November 2020 - 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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Service Tickets and Bike Tags
by Amanda Chilson 28 Apr '23

28 Apr '23

Good Afternoon, I am wondering if bike collectives and shops could share what they are using for service tickets or slips when a bike is being purchased, when preparing a bike to sell, when people drop off a bike to be fixed/tuned and/or a bike that was donated? Thank you so much for your help! Amanda Chilson Health and Wellness Coordinator Northern Berkshire Community Coalition 61 Main St. Suite 218 North Adams, MA 01247 413-663-7588 Ext. 16 www.nbccoalition.org

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Online interactive bicycle workshops
by Geoffrey Smart 28 Apr '21

28 Apr '21

Hi All This is something Back2Bikes would like to do during Covid I believe this has been discussed previously. We are wondering if since that time anyone has had any luck, experience or advice about launching such an initiative since it was first discussed. Geoff Smart -- Sent from Gmail Mobile

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How Were Your Organizational Transitions?
by Thomas Butler 14 Dec '20

14 Dec '20

I’m interested to hear from people whose organizations made transitions from: volunteer-centric to staff-centric all-donation to grant-(or retail-)funded consensus-run to exclusive/majoritarian board (or something else) In particular what were peoples’ objections to the transition? What problems or pitfalls were there? Did the shop lose its independence? What net-negatives were there (even if overwhelmingly outweighed by all the positives?) Please feel free to reply to my personal email here if there’s something you don’t want to put on blast: thomas.unavailable(a)gmail.com My interest is not regarding articles of incorporation or how to fill out 501c3 paperwork. (there are threads on those topics in TheThinkTank archives <http://lists.bikecollectives.org/pipermail/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org/> if anyone is curious). Your testimonial is likely more relevant if your organization's incorporation is far in the past relative to its transition(s). Thank you all so much for the work you do in your own communities and for the work you do in this community of ours. Thomas Butler he | they Austin’s Yellow Bike Project

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Paying People who Refurbish Bikes
by Tegan Moss [B!KE] 11 Dec '20

11 Dec '20

Hi Folks, B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers. We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally? If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about. Thanks, Tegan -- Executive Director B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 293 George St, Peterborough ON (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org she/her

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 170, Issue 9
by Lawrence Mohammed 27 Nov '20

27 Nov '20

Hi Tegan, almost everything we do operates within a gift economy * Servicing has a labour 'value' attached as a guide of what this would be in a conventional workshop, people choose to pay what they feel/what they can - some pay the full amount, some overpay, some underpay, some simply receive. We service bikes ranging from £50 to £10,000 (Bosch e-bike certified, etc) * We are often gifted old bikes (many that would be rejected by other non-profits and refused at a normal workshop but very occasionally, some that are worth a few hundred pounds). We full service these, sometimes just keeping the frame and building up everything. The money for parts (if not using good 2nd hand parts) is paid for by profits from servicing. Volunteers learn lots. * No one takes a salary, everyone gets lunch and coffees and travel (if they want) paid for. Any personal bike servicing has no labour cost attached and free learning from a senior qualified mechanic. * I'm currently taking a training fee from a schools programme I designed and run once a week during term time. * We are training mechanics up to Cytech 2 and senior mechanics up to and beyond the level of Cytech 3 (though not certifying them due to cost at the moment). We managed to get a community fund for training so far, but are building up a wiki resource for our own training programme which will become and remain open source....I've written programmes (and certified modular programmes) for a few organisations. I've also been a teacher and trainer for about 25years in various subjects. * w.r.t Refurbished bikes - these are valued at a going market rate - and since Covid, people pay what they can for them. I used to draw an income from this (this was the only income I drew) but after the pandemic, and with the training which I can live on (the rent of the flat I live in is currently gifted), I do not need any more money to get by with comfort. The deep trust encourages others to share and deeply support the team - including for example during the pandemic when one volunteer became very ill and one of our community stepped up and gifted three months of therapy, twice per week (usually £100+ per session). * The model we work in is making sure the team are well looked after so they can look after the community - it feeds back ;) * I'm exploring how to support future Workshop Managers at the moment as I'm still the Workshop Manager as well as the CEO & Head Mechanic (Accountant, lead trainer, etc etc) - not sure whether anyone else will step up to cover someone's rent but...who knows?! ;) In service, *Lawrence Mohammed* CEO and Founder Pro Bike Service C.I.C. *+44 (0)77 222 58587* *probikeservice.co.uk <https://probikeservice.co.uk>* /::Olympic Park Site:: Pro Bike Service C.I.C. Multi-Storey Car Park, Lesney Avenue Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park London E20 3BS *map location <https://what3words.com/upset.habit.funds>* / On 27/11/2020 21:03, thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org wrote: > 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. Paying People who Refurbish Bikes (Tegan Moss [B!KE]) > 2. Re: Paying People who Refurbish Bikes (Cyclista Nicholas) > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.…

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Shop Operations During Covid
by momoko saunders 24 Nov '20

24 Nov '20

Hey all, I'd love to get a quick update on what shops are doing for shop operations during covid. There was an awesome virtual workshop put on a few months ago. What are shops up to now? At Bike Farm, we're still far from being open in our usual way. We have a parts selling shift for one day of the week. We meet people outside and get a list of items they want to purchase, then volunteers rummage around and find the parts and bring them out for the patron to choose from. We do not allow use of tools which is really hard but most people understand. We do have a selection of tools which we have available for sale for real cheap. This includes random loose allen wrenches, other wrenches, multi tools. Here are the guidelines for this shift <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xu3qCapSPopoQ7VbiqyG1VJdroA6WiJwBSPleTN…> . We also have a shift where volunteers work on bikes in the shop for sale or for our community partnerships. We limit all volunteer groups to 5 people at a time, and we try to keep people in germ bubbles so that if someone does get sick, we've limited the exposure. Everyone wears masks at all times and keeps distant. We have a 3rd night which we just added called our infrastructure night. On this night we work on cleaning the shop and making it more functional. We have a document outlining <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EthWNOhjeo4sOQZobhrvykb_gTB4aGRKeMdiL0T…> our covid protocols. I've made a copy of it for the thinktank to view. Everyone in the shop must read and agree to these guidelines before being able to volunteer. --- With a vaccine looking like it will not be here and widely available till summer or even fall of 2021, we're looking for more creative ways to provide resources to the community, stay safe, and maybe make some money to pay rent. I'd love to hear if others have come up with creative ways to continue operations during this time. Hope you all are well, -Momoko

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Artbook / Calendar / Zine - Kickstarter Project - Last 6 days.
by Skills-of-Bike Bookata 23 Nov '20

23 Nov '20

Think-tankers, I am sure you want our calendar on your wall, but just forgot about the deadline. You can have it all - Art book, zine, calendar, and a future deck of cards. All can be pre-ordered here: http://kck.st/3jC58as> <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkck.st%2F3jC58as%3Ffbclid%3DIwA…> Merci beaucoup from snowy Montreal Andrei + Dario (Bookata - BICI) 2020 *Skills of bike - Grip of life* <http://kck.st/3jC58as> <http://kck.st/3jC58as>skillsofbike(a)gmail.com https://dariocarta.com/home http://www.bookata.com/ m.me/skillsofbike https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1522759383/skills-of-bike-grip-of-life…

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Bike and Ped Job Postings
by Areli Morales 23 Nov '20

23 Nov '20

Hello All, My current job CalWalks <https://www.calwalks.org/> is hiring California-based Mobility Justice individuals. Volunteering at and running Bike CO-Ops definitely qualifies as experience. I for one would like to see more creative and meaningful community work translated into this state-wide work. Reach out if you have any questions. https://www.calwalks.org/work-with-us <https://www.calwalks.org/work-with-us?emci=a3612c83-5a2b-eb11-9fb4-00155d43…> Join our team of dedicated mobility justice advocates! We are currently hiring for energetic and detail-oriented Community Programs Managers or Coordinators! We're seeking Community Program Managers with strong experience in program development and management and a strong commitment to anti-racist work. The Community Programs Manager is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the day-to-day operations of one of the organization’s walking and biking safety programs. We're looking for Community Programs Coordinators to support community capacity building and engagement work to create safer, healthier, and more equitable communities across California. Candidates must have a strong commitment to anti-racist work. -- *Areli Morales* LEED Green Associate LCI #6323

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Our Community Bikes Job Posting - Service Manager
by Sophia Suderman 23 Nov '20

23 Nov '20

Hello! Just putting the word out that we are hiring for a Service Manager at Our Community Bikes in Vancouver, BC. The job posting is attached. Please spread the word and share as you see fit. Thanks! Sophia -- Sophia Suderman Executive Director PEDAL - Pedal Energy Development Alternatives 2429 Main Street Unceded Coast Salish Territories www.pedalpower.org | (604) 879-2453

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