- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Stop
by Ed Stewart 26 Aug '26

26 Aug '26

Remove my contact from your list. You have allowed some jerks access selling pills. Don’t you monitor your site? Sent from my iPad

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Spam should be blocked now
by April Wick 26 Aug '26

26 Aug '26

Hello! I apparently still have admin privileges for the email list, so I removed the account that was spamming the list and banned that address. Should be resolved now; apologies for all the spam. April

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Spam! How do we get rid of it?
by valerie＠velov.ca 25 Aug '26

25 Aug '26

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attention: admin
by cyclista＠inventati.org 25 Aug '26

25 Aug '26

Is anyone on here an admin? Is Godwin still around? We need to block bigbuto97-- from the list, the spam is almost at DDOS attack levels right now. ~ cyclista Nicholas

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Power lift stands
by Alysia Herr 25 Aug '26

25 Aug '26

Hi all, We have some money left over from an accessibility grant and were thinking of investing in a power lift stand to help accommodate folks who might have trouble lifting their bikes. Does anyone have any experience good/bad/otherwise with the various options. We'd like dual-head for the sake of space. There's the Park Tools options of course, but I was also looking at the Unior stands or even portable pneumatic stands. We had some concerns regarding whether they would be good for 'general use' (e.g. would shop users break them), what maintenance is needed and whether they would be moveable in the case of a special event in the shop. I'd love to hear any feedback. Alysia

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Issues with poor kids and bikes...
by Jeff Potter 16 Jul '26

16 Jul '26

I’m hosting a weeklong bike camp for poor kids in a couple weeks. We have donated bikes that look mostly in good shape. After I send this email I’m pumping up all tires and beginning the checklist process. They’ll go home with these bikes if they don’t have a bike. The helmets took a few days to wrangle. I discovered thanks to a firefighter friend that children’s hospitals have an Injury Reduction unit that will give free helmets. I contacted our local one and they have helmets on hand. GREAT! (Otherwise, for funding has been fruitless even among my die-hard sources — mostly due to our late notice. HelmetsRus.net <http://helmetsrus.net/> and others are cheap ($7-15) but HRU has a 25 unit minimum. And ProRider looks to sell in cases of 30 or more.) Anyway, bike reality is a bit of a rabbit hole, as we all might know. How are poor kids set up for this? Hint: they’re not. A couple things occurred to me: If they don’t also have a good bike lock the bike will be gone after a day. Bikes are kept outside. Apartments have racks full of bikes and I suspect neighbor teens glean for anything not tied down. Who knows. They do get quickly stolen. These are cheap bikes but I’m not sure what level of lock is needed. So there’s that, locks. How well do kids lock things, though? There’s that, too. So maybe they end up with a couple-week experience? We’re in Michigan. Bikes are outside. After the first winter outside every kid bike is rusted to ruin. So there’s also that. But maybe there’s a fix? I note that these are basically NO-income families, not low. What chance do our kids have of getting a can of spray lube? Zero. In light of such realities, I wonder if there are hacks that no-cash people can use to keep bikes unstolen and functional despite rain/snow? Hmmm… It just occurred to me: store a whole bike each winter in a heavy-duty black plastic construction-grade trash bag of max size. ? Of course bags cost $ and are only available in quantity so might be $20 when only a couple are needed. Hmmm… Maybe our co-op could buy and distro those? We do an annual Xmas kids bike giveaway of 100 bikes. We never see the bikes or kids again. They leave w a helmet as well. But no lock. No trash bag. If they live near enough to us they can get air, lube or tube — but we just don’t see them again. Odd. I suppose word of our giveaway spreads farther than our immediate neighborhood, so the kids/bikes go adrift from any support. Basically we have no thru-process for our youth interaction. We have classes — that don’t include a bike. And free bikes — that don’t include a class. And no bike support except a helmet. Bikes need more. But bike stuff costs $ and is a challenge to both source and to have kids hang on to. Whew… Well at least this first experience can hopefully prime the pump for these kids getting ahold of a Freedom Machine that they can really use. All hacks appreciated! Jeff Potter

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Managing Used Parts Retail
by Andrew Westphal 16 Jul '26

16 Jul '26

Hello everyone, I am looking for your insight on how to best manage the sale of used parts. Specifically, I would like your thoughts on the following: - Do you offer new items alongside used items, or do you partition the shopping experience in some way to differentiate between these items? - How much staff/volunteer support is available to customers shopping in the used parts area? - Please share any strategies that you employ to make used-parts shopping a positive experience for your customers, and manageable for your staff/volunteers. For further context, here's how we currently run used parts retail at Bikes Together in Denver, Colo. Layout: Used parts are stored in bins, boxes and small-parts trays, while used wheels hang from the ceiling. New-stock inventory (chain lube, pedals, grip tape, locks) is limited, and offered in a separate part of the shop. Both types of retail are available as self-service for customers. Pricing: Used parts are sold on a pay-what-you-can basis, with suggested donation rates by component type. Certain high-value parts are separated into a glass display case and stickered with specific prices. New-stock items are stickered with prices at market rates. Retail check-out runs through a single point-of-sale for new-stock and used parts. Shopping assistance: New-stock retail is generally supported by the staff who also support sale of refurb bikes and customer check-in to the service shop. Used parts retail is generally supported by staff and volunteers working in the DIY workshop. We struggle with managing the amount of staff time spent assisting used-parts shoppers; it can be time-consuming to educate the customer about what is compatible with their bike, and actually find that item in a bin. When available, volunteers are looped into that role. Unfortunately, some customers leave dissatisfied because they did not receive the assistance they required for used-part shopping. Some past resources I found in the ThinkTank archive: - Layout: shop space design advice (8 Jan 2009) <https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco…>, with specific insights from SLC Bicycle Collective below: - We elevated our checkout area so it overlooks the entire shop. - We have tried to position everything so it stays "open" eliminating as many blind spots in the shop as possible. - We moved away from using large milk crates for parts to smaller parts bins, this means there are more bins, but it is easier to lift, and get to the parts on the bottom. This also meant the shelves are 1' deep instead of 3', so we gained 2' of the shop back. - Anything we had a choice of putting on hooks or in bins, we put on hooks. - Wheels are hanging from the ceiling on 8' 2x4s with bike hooks at certain intervals - Pricing/highlighting some difficulties with used-parts retail - [TheThinkTank] Policy on Profiteering from Community Bike Shops (27 Mar 2013) <https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco…> - [TheThinkTank] What to do with the nice stuff? (12 May 2009) <https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco…> - Difficulties of hiring for retail shop management in the bike collective world: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (16 Mar 2010) <https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco…> Thank you all! Andrew -- *Andrew Westphal* Board Secretary, Bikes Together andrew.westphal(a)bikestogether.org 248-345-3530 he/him <https://pronouns.org/what-and-why> *Our Mission: Bikes Together uses recycled bicycles as a vehicle for equitable social change; collective and individual wellness; education and empowerment; and connection.*

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Group ride helmets... yeah yeah... Any summary available?
by Jeff Potter 07 Jul '26

07 Jul '26

Hi all… I’ve gone thru the group ride helmets challenge a million times. I’m wondering if there’s a “best practice” summary article somewhere. In the meantime, yeah, I’m going to dunk us all back into this thing: Our current situation is: a club that requires helmets is refusing to associate with our local social/party ride. We’re the only such ride in this area. I notice that the famous Detroit Slow Roll now has a policy of “no helmet no ride.” Maybe this is due to an ownership concern. Maybe Slow Roll used to be a community thing and now it’s owned, with someone in charge and responsible. This tends to tie back to the age-old insurance excuse. Our local club has often done this. However, I’ve been told by their admin that their insurance doesn’t actually require helmets specifically. I suppose it’s just considered a best practice that puts them on the good side of policy. Insurers aren’t bikers and simply require policy-holders to do whatever is considered responsible. Of course this likely has no bearing on *association.* It doesn’t seem possible that a group would be obliged to *shun* another group — unless they’re breaking the law? A goofy thing I’ve seen when the community is invited to do a short, slow social ride to see their city, etc., is that the “official bike group” host loans someone a bike and also forces them to wear a helmet. And the person is there as a person, socializing, not in group-identity “bike attire” — and simply has a HAIR-DO that will not work with a helmet! What are they to do? The embarrassing host club then perches a helmet on the top of, say, a hair-bun, or on the side of their head. The helmet just wobbles around up there and is embarrassing and makes them look silly. As a sensible adult I’ve seen that most of these folks soon remove the helmet. I haven’t tracked this too closely but I would think that if they don’t have a basket they’d just toss the thing. Admin hasn’t been their friend so I wouldn’t go there! One last thing: Does this challenge relate to the rule that boat clubs have where all members have to wear a life-preserver PFD at all times during club events? Some rules might say a PFD for each person must be on the boat. Finding a parallel situation can be illuminating. So, this water-safety policy can collide with reality occasionally and I don’t know how they deal with it. For instance: Shallow water canoe racing only requires that a PFD be on the boat. Yet I still see “serious official paddlers” freely being the cop against their peers and hassling them. “Where’s your PFD? Doesn’t do you any good unless you wear it.” One very last thing: It seems that most/all “serious official” groups (maybe also businesses?) involved with biking or paddling/boating require all their media to only show people wearing safety gear. No, this is the last thing: Then there’s kids… As regards bikes, boats, anything… I’m involved with kids and bikes. I’m part of encouraging kids to use bikes “…with a helmet!” …Everything regarding kids and bikes has to have “helmet” along for the ride. I’m actively working and showing them that a bike is a literal Freedom Machine. It boosts your independence. This is big reality, life-lesson breakthrough stuff. Showing kids how bikes help them become people … "with a helmet!” Also I work with poor kids. I’m lining up donor bikes for them, bikes for them to use during a class, maybe even to keep. If it’s just a how-to class where I’m showing them how to maintain and how to ride and be around cars but I’m not giving them the bikes the issue of maintaining *and then sanitizing* a fleet of helmets pops up. The class goes on for days, so each helmet has to stay w a particular kid the whole time. I suppose write their name on tape on it. But whew. …And I’m showing them their new way of life that starts with a bike, where they can start really being themselves due to their new *power to move* around a community. …With a helmet. I also work w kids on playgrounds. Some schools have rules: no tag, no chasing. …Nice. Certainly no kids are allowed to climb trees. …Tho play-structures can be tall. Most now have extensively railings. Some don’t and some have climbing walls and play-concepts that involve height. There’s something weird going on. How are kids supposed to interact with the world BEYOND school? I’m an old-fart. I still climb trees. To the top! 50 feet! I haven’t seen kids building their own tree forts off in hidden forests for … 30 years. But they used to be a thing. I don’t see them making ground-forts, either. Thankfully I still see them jumping off high points into deep water… But is it safe? (We used to have diving boards at our school and community pools. We were taught the dives, compulsory. I haven’t seen a diving board lately. Pools are fading. Kids aren’t taking the free drown-proofing lesson so that they can use the pool. Family won’t bring them — that stopped 20 yrs ago. Splash-pads are replacing pools. …Every night teens are out all night against curfew. Once a week they shoot each other and one dies. …Emotional regulation and resilience are real things. Learning outdoor skills can really help. Safety is important. But...

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Would your project like to weld?
by Total Liberation Bicycle 01 Jul '26

01 Jul '26

In a past life, I help create a great project! I had access to so many bike frames that it made too much sense to get a welder. It started off small with fun and freak bikes but eventually I started making cargo bikes. Upcycled cargo bikes are my jam!! Do you want them to be yours??!! With a space and small tool investment, a cargo bike a day isn’t impossible. Maybe this is the time you were waiting for??!! Any ideas? -Dakota Sent from [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) for iOS.

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Where can I find the think tank archive?
by Bayley Vanderpoel 17 Jun '26

17 Jun '26

I have a link saved but it didn’t work. My real question is we’re looking for a new accountant and wondering if anyone uses a business they could recommend. Thanks! Bayley Vanderpoel Volunteer & Board Member Vélocity Bicycle Cooperative http://velocitycoop.org/ | http://www.meetup.com/VeloCity-Bicycle-Cooperative/ https://twitter.com/velocitycoop | http://www.instagram.com/velocitycoop Shop Phone: 703-549-1108 Del Ray Shop 2111 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria Hours: Tues, Thurs, Fri: 11am–6pm Sat: 10am-4pm Sun: 12pm–4pm Wed: 11am–9pm (6–9pm DIY hours) Lyon Park Shop 2647 North Pershing Drive, Arlington Hours: Tues–Fri: 11am–6pm Sat: 10am-4pm Sun: 12pm-4pm

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