- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Re: [TheThinkTank] Collective Board of Directors
by Andrew Bushaw 21 Jan '08

21 Jan '08

This is what I have proposed to our collective in regard to forming a Board of Directors. If anyone is familiar with Participatory Economics, this is sort of modeled after that system of Producer/Consumer and Worker Councils. FM Community Bicycle Workshop Organizational Structure General Collective Membership is defined by: Working regular, accountable shifts of 4 hours in length, once a week for the duration of at least one month. After that one month, working regular, accountable shifts is still expected but is flexible depending on circumstances. Attending and actively participating in at least three consecutive General Collective, Board, or Worker Council meetings. If a General Collective Member is inactive for the duration of one month without a prior notice, their membership is terminated with the option to rejoin the collective through by meeting the same criteria as a new prospective collective member. The General Collective will meet once a Month at a regularly scheduled time to discuss the day to day operation of the shop, update schedules, make suggestions and in general report news to the collective from their respective worker councils. Worker Councils (WC) consist of members from the general collective who wish to have an increased level of participation. There are six WC: Finance/Legal, Advertising/Hardcopy, Physical Donations, Shop/Tools/Ordering, Education, and Community Outreach. Each WC chooses a representative within to represent their interests on the Board of Directors. These representatives are easily recallable by the WC or the General Collective as a whole. These representatives along with co-representatives, if appointed, would be the collectives primary key-holders. The six WC representatives are also members of the Board of directors, and taken as a whole, make up the producers council. Worker councils will meet as needed. Collective members would generally only officially participate in one WC, two if necessary. The Board of Directors -- Members-At-Large would represent the interests of the groups that the FMCBW explicitly intends to serve. In other words, they would collectively make up the consumers council. These Board members-at-large would be chosen by the General Collective at the annual meeting and would serve a one year term. Board Mechanics: Six Collective members representing their respective WC and 6-8 Members-At-Large to represent the communities we intend to serve. The Board of Directors will meet quarterly and are open to general collective member attendance. Two weeks notice will be given before the quarterly meetings and one week notice will be given for special circumstances. Voting by proxy is allowed but consent must be given in a written form and it must be on a specified proposal and not a general power. Voting by email is valid and legitimate but if any board member feels that there needs to be more discussion the vote can be vetoed and a meeting called in it's place. Quorum for Board of Directors meetings will be 50%+1. The board of directors will determine what specific democratic decision making process suits but with an emphasis on consensus decision making when possible. The board will have a Chair, Co-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. In the case of vacancies, the General Collective will be charged with finding a suitable replacement, taking into consideration input and suggestions from the Board Members-At-Large. I think the overall effect of this would be to allow outside input and give us community perspective, tap external resources, organize more effectively in our WC, increase general collective membership thus "throwing more people" at the issue of staffing the shop when open, Allow individual participation to determine level of involvement in decisionmaking, allow a broader number of people to lead in their areas of interest, as well as being "legal" in terms of US regulations. Andrew ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Collectives and board of Directors
by plan_9＠riseup.net 21 Jan '08

21 Jan '08

Thus far the FM Community Bicycle Workshop has been operating as a 501c3 through a fiscal agency agreement with a local non-profit. The agreement is for a limited time period so I have been working on our Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and Tax forms. The crossroads were at with it though, is that we are set up to operate as a traditional collective (consensus, democratic decision making, non-authoritarian structure) with elements of Participatory Economics (we have worker councils set up). This doesn't seem to reconcile very cleanly with how the US wants non-profits to be structured with a traditional Board of Directors, Chair, Co-chair, Secretary, Treasurer, etc. So what I'm wondering is this: How do other groups that have a non-heirarchical organizational structure set up their bylaws and articles to reflect their values, yet be accepted as a legitimate by the state? I have been told by a few more non-standard organizations that they just set it up like "it's supposed to be" and then disregard it. I really don't want to do that since if it's on the books, we can be held accountable to it. These seem to be the logical options so far: 1. Collective as the Board of Directors. In this scenario we basically form the board using the collective members as board members and build our bylaws around our the rules and procedures that are outlined in our volunteer handbook. To get outside folks involved in this we could set up an advisory board that would give input but not make decisions that would meet something like once a quarter. 2. An Outside Board In this scenario we would form a board that would consist completely of outside individuals who are understanding of our mission and would represent the populations that we serve. The collective would serve the role of the executive director(s). In this situation we would be tasked with the day to day decisions of the FMCBW and have input into the Board of Directors but macro decisions such as funding, long term planning, would ultimately be decided by the Board of Directors. (This idea has already met with much opposition from the group so this is probably out) 3. A Mixed Board In this scenario we would form a board that would consist of some collective members and some outside community members. There could be checks and balances put into place to make sure that the collective continues to have real tangible input into the board of directors decision making. This would take some extra mechanics in our bylaws and is slightly non-standard in the non-profit world, (but is somewhat more standard in the business world) but in the end might be the best of both worlds if done correctly. For Example: We have a board of 9 people, four of which were collective members and five of which were outside community members that would represent the populations that we serve. We could run the board conservatively (as in more resistance to change, not politically of course) where we would put into our bylaws that we there must be Consensus U-3 to make binding decisions. This would enable the collective to block any proposals, given that they have solidarity on the issue, that the board may make that might be against the interest or the intent of the collectives mission. This method would also stand for electing new outside board members, ensuring that the integrity and intent of the organization would stay in line with the collectives mission. The numbers and methods are up in the air, of course, I was just using this as an example. These all have pros and cons to them. The collective as the board we would continue to have autonomous control over what we do and how we operate and would allow us to make decisions "light and fast" but at the loss of credibility, resources and the ever important perspective of the community. Having an outside board would make it easier to propose "self-serving" ideas, such as paying us wages, funding outside training, going to conferences, spending shop money to renumerate the collective. Plus it spreads the risk, it allows input from veterans in the non-profit world as well as access to their resources without begging. It would give us an air of credibility to some institutions that might take us "not so seriously". It also allows us to focus on building bikes, teaching bike maintenance, and developing our programs. The risk is that we don't have control over the board at all and are totally at their whims. We can put a good board in place that understands our values and mission but they are responsible for voting in new board members, and if their judgment isn't the same as ours, there is the potential that a few years down the road there could be a group of people directing us in a way we might not agree with at all, and could possibly disband the collective and appoint a director. The Mixed Board has potential to have the best of both worlds if executed correctly. If executed incorrectly it could possible result in some of the negative possibilities of both the the others. It would probably also take a little longer to make decisions, but since we are already operating fairly well we probably are done making rapid decisions. Sorry for the ridiculously long post, I decided not to chop it down in case this info is useful for the seemingly many new bike collectives that are in the works right now. Andrew FM Community Bicycle Workshop

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Re: [TheThinkTank] low cost lights
by troy neiman 18 Jan '08

18 Jan '08

Here in Tucson, it is fairly common for folks to get a generic mini maglight from the ace hardware or a sporting good store. these come with a few to many LED bulbs for the cost of 5-15 $ generally the more you spend the better quality the light. Then pick yourself up a couple of hose clamps and put one around the light and loop the second through the first and around the handle bar or stem. this creates a good adjustable, theft resistant bracket as good or better than that plastic crap on the market. This has been a great solution for many people. you get about 10-15 hours out of most of the lights and the cost is a relatively low 10-20 dollars for and aluminum body led light as opposed to a plastic one for the same price. Bike lights that are supposedly built for "bike riding" are probably one of the most frustrating things about the industry, i personally think they are all crap or overkill. > ----- Originale ----- > From: "1304bikes" <1304bikes(a)gmail.com> > To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Piles of freewheels? > Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:31:41 -0500 > > > Christopher, While the points you raise are valid and very good advice, I'm > afraid it doesn' help our shop out very much. We deal with a lot of > homeless and working class poeple who can not or would rather not spend $30 > on a bike light. Likewise, our organization doesn't have the funds to > provide every EAB paticipant with a full set of lights, even though we want > to. > > That being said, I'm still open to hearing what other shops have come > up with for inexpensive solutions to the light issue. I still feel that any > light is better than no light. > > -Doug > 1304bikes, Raleigh > > > > There is a physical problem with lights that are not powerful. As we > > humans get older our cornea become harder and do not open and close as > > quickly as in our youth. This leaves us blind to all but the brightest > > lights after we are hit in the face by car headlamps. I witnessed a cyclist > > disappear when he was backlit by car headlamps. He had a few $15 to $20 > > front flashers, a reflective vest, and reflective tape on the bike. Once he > > was back lit by a car all those inexpensive low wattage lamps were worthless > > to his safety > > > > If you do not invest in a bright light you will disappear when back lit > > and in other situations. The lesson I learned is simple if you are to be > > traffic at night time you need to act like traffic. If you can get the Cat > > Eye 520 at cost, it is about $30 and well worth it. 1200 candle power is > > close to the brightness of a car head lamp, 300 hour burn time with 4 AA > > batteries. When in traffic, act like traffic. If they are well lit, you > > should be equally lit to be seen. A flash light is not enough. > > > > > > I am not saying do not have fun with cheap lights too. I look like an > > alien space craft with all the cheap lights around my bike. I also have a > > serious head and tail light. I do make a spectacle of myself out on the road > > at night. Have fun and think about safety. > > > > Christopher Wallace > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in > > shape<http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489>in the new > > year. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thethinktank mailing list > > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > > > > > -- > 1304bikes > 2419 Mayview Rd. > Raleigh, NC > 1304bikes.org > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > y -- Want an e-mail address like mine? Get a free e-mail account today at www.mail.com!

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Bicycle Physics Curriculum
by AndaLaLucha 17 Jan '08

17 Jan '08

Hello, Free Ride has this exciting partnership with City High School in Pittsburgh in which we teach bicycle repair in a "How Things Work" Physics class. We had some lessons with tire pneumatics and Boyle's law and also a gear ratio lesson. I was wondering if people had other science related curricula planned? If so can you e-mail me or put it on the wiki? Also, I don't know if people know already but the Youth Bicycled Education Network has some useful curricula posted-- http://www.yben.org/category/resource-guide/curricula-and-lesson-plans/ Thanks, Andalusia P.S. I'm not sure if people know what Ghost bikes are- but they are pretty powerful memorials for cyclists who have died. There was a memorial ride in NYC last week to honor the 23+ cyclists who died last year and I did a radio report about it and wrote an article for those interested Article: http://www.indypendent.org/2008/01/12/a-silent-roadside-reminder/ Shorter Radio: http://www.fsrn.org/content/new-york-city%2526%2523039%3Bs-ghost-bikes-hono… Longer Radio: https://wiki.indypgh.org/cgi-bin/twiki/viewfile/Radio/Shows/2008x01x14?rev=…

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Lights
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

I always behave like i'm invisible to cars no matter how much illumination I have. Brian UBP If I taped ten thousand lightning bugs to my body I still would not put out much light, Barely a dim glow if I was lucky. It is not the number of lights that make you seen or not seen it is the brightness of the lights that matters. If you put on Aircraft landing lights on the front of your bike and shot a beam a half mile down the road I am sure you could not say "I always behave like i'm invisible to cars no matter how much illumination I have." If you said "I have a bunch of low lumen flash lights on my bike and I can not be seen by cars that have lots of lumens coming out of their headlamps, then I would have to say DUH! Car drivers are looking for traffic to have high lumen lights out on the road, if you wish to be treated like traffic, act like traffic! What would you think if a car had two little battery powered flash lights or little bicycle blinkers where its head lamps were supposed to be? Would you see the car if other brightly lit cars were around it or would it be near invisible? Brian you should behave like you are invisible when you have low lumen lights on your bike, because you are. You can either whine about it or change your choice of lights. I am asking you to Think, We are the Bicycle education leaders of our communities. Christopher Wallace **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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The Build-A-Bike Team Building Workshop
by Jonathan Morrison 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

www.build-a-bike.com You know we are doing good when the for-profit takes the idea mainstream. It looks like these folks have a registered trademark on the "Build-A-Bike" name. -- 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/

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Lights
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 15 Jan '08

15 Jan '08

Brian I agree with you and never assuming you can be seen. I too have a 12 volt system and I ride I bike I know I can not be seen by cars coming on to the road way from a drive or an alleyway. I ride a low racing recumbent. I am below window level and I know that drivers can not see through sheet metal. I also know I can see their lights as they approach the roadway. I have found they can see my light also. I slow down and they stop when they see the pavement lit up by my lights. When a driver is Pavlovian trained to stop when they see the cross pavement lit by head lights. I have witnessed every driver stop, that I have approached from the side at night with my 12 volt system. In the world of dim low lumen bike lights, cars could not see you. Few people can afford 12 volt high lumen lights. Now there is a much more cost effective high lumen lamps out there. My 12 volt system cost $360 now led lights with similar Lumen output are $60 retail, $30 cost. My 12 volt system would last up to 3 hours on a huge battery, now led lights with similar Lumen output last 300 hours on 4 AA batteries. My points are simple: Great lights are affordable by the masses now. Point two: Most people do not know about the brighter lamps and choose lights that keep them invisible to traffic because of the lack of education from bike shops to their customers. I like that lights are so much less money for the amount of light they put out. I have a handle bar in the shop with 6 different lamps on it. I have a customer go to the far side of the room and I turn on each light and let them look at difference between older flash lights or blinking lights, and the new more powerful advanced LED lights. Sale made. NO BS, Compare/ contrast and sell. I also took photographs of all the lights aimed at a white wall 40 feet away. I printed the photos and use that as a sales tool also. This is what the light really looks like and how wide a beam it puts out at the brightness level compared to the other lights I sell. There will always be people that choose the $12 dollar lights, Given a choice people will choose the brighter lights also. **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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spoke cards for categorizing
by Erik Stockmeier 15 Jan '08

15 Jan '08

Hi all- Erik D S from The Recyclery (Chicago/Evanston) here. We're working on making up some laminated spoke cards for our wheel room this winter... the idea being to have an easy, reusable (dry erase marker) id system for wheels that can tell any major features, defects, etc. so that people don't have to go traipsing back and forth to the wheel room to find something that both fits a fork AND spins. some ideas i've had are: diameter ideal tire width range (c/o chart by sheldon brown) hub/locknut-locknut width # of cogs (for rear wheels) other notes (things that need tightening, loosening, truing, rounding, overhauling, missing spokes, oddsized axles, rare alloys, whatever) have any other shops done this? if so, what information have you found relevant to put on the cards? i'd like to keep it simple enough to make a volunteer/work trade task without superfluous options of information--a nice volunteer/work trade task. Thats all! thanks, erik

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Lights and being broke
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 14 Jan '08

14 Jan '08

In a message dated 1/14/2008 9:52:45 P.M. Central Standard Time, BovineOaks(a)aol.com writes: In a message dated 1/14/2008 7:33:01 A.M. Central Standard Time, 1304bikes(a)gmail.com writes: I still feel that any light is better than no light. This is true any light is better than dressing in all black and riding at night. I do (easily) sell the lights for $60 to walk in customers and sell them for cost $30 students and volunteers. My customers are the same low income folks you sell to. I have sold great lights to inner city low income folks in St louis, Indianapolis, Champaign- Urbana, Chicago's south and west side. I sell education and give people a choice to make them safer at night time. Many people who own 15 dollar bikes and will balk at a $20 dollar repair have spent $60 on a lamp. If you teach safety, biology, act like traffic, you can sell good product to "newly educated" people. Broke ass folks like me still spend money wisely when we know the "WHY" a product is needed. I can not afford to drive a car around but I can afford a great light. I can not afford to spend time in a hospital because someone did not see me, but I can afford a great light. I can not afford a box to be buried in but I can afford a great light. If a homeless person wanted to work for a lamp, I would give him a job worth $30. If they do not want to work I do not have time for them. No one give me bikes for free, they make sure I am working to make the world a better place before they donate a bike to me. I work hard, and I believe you do too. I have a recumbent I built out of recycled materials for $20 and it has $50 bucks of rear and front lights. Being broke ass does not mean you can not spend money to make life better, beer, shoes, lights, and a news paper once in a while. If you know how to sell safety (helmets, act like traffic, reflectors, tires, brake pads,) you can also sell good lights. Safety is not just for rich folk, it is for all peoples of our world. if a person had no brake pads and rotted tires would you just say ride on the rims, go slower and use your foot for the brake? Or would you sell (talk and encourage them to buy) product for themselves because they need it to be safe on the road? Or are they too poor to be safe? **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Piles of freewheels?
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 14 Jan '08

14 Jan '08

In a message dated 1/14/2008 7:33:01 A.M. Central Standard Time, 1304bikes(a)gmail.com writes: I still feel that any light is better than no light. This is true any light is better than dressing in all black and riding at night. I do (easily) sell the lights for $60 to walk in customers and sell them for cost $30 students and volunteers. My customers are the same low income folks you sell to. I have sold great lights to inner city low income folks in St louis, Indianapolis, Champaign- Urbana, Chicago's south and west side. I sell education and give people a choice to make them safer at night time. Many people who own 15 dollar bikes and will balk at a $20 dollar repair have spent $60 on a lamp. If you teach safety, biology, act like traffic, you can sell good product to "newly educated" people. Broke ass folks like me still spend money wisely when we know the "WHY" a product is needed. I can not afford to drive a car around but I can afford a great light. I can not afford to spend time in a hospital because someone did not see me, but I can afford a great light. I can not afford a box to be buried in but I can afford a great light. If a homeless person wanted to work for a lamp, I would give him a job worth $30. If they do not want to work I do not have time for them. No one give me bikes for free, they make sure I am working to make the world a better place before they donate a bike to me. I work hard, and I believe you do too. I have a recumbent I built out of recycled materials for $20 and it has $50 bucks of rear and front lights. Being broke ass does not mean you can not spend money to make life better, beer, shoes, lights, and a news paper once in a while. If you know how to sell safety (helmets, act like traffic, reflectors, tires, brake pads,) you can also sell good lights. Safety is not just for rich folk, it is for all peoples of our world. if a person had no brake pads and rotted tires would you just say ride on the rims, go slower and use your foot for the brake? Or would you sell (talk and encourage them to buy) product for themselves because they need it to be safe on the road? Or are they too poor to be safe? **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Piles of freewheels?
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 14 Jan '08

14 Jan '08

-Effective (i.e., non-destructive) Cottered Crank removal (and re-usage) -ways to prevent cold weather pawl freeze up in cassette hubs -Cheap lights for bikes (I've heard tell of some creative holiday string-light setups) -ideas for rust proofing/rust prevention concerning steel frames, spokes, hub bodies, etc... the stuff that typically looks drippy and nasty. There is a physical problem with lights that are not powerful. As we humans get older our cornea become harder and do not open and close as quickly as in our youth. This leaves us blind to all but the brightest lights after we are hit in the face by car headlamps. I witnessed a cyclist disappear when he was backlit by car headlamps. He had a few $15 to $20 front flashers, a reflective vest, and reflective tape on the bike. Once he was back lit by a car all those inexpensive low wattage lamps were worthless to his safety If you do not invest in a bright light you will disappear when back lit and in other situations. The lesson I learned is simple if you are to be traffic at night time you need to act like traffic. If you can get the Cat Eye 520 at cost, it is about $30 and well worth it. 1200 candle power is close to the brightness of a car head lamp, 300 hour burn time with 4 AA batteries. When in traffic, act like traffic. If they are well lit, you should be equally lit to be seen. A flash light is not enough. I am not saying do not have fun with cheap lights too. I look like an alien space craft with all the cheap lights around my bike. I also have a serious head and tail light. I do make a spectacle of myself out on the road at night. Have fun and think about safety. Christopher Wallace **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

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Piles of freewheels?
by plan_9＠riseup.net 14 Jan '08

14 Jan '08

Hey, I thought that having piles of old freewheels might be a problem common to bike collectives and wanted to see what folks did with them, or any other non-standard uses for bike parts. We have just "discovered" that you can pull apart a freewheel with two chain whips, one on the outer cog and the other on the third (the second is sometimes also threaded like the outermost) and apply opposite force. This usually involves two people lots of grunting and yelling, then the outer most ring will thread off (sometimes the second and third are also threaded) then the rest just slide off. The lowest three cogs are between 14-20 tooth which is perfect single speed range. So... we have built up a couple bikes using a single chainring in front and a 14t and a 18 or 20t threaded back onto the freewheel to make what I believe are called "dinglespeeds" which is basically a singlespeed setup with the option of loosening the rear axle, moving the chain over to the other cog and re-tensioning the chain in the dropouts (have to be horizontal). This allows us to build up really basic, low maintenance bikes that have both a "winter gear" and a "summer gear" (since we are in the brutal north) or I suppose if we actually had hills or trails, "on-road gear" and an "off-road gear". I know the concept of a dinglespeed has been kicked around a bit in the SS world, but usually it's done with respacing a cassette w/ two cogs, which are a rare commodity in our shop. Have other folks experimented with this setup? Good results? We have only built up a few, and thus far it has worked out pretty well on the bikes we are testing it on. Also, what kinds of other projects have folks done with either re purposing bike parts in a creative way or modifying them to breath new life into shop excess? Thanks, Andrew FM Community Bicycle Workshop

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Bike Computer Geeks of the World Unite!
by Edward France 10 Jan '08

10 Jan '08

Bike Rockstars, Following up on discussion from BikeBike 07, our shop would love to share bike collective open source-ish software for tracking volunteer and user hours (Nathan from Austin Yellow Bike), tracking inventory and interfacing with website (Rich from Boulder), and bad-ass register check-out software (joshua from LA). Our Bici Centro shop is potentially moving into a new (and bigger!) space and is ready to set up books and go paperless for tracking stuff. Who knew but we also happen to have some genius computer software peeps working in the crew and they have interest to spend time synthesizing most applicable elements of these different programs and putting that program back out to the group again. My question is, where did we end off on this discussion? Is there an ongoing small group discussion that we could join in on? Since I've lost individual emails, could Rich, Nathan, and Josua possibly try to get back to me? Many thanks folks for the amazing work you all do, and that us santa barbarians do our best to emulate. -Ed France BiciCentro.org

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We are hiring!
by Bicycle Collective Jobs 09 Jan '08

09 Jan '08

The Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective (www.slcbikecollective.org) is looking for a full-time volunteer coordinator. The ideal candidate would be a well organized and social person that needs meaning in what they do -- and wants to be community builder. 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. The Volunteer Coordinator will be in charge of meeting and expanding our network of volunteers to staff four key programs: The Community Bike Shop, Valet Bicycle Parking, Youth Earn-a-Bike classes and special events such as the International Bicycle Film Festival. The benefits package includes health and educational funds. If you are interested in fighting the good fight, send an email to jobs(a)slcbikecollective.org including your resume and personal mission statement.

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P3 Grant for Students (money for campus-based bike shops!)
by rachael spiewak 07 Jan '08

07 Jan '08

I just learned about the EPA's P3 program <http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/> from someone who's been awarded a grant to create a community bike shop at Appalachian State University. Just wanted to pass the word along to folks doing campus-based work. -- Rachael Spiewak, MSW Executive Director Sopo Bicycle Cooperative www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues/Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat/Sun 2 pm - 5 pm

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Community Cycling Project Research
by Jessica Goldberg 07 Jan '08

07 Jan '08

Hi All, I'm a senior sociology major at Hamilton College, and I'm doing my senior thesis on why community bike organizations advocate cycling as a vehicle for social change. I think what your organizations do is extremely important on community, personal, environmental, and political levels. I believe that there should be a greater emphasis on the value of these organizations, so my project will help publicize and advocate them to a broader public. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to discuss your organization and why it is imperative to creating needed social change. We could chat via phone, e-mail, IM, gchat, or in person if we're close enough. If you would like to chat, you could either reply to this post and we'll get in touch, or e-mail me at the address below. I look forward to talking to some of you. Jess jess.b.goldberg(a)gmail.com

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Weed & Seed retry
by Urban Bike Project of Wilmington, Inc. 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

3rd try...I guess there were too many quoted messages and it was too big for the mail server. Sorry if anyone gets this twice. Last post from me, Just wanted to let everybody know what's going on with the W & S program. Thanks for everybody who weighed in on the topic. Basically the program is way scaled back from what we had thought it was at first. Corporal Witte will be collecting bikes from the impound and using our shop space to fix them up. He will purchase a standard bike tool kit and stand as well as all of his own parts. We will keep a separate area for bikes that he is working on (maybe 10-15 at a time) until he can give them out to kids on his beat. We all expressed concern that the kids really should be learning something and not just getting a handout but this is the program as it stands now. What we get out of the deal: Equal time-share rent (we estimated) for how long he uses the space vs. us. Really good press. Adult bikes from the police impound. An "in" and knowledge for possibly receiving a much larger W & S grant in the future. This could be used to hire a coordinator for an Earn-A-Bike or or other program. An "in" with Job Corps participants who need community service hours. If there is something we need moved or done we got a lotta hands that can help. Time to set up shop without feeling pressured to run a program we really don't know about or have a solid grasp on. I feel the most important points are the first and last. We need rent and to pay for liability insurance. This is basically free money. All we do is share the space we already have. We also have plenty of time to develop a curriculum and procedures for an earn-a-bike (so the kids can actually learn) and write a solid grant proposal for funding. Brian signing off from fabulous Wilmington, DE. Happy New Year everyone! -- Urban Bike Project of Wilmington 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) Wilmington, DE 19801 Phone - 302-654-5304 Visit online at http://urbanbikeproject.org

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question about starting a bike co-op
by Kale 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Hi, My name is Kale and I am involved in starting a bike collective in New Haven, CT. The group was wondering how other collectives have navigated the issues of liability and non-profit status. How many people have opted for 501c3 or c4 status, and what has been your experience? If you haven't opted for this, why? Also, how have people addressed the issue of safety in the shop, as far as insurance or legal risk for people injuring themselves in the shop or on bikes made or repaired in the shop? Any advice will be much appreciated! Thanks, Kale

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Re: [TheThinkTank] question about starting a bike co-op
by Taylor 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Greetings Kale, The shop that I helped start (www.thebikecave.org) is in its infancy and is aiming to maybe start the paperwork to become a non profit in the next year. Right now it is a "community service" under auxiliary services at Texas State University, but we are far from exclusive to students with our open arms community view. Let me know if you come up with good advice on this subject, and I echo the call for experiences as well. To get away from liability, we talked with the campus lawyer and they recommended that we SELL bikes, parts, etc. outright to people thus stripping the university of liability. That is one solution, and the only we have tried yet. Just like a for profit bike shop - if someone buys a bike, gets hurt, you cant sue the local bike shop that sold it to them! Or at least I hope not! Taylor the bike cave San Marcos, Texas www.thebikecave.org

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Looking for someone in Chicago...
by Jonathan Morrison 23 Dec '07

23 Dec '07

I am trying to get ahold of someone in the Chicago Area named Evan Farrar. He is the programmer behind OpenSprints and we are trying to get that set up for a fundraiser in January. -- 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/

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Alley Cats
by Jonathan Morrison 21 Dec '07

21 Dec '07

Some guy named Morgan in San Fran runs this site, he said there was a way to auto-sync the two mediawiki sites, so that the Bike Collective Network wiki would have the listing too. If anyone knows how I can get ahold of Morgan, let me know. http://www.alleycatracing.com/ On Dec 19, 2007 5:57 PM, rachael spiewak <rachael(a)sopobikes.org> wrote: > on a similar note.. i try to rotate other co-ops through our myspace top > friends list. here we are if you'd like to add us: > http://www.myspace.com/sopobikecoop > > and on a sort of related note, can we get a calendar of fundraisers and > alley cats going (ahem.. urban velo)? > > -rachael > > > On Dec 19, 2007 7:52 PM, Rich Points < rich(a)richpoints.com> wrote: > > > Hey All, > > I envision in 10 years bike collectives will be the equivalent to the > > salvation army, i.e. the first place you, (average America), think of is > > a bike collective when it comes to donate a bike. > > > > Here in Boulder we have many transient people with the university and > > all. I know we often talk about other shops around the country and the > > world. People from other shops have stopped by to say hi and some of > > our members have said hi to other groups. > > > > What I'm getting at is let's really do what we can to pose this as a > > movement with people all over the country working towards getting people > > > > on bikes. One way we can do this is to link to each other from our > > websites. > > > > Johnathan has done a great job of putting together a directory on the > > bike collective wiki. Now if we all ad those links on our individual > > sites we can really boost our collective web presence while promoting > > the "bike collective" movement. > > > > We've put all the links we could find on our site, let us know if we > > missed one http://communitycycles.org/splash/?page_id=6 > > > > I encourage you to copy and past the code into your links page. > > > > Collectivley > > > > -- > > Rich Points > > Community Cycles Director > > http://CommunityCycles.org <http://communitycycles.org/> > > Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org > > 720-565-6019 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thethinktank mailing list > > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > > > > > > -- > Rachael Spiewak, MSW > Executive Director > Sopo Bicycle Cooperative > www.sopobikes.org > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Hours of operation: > Tues/Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm > Sat/Sun 2 pm - 5 pm > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > >

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Let's Promote Each Other on the Web
by Rich Points 21 Dec '07

21 Dec '07

Hey All, I envision in 10 years bike collectives will be the equivalent to the salvation army, i.e. the first place you, (average America), think of is a bike collective when it comes to donate a bike. Here in Boulder we have many transient people with the university and all. I know we often talk about other shops around the country and the world. People from other shops have stopped by to say hi and some of our members have said hi to other groups. What I'm getting at is let's really do what we can to pose this as a movement with people all over the country working towards getting people on bikes. One way we can do this is to link to each other from our websites. Johnathan has done a great job of putting together a directory on the bike collective wiki. Now if we all ad those links on our individual sites we can really boost our collective web presence while promoting the "bike collective" movement. We've put all the links we could find on our site, let us know if we missed one http://communitycycles.org/splash/?page_id=6 I encourage you to copy and past the code into your links page. Collectivley -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019

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pro walk/pro bike conference?
by rachael spiewak 21 Dec '07

21 Dec '07

Hi, everyone. Anyone been to the Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference<http://www.bikewalk.org/2008conference/index.html>before? Is it relevant to our work? What did you get out of it? A community member wants to send me and maybe some other folks because he thinks it would be an investment in bike advocacy in Atlanta on the whole, which sounds very nice. Just wondering what I'm getting myself into! Too bad the dates aren't lined up with BikeBike. That would be too convenient. : ) Thanks! -- Rachael Spiewak, MSW Executive Director Sopo Bicycle Cooperative www.sopobikes.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hours of operation: Tues/Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat/Sun 2 pm - 5 pm

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Formation of Two Wheeled Foundation: Call for Ideas
by Two Wheeled Foundation Inc. 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

Greetings, The newly formed non-profit organization Two Wheeled Foundation, Inc. will be supporting activities for the global reallocation of bicycles. We are currently operating in North America and Africa. This e-mail is a call for project ideas to be funded by the foundation. One of the initial projects being considered for North America is a Bicycle Gadget Design Competition. The designs guidelines would be "for use by rural African agricultural and health care workers". There would be a $5,000 prize and a free trip to visit Africa which would include a safari. We were hoping to get feedback on this idea, and see if individuals out there would be interested in competing. Sincerely, The Two Wheeled Foundation Team

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Re: [TheThinkTank] anyone have a similar situation?
by Andrew Bushaw 18 Dec '07

18 Dec '07

In addition to what macho brought up, what happens when the police money for the program dries up and you can't afford to fund it anymore? If you keep it, you are doing the police a service without compensation, and if you end the program, people will point the finger at your shop for pulling the program rather than the funding source. 3,500 seems like a pretty meager amount of funding for what they want, especially since what they want seems pretty vaguely defined. Andrew FM Community Bicycle Workshop

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