November 2016 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

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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