- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

getting to know each other ideas for bike!bike!
by rachael spiewak 24 Jul '09

24 Jul '09

Hi, everyone. After attending a handful of Bike!Bike! conferences and putting on a regional one, it seems to me that folks are looking for opportunities to: 1. tell their own bike shop stories, 2. have those stories be heard, and 3. get to know other shops with stories that resonate with them. I think facilitating some of that up front will make workshops move along faster and go deeper, and it would help us find that magical person we needed to talk to about whatever nagging issue's been bothering us. At BBSE we did a conference-wide go-around of introductions and then we broke out into pairs to share bike shop stories, which seemed to go really well. I think we could take it a few steps farther if folks are into it: 1. It might be nice to have info booths or tables for all of the shops if there's a big common area available at the conference. Then you could move about, see photos or slide shows, put faces to names, and show off what you're proud of at your shop. We did this at an community arts gathering in Atlanta a few weeks ago, and it was pretty great. It might lend to developing a few ad hoc workshops or post-conference partnerships. 2. And it might be nice to have a big map and push pins to get a visual geographic depiction of who's present. Anyway, just putting some ideas out there so we can get the most out of sharing a short period of with each other. Looking forward to it! Rachael -- Sopo Bicycle Cooperative 404-425-9989 www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm

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Bike Maintenance Classes
by Jason Tanzman 24 Jul '09

24 Jul '09

Hi everybody, I'm putting together a workshop for Bikebike on how to organize and teach bike maintenance classes, and I would love some feedback from different sho Stps on their community education programs. Info I'm interested in includes: -Do you charge for your classes? If so, how much? -How many hours/weeks does your class last? -How many participants do you allow in each class? How many staff/core volunteers help teach the class? -How regularly do you offer classes? -How do you publicize your classes? -What classes do you offer? (Basic Bike Maintenance? Wheel Building? Safe Cycling/Commuting classes? Advanced Mechanics classes? I work with Sibley Bike Depot in St. Paul, MN; we teach all our classes for free which has been awesome. We've thought about charging for classes but decided that the benefits of bringing new people into the shop and educating current volunteers outweighs the revenues that we might get from charging for classes. We also receive about $1800 per year from a free community education program in the Twin Cities for teaching classes for free, which helps offset our costs of paying staff to teach classes. I would love to get information/feedback! Jason Tanzman Sibley Bike Depot www.sibleybikedepot.org

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Bicycle Repair Coordinator Job Posting at Cycles of Change APC in the SF Bay Area
by Cycles of Change APC 23 Jul '09

23 Jul '09

Cycles of Change APC Bike Shop seeks a Bicycle Repair Coordinator to join our fantastic, fast-paced and friendly grassroots, not-for-profit community bike shop in Alameda. The shop provides people of all backgrounds and ages earn-a-bike and job training programs, do-it-together repair access, bicycle donation drop-off and much more! The shop offers a full-range of services which fund the shop including sales of used bicycle and parts, and comprehensive bicycle repair services. We seek a staff person who will professionally and productively repair bicycles. The Cycles of Change APC shop has been thriving and this position is critical to its ongoing success. The primary responsibilities of this position are: • Repairs: o Repair a very wide range of used bicycles professionally and efficiently. o Excellent familiarity with compatibility and quality of used bicycle components. • Sales o Sell refurbished bicycles to people of all incomes and backgrounds from all over the Bay Area. • Saturday shop o Staff our community shop on Saturdays in order to assist with bike sales and helping visitors. • Active team member o This job requires that you have the passion for expertly repairing bikes, and that you deeply believe in the mission of the project. Following qualities are some which are important for success at this position: • Able to communicate effectively and patiently with people of all ages, backgrounds, preferences and income levels individually and in groups whether selling a bike, meeting with other staff/volunteers or teaching a young person how to fix a flat. • Ability to stay organized and grounded while multi-tasking. • Able to travel to Alameda 3-4 times per week, including Saturdays from 10am-5pm. • Commitment to recycling, reusing and reducing consumption in carrying out the work. • Strong desire to promote bicycle use as a strategy to strengthen the health and sustainability of communities. HOW TO APPLY: In order to apply for this position, please send or email, your resume and a brief letter of introduction about your interest and experience to: Email: bikeshop(a)apcollaborative.org See our craigslist posting at: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/npo/1274851559.html www.myspace.com/cyclesapc Mailing address: Cycles of Change APC 677 W. Ranger Avenue Alameda, CA 94501 COMPENSATION: This position pays $15/hour for between 12-20 hours per week. There are no additional benefits to this position currently, and we’re working on offering health benefits soon! There may be opportunities for increased hours in the Fall. We are an equal opportunity employer. Women, People of Color, and people with experience working w/ African-American and/or formerly homeless people and Alameda residents are strongly encouraged to apply!

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City Support
by 1304bikes 21 Jul '09

21 Jul '09

We at 1304bikes here in Raleigh recently had our shop shut down by the city due to zoning/building code issues. We are currently regrouping and fundraising, while trying to find a new space. We like to hear from other shops as to what kind of support you get from the cities you are located in (the actual city government, not the people in it). Whether it be donated space, money, or just good will. We are hoping to get some info about relationships that other shops have with their respective cities to use in our attempt to find a new location. Thanks all! -Doug -- 1304bikes www.1304bikes.org

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Re: [TheThinkTank] How do you keep track of your in kind donations?
by Clifford McCarten 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

For clarification (particularly on balance sheets) "in-kind" is not a blanket term to use whenever there is something exchanged in w/o cash. There is a critical distinction between donations coming in to your org, and donations going out that your org makes. "In-kind expenses" represent donations coming in to your shop (i.e., they are assets you've received that you would have otherwise had to pay for). "In-kind donations/contributions" represent donations your shop is making out into the world. Also, importantly, you can't consider trades to be donations because you have the same on-paper asset value at the end of the transaction. Cheers, Clifford McCarten Co-Director, B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop communitybikeshop.org 400 Wolfe St, Peterborough ON K9J 2P3 (705) 748-6681

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How do you keep track of your in kind donations?
by rachael spiewak 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

Hi, everyone. Gotta bookkeeping question for you. How do you keep track of your in kind donations, especially used items? Do you log every item? How do you assign value? Help me finish this sentence: The annual cost of stocking Awesome Bike Co-op's community bike repair shop is $X. Funding sources and amounts include: $X - self-generated funds $X - foundation funds $X - in kind donations I can assign numbers to everything but the in kind donations because we haven't tracked them, and a grant application is asking for this information. It looks like it would be good practice anyway. On the other hand, donations kind of come and go. People drop off handlebars and pick up a saddle with a total lack of formality. Should we exclude trades and stick only to the more formal donations (a box of parts, for example)? It would be easiest to restrict it to bike donations. Thoughts? Thanks! Rachael -- Sopo Bicycle Cooperative 404-425-9989 www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm

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Re: [TheThinkTank] How do you keep track of your in kind donations?
by james blesdoe 16 Jul '09

16 Jul '09

we have a computer program that will generate a receipt when a Donner asks for one. we make a simple note saving for instance; one trek 4000 bicycle and two bicycle wheels. we do not assign a value or go into any detail concerning condition or quality. we also do not connect the donation to subsequent sales or disposal of the donations. jim bicycle kitchen los angeles --- On Thu, 7/16/09, reno bikes <renobikeproject(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: reno bikes <renobikeproject(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] How do you keep track of your in kind donations? To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 9:50 AM poorly, to say the least On Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 9:01 AM, rachael spiewak <rachael(a)sopobikes.org> wrote: Hi, everyone. Gotta bookkeeping question for you. How do you keep track of your in kind donations, especially used items? Do you log every item? How do you assign value? Help me finish this sentence: The annual cost of stocking Awesome Bike Co-op's community bike repair shop is $X. Funding sources and amounts include: $X - self-generated funds $X - foundation funds $X - in kind donations I can assign numbers to everything but the in kind donations because we haven't tracked them, and a grant application is asking for this information. It looks like it would be good practice anyway. On the other hand, donations kind of come and go. People drop off handlebars and pick up a saddle with a total lack of formality. Should we exclude trades and stick only to the more formal donations (a box of parts, for example)? It would be easiest to restrict it to bike donations. Thoughts? Thanks! Rachael -- Sopo Bicycle Cooperative 404-425-9989 www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- www.renobikeproject.com Wed-Sat 11-6pm 541 E. 4th Street. Reno, NV 89512 775.323.4488 Please let us know if you would like to unsubscribe to our email list. -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.…

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volunteer appreciation party
by MoBo Bicycle Co-op 16 Jul '09

16 Jul '09

Hello all, I'm from MoBo Bicycle Co-op in Cincinnati. We're an all volunteer run organization. Every year we like to throw a volunteer appreciation party to celebrate all the volunteers who bust their bust to make MoBo happen. The problem is, it ends up being the core volunteers who throw the event. We're brainstorming ways to have a fun event, that is moderately priced, that we don't have to put too much planning into. Any ideas? Lucia -- MoBo Bicycle Co-op a project of The Village Green Foundation 1415 Knowlton Ave Northside Cincinnati, OH

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Re: [TheThinkTank] [MBAC] Fwd: [People] The Alliance Needs Your Help to Earn
by noah 13 Jul '09

13 Jul '09

In response to all the negativity about Twitter, this is a worthwhile read. http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-other-half-writes-in-defense-of.ht…

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Re: [TheThinkTank] [MBAC] Fwd: [People] The Alliance Needs Your Help to Earn $42K
by R2carbaugh＠aol.com 13 Jul '09

13 Jul '09

Just shoot me right now if I have to use Twitter for anything. Robin Carbaugh ************** Looking for love this summer? Find it now on AOL Personals. (http://personals.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntuslove00000003)

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Fwd: [People] The Alliance Needs Your Help to Earn $42K
by Jonathan Morrison 10 Jul '09

10 Jul '09

Help raise money for national bicycle advocacy using Twitter! Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org Get Addicted to Crank! http://www.slcbikecollective.org/crank/ The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jeremy Grandstaff <jeremy(a)peoplepoweredmovement.org> Date: Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 12:41 PM Subject: [People] The Alliance Needs Your Help to Earn $42K To: people(a)peoplepoweredmovement.org *The Alliance Needs Your Help to Earn $42K * <http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/42Below.jpg>[image: image]<http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/42Below.jpg><http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/42Below.jpg>The Alliance is thrilled to announce an exciting challenge from 42BELOW Vodka. If 100,000 people sign up to follow their 42Ride across the U.S. this summer on Twitter, <http://twitter.com/WeLikeBike42> 42BELOW will make a $42K donation to the Alliance for Biking & Walking. I wanted to write to each of you with a reminder of the details, or you can also find them at www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/42below<http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/42below> . The 42Ride began in Mid-June, by sending 42 cyclists from New York, south to Philadelphia, and then they split in to two groups of 21 riders heading westwards, one touring the north and one touring the south. Participants will pedal an impressive total of 4,017 miles across the country from New York City to Los Angeles, witnessing some of the most beautiful scenery the country has to offer. · Download a copy of the route map.<http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/Route42_Map.pdf>(PDF) · Follow the northern route riders<http://mikeywally.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/42-ride-blogroll/> · Follow the southern route riders.<http://mikeywally.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/southern-route-42-ride-blogroll/> The Alliance is asking all our members, supporters, and biking enthusiasts to support biking and walking by signing up to follow the 42Ride on twitter at http://twitter.com/WeLikeBike42. In addition, local Alliance groups are encourage to work with the 42 Ride administrators to take part in events that are coming to your neighborhood. · Download the list of upcoming welcome parties<http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/42BELOW_Biking_and…> · The attachment above lists all contact information for your organization to get involved with local events. If the challenge is met, the Alliance will use the $42K donation to further its work strengthening and uniting grassroots biking and walking advocacy organizations across North America. *Sign up on Twitter to follow the ride and support grassroots biking and walking advocacy! <http://twitter.com/WeLikeBike42>* For more information on this exciting partnership, feel free to contact me via email or phone. And, have a great weekend. Jeremy Grandstaff Member Services Director *Alliance for Biking and Walking* Formerly known as the Thunderhead Alliance PO Box 65150, Washington, DC 20035 | Visit us in person at 1612 K. St., Suite 802 Office: 202-449-9692 | Cell: 614-519-3026 | Fax: 202-223-3181 jeremy(a)PeoplePoweredMovement.org * * *Visit www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org <http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/>for information about the Advocacy Advance Grants * _______________________________________________ People mailing list Unsubscribe: People-unsubscribe(a)lists.peoplepoweredmovement.org List Info: http://lists.peoplepoweredmovement.org/listmanager/listinfo/people

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Help plan a charity event: How far can you coast?
by Carl Voss 10 Jul '09

10 Jul '09

Greetings from Des Moines! The Des Moines Bicycle Collective will sponsor a charity event on Saturday, Aug. 29 on the eve of a criterium race in our capitol city. The East Coast: How far can you coast down a steep hill from the Iowa State Capitol? (The capitol is located in our city's East Village. We are, of course, far removed from either coast. Flip the chain off the chainwheel at let 'er go! Top coasters will win a coasters. Weight won't be the only factor. There's a fairly good flat section that will even things out from the big riders. Tuck, steering, cone adjustment should be factors-we're just not sure how much. We haven't figured out what categories/divisions that will make this a fun event. That's where you come in--your chance to weigh in (so to speak). Categories by: age? bike type? gender? weight? (could be tricky with a scale) We think we can do better than a one-time "Lard Arse" event (coast down the local Soap Box Derby hill) held here years ago. With your helpful suggestions, of course. Carl Des Moines Bicycle Collective carlvoss(a)mac.com Mobile: 515-210-0237

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum?
by troy neiman 10 Jul '09

10 Jul '09

I am getting ready to put a wheel building class together. I was thinking about charging $30-$40 dollars to those who are building wheels for themselves and $15-20 for those who build a wheel for the shop to use. This would be similar to the set up that Rich at Community Cycles mentioned ( three 2 hour classes ) that way the first class can be about wheels, rims, hubs and measuring spokes so that folks can buy or find the materials they need before the next class. I also liked the way Ellie at the Bike Church taught the wheel-building workshop at BikeBike last year. The rims and hubs and spokes were already picked out and the groups had to find the correct spoke length before they could get the spokes. Then they were able to learn lacing and tension, etc. This makes for a faster class and having all your materials ready cuts down on time and unexpected mistakes. You could charge less or nothing for this and still end up with a few wheels for the shop at the end. Troy NeimanBICAS ----- Original Message ----- From: bovineoaks(a)aol.com To: thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum? Date: Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:51:22 -0400 Each student has different needs for the wheels they put on their bicycles. It is hard to buy a bunch of rims and hubs that will make each rider happy. I let them choose rims and hubs they want and get them from other shops if I can not provide the materials. I am providing the Education Materials or the Wheel Building Class, That is enough. If I can supply the materials also, that is just dandy too. Lots of shops out there can supply materials but not education. -----Original Message----- From: allison karow <bike.saviours(a)gmail.com> To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Sent: Mon, Jul 6, 2009 2:08 am Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum? What about buying new parts and then giving the students the option of buying the wheel at your shop's price minus the cost of the class? On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 4:20 PM, Sam Santos <lalato(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hi Rich, Why not do both, depending on what the student can afford? We did a couple of a free wheel building classes for our volunteers using parts that were lying around. One way to avoid problems that might crop up with used parts is to have the students deconstruct a wheel prior to the class. That way they will be working with all the parts from the same wheel thereby reducing any potential problems. Good luck with the class! --sam On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 4:27 PM, Rich Points <rich(a)communitycycles.org> wrote: Hey All, We're developing a wheel building class here at Community Cycles. We have a rough idea of what we'd like to do but we could use some help smoothing it out. We're thinking the class would be three 2 hour sessions at a cost of $X to 6 - 8 students. We've thought of two ways to go about supplies for the class. One would be to use recycled rims, hubs, nipples and maybe spokes. Another way would be to buy the parts from our wholesalers. The latter option means we could have control of what the class is working with. The former option could mean a lot more on the fly problem solving for the instructor and class but it'd be a lot cheaper for us and our students. I'm leaning towards the new parts option because I think it'll provide the highest quality of instruction. What do you guys think? Another question we're trying to figure out is what happens to the wheels that get built in the class. At our shop we're always in dire need of 700cc wheels. So we're thinking the class could build 700 wheels and they'd be used by the shop. However people taking the class may want to build wheels that they'd keep as their own. If we structure the class to just build 700 fronts we have more consistency and control. If we let folks build wheels for their own projects the class might have more general appeal but presents logistical and supplies hurdles. Please let us know how your shop is teaching wheel building. Ride On! -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html Make your ride count! Register for Bike to Work Day June 24, 2009 http://www.drcog.org/btwd2009/index.cfm?page=Register _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -------------------------------------------------------------------- Save energy, paper and money -- get the Green Toolbar. _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! 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Re: [TheThinkTank] 'rental' bikes
by troy neiman 09 Jul '09

09 Jul '09

At BICAS we have a fleet of rental bikes that are mostly coaster brake bikes of varied sizes. They are spray painted all different colors so that they are ugly and easy to spot. We have a name plate welded inside the main triangle that says BICAS RENTAL and has our contact info. These rental bikes have been returned to us after being lost before but sometimes do go missing. We charge $5 per day or $20 for the week or about 30 min of work-trade per day. I joke around about how these rental bikes are gold mines but some of them that have been around for years but seriously I would not be surprised if some of these bikes have raised $500 dollars or more for our organization. And we are talking about heavy, single speed, ugly bikes with ripped up seats and solid tires. The lock situation was really hard because we used to buy locks and then end up with a bunch of locks and keys that did not match but then we started welding chains to the frame and pad locks to the chains. All the keys for the rental bikes are the same key so we don't have to match a key to the lock and if a key disappears then we only need to make a copy and not get a hole new lock. This has worked really well. We do sign people out for them and get a phone #, email, or ID # but its mostly just a formality than anything. No deposits are taken. Troy Neiman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Giordano" To: "The Think Tank" Subject: [TheThinkTank] 'rental' bikes Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 12:22:25 -0600 (MDT) we do rentals with whatever is on hand. good income. $1/day, $5/week, $15/month, negotiate for longer. most come back. some marked with 'free cycles checkout', some painted green. some with fenders, baskets etc. sometimes they do the work to get it rolling. no deposit- too messy. flexible. we also have a community fleet with 60 (mostly one speed, rear derailer limit screw cranked) bikes.... goes to large groups, like Korean and Japanese teachers coming to missoula next week thru university program. we had 500 helmets donated by hospital. not many takers. local gov't group gives us free blinky red lights. not great, but usable. sometimes we do locks, sometimes not. (we want to make our own!) we give brief training/ rules of roads to all... many times a really good bike will be a checkout for awhile, and then go into the build a bike program. -bob g. free cycles missoula. info(a)re-cycles.ca wrote: > > We take a similar approach and sell people a discounted AS-IS bike (tuned-up used department store bike) for around $40 Cdn if they promise to dontate it back when they are finished with it. This avoids a lot of hassles with tracking the rentals and with our lack of insurance coverage > for rentals. > > Chris Wells > (Email Handler & one of many Volunteer Head Mechanics) > _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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OpenSprints: Logo Artist needed
by Jonathan Morrison 07 Jul '09

07 Jul '09

You may or may not know that there is an open source goldsprints / roller racing project out there called opensprints (www.opensprints.org). One thing that we are truly lacking is a quality (vector drawn) logo, if you are interested in helping with this please contact me. Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison

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'rental' bikes
by Bob Giordano 06 Jul '09

06 Jul '09

we do rentals with whatever is on hand. good income. $1/day, $5/week, $15/month, negotiate for longer. most come back. some marked with 'free cycles checkout', some painted green. some with fenders, baskets etc. sometimes they do the work to get it rolling. no deposit- too messy. flexible. we also have a community fleet with 60 (mostly one speed, rear derailer limit screw cranked) bikes.... goes to large groups, like Korean and Japanese teachers coming to missoula next week thru university program. we had 500 helmets donated by hospital. not many takers. local gov't group gives us free blinky red lights. not great, but usable. sometimes we do locks, sometimes not. (we want to make our own!) we give brief training/ rules of roads to all... many times a really good bike will be a checkout for awhile, and then go into the build a bike program. -bob g. free cycles missoula. info(a)re-cycles.ca wrote: > > We take a similar approach and sell people a discounted AS-IS bike (tuned-up used department store bike) for around $40 Cdn if they promise to dontate it back when they are finished with it. This avoids a lot of hassles with tracking the rentals and with our lack of insurance coverage > for rentals. > > Chris Wells > (Email Handler & one of many Volunteer Head Mechanics) >

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Coming to PDX, need a bike to ride while there.
by info＠re-cycles.ca 06 Jul '09

06 Jul '09

We take a similar approach and sell people a discounted AS-IS bike (tuned-up used department store bike) for around $40 Cdn if they promise to dontate it back when they are finished with it. This avoids a lot of hassles with tracking the rentals and with our lack of insurance coverage for rentals. Chris Wells (Email Handler & one of many Volunteer Head Mechanics) re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op 477 Bronson Ave. Ottawa info(a)re-cycles.ca http://www.re-cycles.ca/ --- On Fri, 7/3/09, veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com <veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com <veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Coming to PDX, need a bike to ride while there. > To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Received: Friday, July 3, 2009, 8:37 PM > Community Cycles in Boulder doesn't > rent bikes, but we get asked about it all the time. Our work > around is that we'll sell you a bike and then you can > donate it back when you're done. No deposit, return it > in whatever shape. > > I don't know if we've had any takers to date, but > it evens out with our local bike rental places after about 5 > days or so. >

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Anyone have a wheel building class curriculum?
by Rich Points 06 Jul '09

06 Jul '09

Hey All, We're developing a wheel building class here at Community Cycles. We have a rough idea of what we'd like to do but we could use some help smoothing it out. We're thinking the class would be three 2 hour sessions at a cost of $X to 6 - 8 students. We've thought of two ways to go about supplies for the class. One would be to use recycled rims, hubs, nipples and maybe spokes. Another way would be to buy the parts from our wholesalers. The latter option means we could have control of what the class is working with. The former option could mean a lot more on the fly problem solving for the instructor and class but it'd be a lot cheaper for us and our students. I'm leaning towards the new parts option because I think it'll provide the highest quality of instruction. What do you guys think? Another question we're trying to figure out is what happens to the wheels that get built in the class. At our shop we're always in dire need of 700cc wheels. So we're thinking the class could build 700 wheels and they'd be used by the shop. However people taking the class may want to build wheels that they'd keep as their own. If we structure the class to just build 700 fronts we have more consistency and control. If we let folks build wheels for their own projects the class might have more general appeal but presents logistical and supplies hurdles. Please let us know how your shop is teaching wheel building. Ride On! -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html Make your ride count! Register for Bike to Work Day June 24, 2009 http://www.drcog.org/btwd2009/index.cfm?page=Register

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google squared useful for cataloging community bikes shops
by rachael spiewak 06 Jul '09

06 Jul '09

For the computery types on the list.. If you enter "community bike shop" (or bicycle collective, etc) into Google Squared, a nifty spreadsheet comes up with a handful of our shops. If anyone wants to take it on, it could be expanded to include everyone and all sorts of useful info. It might be a good way to answer some frequently asked questions, like "who has a youth earn-a-bike program?" or "what's your mission statement?". -rachael -- Sopo Bicycle Cooperative 404-425-9989 www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm

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Coming to PDX, need a bike to ride while there.
by Julian Beldotti 04 Jul '09

04 Jul '09

Hailing here from Fort Collins, CO. I'm about to take a quick reprieve from the small city life, to a big small city, and hang out in Portland for 10 days in July. Last time I was there and attempted to borrow a bike, citybikes or whatever wanted to charge me 15 bux a day. It wasn't very co-op friendly of them, I thought. So this time, I'm hollering at all ya'll in the Portland area who are bike co-op connected to see if I can borrow a bike while I'm there, so I don't have to take the rail everywhere. Holler. Julian.

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Creative solutions for handling/storing shop pumps?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 03 Jul '09

03 Jul '09

We've got a number of donated, bought, and found floor pumps in our shop. A variety of brands, sizes, and shapes. Right now they just live in a corner, but they like to play the domino game and fall over themselves when someone goes to grab one. Does anyone have any creative things you've done to handle this problem? As always, pictures are great. Thanks! josh.

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Hiring an employee / Advertising
by Urban Bike Project Wilmington, DE 02 Jul '09

02 Jul '09

Hi All, Thanks for the advice a ways back on hiring mechanics as contractors. I may just be paranoid worrying about things but I have another employment question. Say a community bike shop wanted to hire a person for the summer to develop a board of directors as well as youth and free bike programming....Is this something we have to advertise publicly about or can we just make the decision as a collective and hire someone? We know someone that is perfect for the job (experience and enthusiasm), Thanks! Brian Urban Bike Project of Wilmington -a 501(c)3 non-profit bike shop- 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) Wilmington, DE 19802 Hours: Thursday 6:30-9:00 Saturday 1:00-4:00 Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org

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Duzer Duz America - Bike Tour
by Ryan Guzy 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

I don't think this has been posted to the list before, I'm surprised Josh didn't let us know sooner :-) Ryan Van Duzer is riding a New Belgium three speed across the US raising money for Community Cycles in Boulder, filming for his blog and a newspaper, and doing bike advocacy. His blog and info are here: http://ryanvanduzer.com/ He's a really cool guy, we hung out and rode with him while he was in Tempe this past weekend, and he was at BICAS in Tucson today. While he was in town he did some filming at Bike Saviours and with another bike advocacy group I'm involved in, TBAG. Check out his route to see if he's coming your way, he should be heading through Las Cruces and Albuquerque next. <http://ryanvanduzer.com/>*Ryan Guzy* Bike Saviours Tempe, AZ www.bikesaviours.org

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Website, hosting...
by Jason Moore 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Hi, I'm with the Davis Bike Church and we are looking to setup a new website for our group (we've been using the daviswiki.org). I want a site that will allow anyone with permission to add content, allow for calendars, forms, online donations, etc, and have our own domain name and a decent amount of server space (~1GB) so we can use it to share files and documents. I want to run an open source content management system such as plone, joomla, drupal, etc to do these things and wanted to ask some questions about how other groups handle this: 1. Recommendations on which CMS if I've never used a CMS before? Which one offers functionality that bike collectives typically need? Which one is easiest for end users? 2. Where do you host your site? How much is it? Can non-profits get free or reduced price hosting? 3. Any other tips on website related stuff? Rev. Jason Moore Davis Bike Church

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Business Licensing mumbo jumbo
by Erik at Recyclery 26 Jun '09

26 Jun '09

I know laws aren't all the same everywhere, but The Recyclery has been told that we will be needing a second-hand business license because we sell used bicycles and parts. We don't pay for anything used--everything is donation-only--and this would mean that we have to take IDs from every buyer and donor. There are a number of other prohibitive restrictions obviously aimed more toward pawn shops than charitable organizations, but our indepented 501(c)3 status hasn't gone through yet. As of now we are just planning on not holding sales in our new shop. Has anyone else had to grapple with this while trying to open as a "legitimate" business? erik -- The Recyclery Collective 7628 N Paulina Chicago, IL 60626 P: 773.262.5900 F: 773.751.5241 www.therecyclery.org

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