March 2024 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

E-bikes
by Andy Ballentine 01 Dec '25

01 Dec '25

Hi -- How are bike co-ops dealing with e-bikes? We are all-volunteer at the Bicycle Co-Op of Williamsburg (Virginia). We have several very fine mechanics, but none of us is expert in the motors and batteries of e-bikes, and we don't know whether we should accept them as donations or sell them. I'd be interested in others' experience and policies. Thanks -- Andy Ballentine

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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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B!B!E! Fiscal Sponsorship Update
by Bike!Bike! Everywhere! 19 Mar '24

19 Mar '24

EnglishWhat’s up? The Open Collective Foundation (Bike!Bike! Everywhere!’s fiscal sponsor) is shutting down. <https://docs.opencollective.foundation/> What is the Open Collective Foundation?Short version They have been doing legal paperwork and banking so we can transparently handle money for B!B!E! and basic tech expenses (such as website hosting). Long version The Bike!Bike!Everywhere! conference and community have been organized by a small group spread across the Americas. We have worked with a fiscal sponsor, the Open Collective Foundation to handle B!B!E!’s finances. They allowed us to collect and distribute funds and receive nonprofit status without having to file as much paperwork as a nonprofit normally would. This grew <https://opencollective.com/bikebike-everywhere/updates/end-of-year-update-n…> to include some of the technology behind the Bike Collectives Wiki <http://bikecollectives.org/wiki>, The Think Tank mailing list <https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco…>, and the Bike!Bike! conference registration system <http://bikebike.org>. Ok, OCF is shutting down (in an orderly fashion). What does this mean for our community? There is no longer a way for B!B!E! to receive donations. Our savings will still be accessible until September, and we have enough money to keep the websites and everything else running while donations are closed. Interesting. What’s next? The planning team is currently applying to other fiscal sponsors and we are working to resolve this in the next few months. They are also working on general event planning, so watch for other email announcements on that topic as well! Español¿Qué pasa? La Open Collective Foundation (patrocinadora fiscal de Bike!Bike! Everywhere!) echa el cierre. <https://docs.opencollective.foundation/> ¿Qué es la Fundación Colectivo Abierto?Versión corta Han estado haciendo el papeleo legal y bancario para que podamos manejar de forma transparente el dinero para B!B!E! y los gastos básicos de tecnología (como el alojamiento del sitio web). Versión larga La conferencia y la comunidad ¡Bike!Bike!Everywhere! han sido organizadas por un pequeño grupo repartido por todo el continente americano. Hemos trabajado con un patrocinador fiscal, la Open Collective Foundation, para gestionar las finanzas de ¡B!B!E! Nos permitieron recaudar y distribuir fondos y recibir el estatus de organización sin ánimo de lucro sin tener que presentar tanto papeleo como lo haría normalmente una organización sin ánimo de lucro. Esto se amplió para incluir parte de la tecnología que hay detrás de la Wiki de Bike Collectives <http://bikecollectives.org/wiki>, la lista de correo The Think Tank <https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco…> y el sistema de inscripción a la conferencia Bike!Bike! <http://bikebike.org> Vale, OCF cierra (de forma ordenada). ¿Qué significa esto para nuestra comunidad? B!B!E! ya no podrá recibir donaciones. Nuestros ahorros seguirán siendo accesibles hasta septiembre, y tenemos suficiente dinero para mantener las páginas web y todo lo demás funcionando mientras se cierran las donaciones. Interesante. ¿Y ahora qué? El equipo de planificación está solicitando otros patrocinadores fiscales y estamos trabajando para resolverlo en los próximos meses. También están trabajando en la planificación general del evento, ¡así que esté atento a otros anuncios por correo electrónico sobre ese tema también! Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor DeepL.com

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Bicycle Retailer article about co-op bike shops
by rkeener＠outsideinc.com 05 Mar '24

05 Mar '24

Greetings all, and thanks for all who responded to our Survey Monkey last month. Check out the cover photo (thanks, Scott Long at BikeAthens!) and the actual story on page 14 here: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1516201-march-2024/0? Comments welcome! Cheers, Ray Keener rkeener(a)outsideinc.com

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Re: person looking for bay area bike co-op/collective
by Matthew Pendergraft 03 Mar '24

03 Mar '24

Thanks Angel! -Matt On Sun, Feb 25, 2024 at 9:10 AM angel york <bike(a)angelyork.com> wrote: > Where in the bay area? Here's a wiki list to check to start with. If you > learn about something that isn't on the list or find something that is out > of date, please update the list! Thanks! > > https://bikecollectives.org/wiki/Community_Bicycle_Organizations#California > > > > > > >>> > Bay Area bike co-ops/collectives, > Brooklyn Ross ( bross(a)rei.com ; cc attempted ) is looking to get > involved. Reach out. > Thanks > -Matt > Bikes del Pueblo > Kumeyaay Land (San Diego) > _______________________________________________ > TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > To unsubscribe send an email to > thethinktank-leave(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco… > > >

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