, the disabled, and the impoverished. We must become an organization that embodies social mechanisms for achieving equity, safety, mutual aid, compassion, and environmental justice in our operations and outlook. This election is a disaster; its fallout will be far worse, snowballing into a series of crises as the new government destroys the many social, cultural, and economic systems that people depend upon for life. For the Mechanical Gardens, therefore, I submit that rather than asking "what can we do to help people avoid the coming crisis," we approach our work slightly differently, asking: "what can we do in the co-op so that after these crises come, after the systems we depend on are undone, that groups of people still know how to operate in ways that support their values and provide safety for them?" This means that the soft stuff on our agenda -- like creating our guidelines for decision-making, collective respect, and participation -- is the most important work we have cut out for us, alongside our outreach to bring more people into the shop and the collective. These are everything. These are the seeds of a solid tomorrow that we tend and cultivate at the co-op, and that we entrust to everyone who comes in the door, so that they can plant and foster them as well, no matter what calamity comes. How do we do this? We begin by training ourselves to articulate our values and decide how to formally embed them in our cooperative structure, and deciding to informally embody them in our ways of being. Some of our values stand alone; others will be informed by the risks we see to liberty and justice, such as the threats of persecution, discrimination, sexual exploitation, authoritarianism, police and mob brutality, land exploitation, the devaluing of science and reason, and the fracturing of democratic institutions. We must decide how to value and embed compassion, equity, feminism, mutual aid, environmental sustainabilty, enfranchisement, reason, protection against persecution, safety, autonomy, responsibility, and respect into the bike co-op, both in the institution and in our interactions there. Bike stuff is important too! Mechanicship especially is critical to the oncoming era of climate calamity, with uncertain roads, settlement conditions, and gasoline access meaning that bikes become invaluable for billions of devastated and displaced people worldwide. (General DIY skills and self-confidence too.) But bikes here might be a vehicle to helping us empower ourselves and our communities to create thriving structures that support their groups' values. This, I submit to you, is "our work." We have so much we can learn from each other in it. How to be listeners, how to be leaders, how to be community members. How to be strong, how to be nimble, how to collaborate. And how to work not out of fear but of love for each other, those around us, and those yet to come. These things are the seeds of the revolution we need to prepare for. This has been a bad day, but I'm very happy to be doing this work with you. The world is in trouble, and by coming together, we have found work that will help people survive the dark times ahead. Josh

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National Bike Summit
by Angel York 14 Nov '16

14 Nov '16

National Bike Summit (the national bike advocacy conference) is in Washington DC on March 6–9 *http://bikeleague.org/summit* <http://bikeleague.org/summit> Equity scholarship <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAER2PGPH3TlCoSGEgefpFRZM9plXBplm…> deadline is January 6, 2017, it brings the price of entry down to a hundred dollars.

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Group Visioning Exercises: Go
by Josh Bisker 11 Nov '16

11 Nov '16

What are you favorite group exercises for collective visioning, for things like (a) collective ethics and values (b) standards of respect and behaviors in the shop (c) responsibility, wrongdoing, and justice. Go.

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Creating a Community Survey
by Nicole Meyer 02 Nov '16

02 Nov '16

Hi all, At Austin's Yellow Bike Project we're trying to create a community survey to better engage and serve our neighborhood. We're interested in finding out how people view us, and what services they'd like to see us offer. Also, ultimately, we'd like to find out what might make us inviting enough to change the demographics of our majority white, majority cis male volunteer collective, but I'm not sure how to incorporate that into a survey. Baby steps! Has anyone done a community survey before? Do you have any advice for crafting questions, and for methods of distribution & collection? Thank you! Nikki Meyer P.S. It was great to meet some of you in Detroit at my very first Bike! Bike! Glad to be a part of this community :)

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Any German co-op
by Tigre Bici 02 Nov '16

02 Nov '16

Hello! We are looking for a german co-op to have some questions asked. Does anyone is part of one or knows one? please let us know Thanks R.

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Synopsis of Service Toolkit Workshop
by rob＠robertgrossmandesign.com 02 Nov '16

02 Nov '16

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Synopsis and Materials from Advanced Problem Solving 101
by rob＠robertgrossmandesign.com 01 Nov '16

01 Nov '16

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