- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

501c3 application
by Liza Mattana 24 Feb '08

24 Feb '08

hey guys, we're starting the 501c3 process, and i was looking at the 1023 forms on the wiki. our lawyer mentioned the june 2006 revised form and wants us to be sure that when looking at examples, they are using this revised form. bicycle kitchen folks, it looks like you're using the revised form, but it's a "draft." does this mean the IRS may still ask for revisions? are there other groups that have used the new 1023 form and have a finalized one we could use? thanks in advance, liza -- Liza Mattana www.pedals2people.org Spokane, WA

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Successful Yellow Bike Programs?
by Jonathan Morrison 23 Feb '08

23 Feb '08

Do they exist? I haven't heard of one that lasted. I am curious because I was reading about the Blue Bike Program http://www.railtrails.org/whatwedo/partnerships/corporate/DasaniBlueBikes.h… -- 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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Bike Valet Parking
by Edward France 22 Feb '08

22 Feb '08

Bike Peeps, So we're thinking of doing Bike Valet-ing for Earth Day, but the organizers are concerned about Liability and all that good logistical stuff. Based on those of you whose shops have done this, some questions; -Do you think this is a good way to get the word out? -do you think this is a good way to raise money for the shop (tip jars)? -what did you have to do for logistics/ liabillity and planning ahead? All the best and big thanks, Ed Santa Barbara Bici Centro -Where creativity and mobility meet BiciCentro.org

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Obtaining a Bike-Share Bike
by Lance Ayer 22 Feb '08

22 Feb '08

Hey All, Our organization has recently been asked to participate in a Sustainability Open House at the University of Calgary. The purpose is to bring together key players both within the university and the city in order to address topics of sustainability in all its glory. We will appropriately be representing the pedal power aspect of sustainability. Now, a large scale bike-share program of the kind found in most European cities is a completely foreign concept to Calgary and this we would like to change. My question to the group is this: does anyone know of anyway to acquire a bicycle that would be typical of bike-share programs. I am referring to one piece, fully adjustable, custom made bikes that are used in these programs. Any leads would be appreciated. Regards, Lance Ayer Campus Bike Initiative, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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old inner tubes
by Urban Bike Project of Wilmington, Inc. 22 Feb '08

22 Feb '08

There was a discussion on bikejournal about reusing old tubes...I know many of us have found uses but another option is sending them to Splaff, a company that makes sandals from recycled materials. I'll add the information to the wiki here<http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Splaff%2C_Inc.>linked from the shop recycling page<http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Shop_Recycling> . Brian Urban Bike Project of Wilmington "We would love to use any old tubes that you are willing to send to us. Please ensure that all old tubes sent to us meet the following criteria: - No rust on the outside of the tubes - No fluid inside the tubes - We do not accept the bike tires, only the bike tubes. Please ship all tubes to us at: US Mail: Splaff Inc. PO Box 7604 San Diego, CA 92167 UPS: Splaff Inc 4950 Del Mar Ave San Diego, CA 92107 Thank you again and please feel free to call us at (619) 221 9199 if you have any questions or concerns. Keep onn Floppin' Max Wescoe Splaff Inc 619-221-9199" -- Urban Bike Project of Wilmington 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) Wilmington, DE 19801 Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Oil awareness to pre-teens Lesson Plans
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

This is a starter for teachers, it can be expanded into Language arts, PE, Health, Government, Ethics, Business, History, and for all age groups K-12-adult. It just requires a little thought. Ask students if the know the following: For Math The weight of a gallon of gas? How many gallons fit in the family car? How many times a week does the car get filled up? What is the cost of the fuel for a year at current prices? What will fuel for a year cost at $4 a gallon? $5? $6 or $10 How much weight in (Carbon or CO2) fuel did your family put into the air in one year? Advanced thoughts: Where does carbon based gas come from? Where does it go to? For science: The carbon cycle is simple, Carbon in the air CO2 gets absorbed by a green plant, chlorophyll bonds the carbon with water from the ground and creates sugar and oxygen, the sugar is consumed in many numbers of ways bonding with oxygen to form the gas CO2 What major three elements are all plant life made of? C, H, O, Where does a tree absorb its H2O from the ground? or the air? Where does a tree absorb its (CO2) carbon from? What does the photosynthesis processes in the leaf create with the water and the carbon dioxide? CHO+O2 Water from the root system is bonded inside the leaf with to carbon dioxide from the air. This photosynthesis process creates sugar and oxygen. (For younger kids I only use the words Sugar or Sugar compounds and Oxygen I do not get into formulas) 11H20+12CO2 = C12 H22 O11 + 6O2 The carbon cycle is simple, Carbon in the air gets absorbed by a green plant, chlorophyll bonds the carbon with water from the ground and creates sugar and oxygen, the sugar is consumed in many numbers of ways bonding with oxygen to form the gas CO2 Most of the Carbon weight of a tree comes from the air not the soil. After you cut a tree down and dry out the logs almost all the weight of the log is carbon compounds that came from the air. Carbon can be a heavy gas in the air and become a solid through photosynthesis, We can rot or burn the wood and release the carbon as a gas back into the air. All surface animals eat carbon based foods, and release Co2 as they digest or as they rot back into the air. NOW the complex part: Carbon that was trapped in the ground as coal or petroleum is not part of the balanced carbon cycle. We dig it up, bond it with oxygen (Burn it) to create CO2. and we do not trap the CO2 and put it back into the earth from where we dug it up. We are also reducing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere by bonding it with buried carbon. If a tree weighs 2 tons after it is cut down and dried out: How many trees would we have to grow each year to trap the equal weight of carbon that we dig out of the ground and put into the air? How would we put all that solid carbon or trees back into the ground where it came from? Good carbon cycle: Carbon in the air gets absorbed by a green plant, chlorophyll bonds the carbon with water from the ground and creates sugar and oxygen, the sugar is consumed by human and made into energy on a bicycle, carbon is expelled as a gas CO2. The carbon cycle is in balance. The air is cleaner you are healthier. The question here is How do you make cycling fun? How do you get to school, events, date, work, get groceries, take tools or computers to work, how do you dress professionally for work and ride a bike. How do you stay clean, dry, warm, cool on a bike? Are there bikes that have protection from rain, snow, wind? Do they have windshield wipers, turn signals, great lights, comfortable seats? (Look up Velomobile's) What is there to learn in the bicycle world that I do not know? What are the costs for a car? Insurance, fuel, maintenance (Oil, Tires), repairs, tolls, licence, Plates, city stickers, loan/lease/purchase, customization? Health benefits? How much will fuel cost change in the next ten years? 15 years? 20 years? When will you not be able to afford fuel? What are the costs for the bicycle? maintenance (Oil, Tires), repairs, purchase, customization ? Health benefits? For both you have food cost, after sitting in a car for a few years you will need to add gym membership cost to the car costs. With the money you save riding a bike can you afford to live a better life? Eat nicer foods, have money for nicer trips, or what ever you like to do with some bucks in your pocket? Or will you always be broke paying for expensive personal transportation? Have kids write down ideas on how they would spend money now, when they are in college, when they are in their twenties, or thirties? How much money would they save by the time they were 40? **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-du… 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

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Oil awareness to pre-teens
by Geoffrey B 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

Does anyone have any good ideas to teach kids about the evils of oil. I am helping teach a workshop on oil to kids and need some help. Its part of a renewable energy tour of the city and so the kids will take part in a daycare workshop while their parents tour around town. I'm thinking games, fun stuff and the sort, they are ten to thirteen years old. -- "Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia" - H.G. Wells

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Oil awareness to pre-teens
by Jessica McPherson 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

We did a similar exercise with a kids' class this year, totally on the cheap. The message isn't specifically about oil, it's a broader demonstration of the environmental impact of different transportation modes. I got some plastic lids for large tupperwares (about 1'x2'), and laid some dry-ish dirt down. I propped up one side of the lids so they laid slightly tilted, not flat. I collected a bunch of leaves and flowers, and gave them to the kids. I told them to make a forest in their dirt with the plants. Then we made it rain, using spray bottles. The dirt and plants absorbed all the water (especially because it was dry to start), very little flowed out into the drainage channel. I had also made a stack of "roads," "houses," "apartments," and "parking lots" out of duct tape folded over on itself + sharpie drawings. So then I told the kids they had to build a village, and had to knock down part of their forest to do it. Once they had made the village we added "pollution" from cars and other sources - a sprinkling of turmeric over everything. Then we made it "rain" again - and this time the water ran right off the impervious duct tape (helped that the dirt was now saturated too), and yellow water pooled in the drainage channels. It demonstrated the impact of development on the natural environment, impact of increased impervious surface on water drainage, and how pollution on land makes it into our waterways. You could also make skinny little tape strips that were bike paths, and show the difference in the amount of pavement needed for car transport vs. other means. Could also vary the amount of pollution depending on transport means. Maybe different kids could be assigned to build bike villages and car villages, then the results could be compared. Maybe one group of kids could be assigned to build the Nigerian delta or Ecuadorian rainforest village- then when you build the car village, you have to knock down houses and farm fields in the other villages and dump oil all over everything - illustrating the costs of oil extraction. Lots of things you could do. The attached picture illustrates how it's put together. -Jessica (Free Ride, Pittsburgh) ----- Original Message ---- From: Vyki Englert <vyki.englert(a)thekickstand.org> To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 1:03:44 PM Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Oil awareness to pre-teens In Gainesville, FL, we have this great group WAV (watershed action volunteers) that sets up a small display with cars and ponds and little spray bottles, to show how oil from cars affects the watershed and destroys local watersheds. I can't seem to find pictures of the awesome interactive display they set up for little kids, but there site has some good information: http://www.alachuacounty.us/government/depts/epd/waterquality/ -vy -- Vyki Englert "sprocket" acting Director of operations Member Board of Directors Gainesville Community Bicycle Project, Inc "the Kickstand" 722 South Main Street Gainesville Fl 32601 www.thekickstand.org vyki.englert(a)thekickstand.org 850.819.8808 'everynormal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist theblack flag, and begin slitting throats.' --h.l. mencken On Feb 19, 2008 12:39 PM, <veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com> wrote: break it down into terms they can relate to. figure out the cost of a car over a year. someone has this number, altho i can't remember who/what it is right now...compare that to a bike. then see what they could buy in a year with the difference, in terms of stuff they're into. games, soda, candy, etc... maybe make up some visual aids like the total cereal commercial, where you photoshop a pile of candy bars, or playstations, or something, to show what you could buy with the money saved by riding a bike... On Feb 19, 2008 10:31 AM, Geoffrey B <vous.je(a)gmail.com> wrote: Does anyone have any good ideas to teach kids about the evils of oil. I am helping teach a workshop on oil to kids and need some help. Its part of a renewable energy tour of the city and so the kids will take part in a daycare workshop while their parents tour around town. I'm thinking games, fun stuff and the sort, they are ten to thirteen years old. -- "Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia" - H.G. Wells _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Vyki Englert "sprocket" acting Director of operations Member Board of Directors Gainesville Community Bicycle Project, Inc "the Kickstand" 722 South Main Street Gainesville Fl 32601 www.thekickstand.org vyki.englert(a)thekickstand.org 850.819.8808 'every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.' --h.l. mencken -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Social effects of motorized transport - Ivan Illich
by Rich Points 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~ira/illich/facts/social_effects.html <http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/%7Eira/illich/facts/social_effects.html> Social effects of motorized transport ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ivan Illich gives a set of very interesting facts and figures when he discusses his concept of convivial transport: * *The United States puts between 25 and 45 per cent of its total energy* (depending upon how one calculates this) *into vehicles*: to make them, run them, and clear a right of way for them when they roll, when they fly, and when they park. For the sole purpose of transporting people, 250 million Americans allocate more fuel than is used by 1.3 billion Chinese and Indians for all purposes. * The model American male devotes more than 1,600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for gasoline, tolls, insurance, taxes, and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it. And this figure does not take into account the time consumed by other activities dictated by transport: time spent in hospitals, traffic courts, and garages; time spent watching automobile commercials or attending consumer education meetings to improve the quality of the next buy. * The model American puts in 1,600 hours to get 7,500 miles: *less than five miles per hour*. In countries deprived of a transportation industry, people manage to do the same, walking wherever they want to go, and they allocate only 3 to 8 per cent of their society's time budget to traffic instead of 28 per cent. What distinguishes the traffic in rich countries from the traffic in poor countries is not more mileage per hour of life-time for the majority, but more hours of compulsory consumption of high doses of energy, packaged and unequally distributed by the transportation industry. * Man, unaided by any tool, gets around quite efficiently. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer in ten minutes by expending 0.75 calories. Man on his feet is thermodynamically more efficient than any motorized vehicle and most animals. For his weight, he performs more work in locomotion than rats or oxen, less than horses or sturgeon. At this rate of efficiency man settled the world and made its history. At this rate peasant societies spend less than 5 per cent and nomads less than 8 per cent of their respective social time budgets outside the home or the encampment. * Man on a *bicycle *can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man's metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. *Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well.* * Bicycles are not only thermodynamically efficient, they are also cheap. With his much lower salary, the Chinese acquires his durable bicycle in a fraction of the working hours an American devotes to the purchase of his obsolescent car. The cost of public utilities needed to facilitate bicycle traffic versus the price of an infrastructure tailored to high speeds is proportionately even less than the price differential of the vehicles used in the two systems. In the bicycle system, engineered roads are necessary only at certain points of dense traffic, and people who live far from the surfaced path are not thereby automatically isolated as they would be if they depended on cars or trains. The bicycle has extended man's radius without shunting him onto roads he cannot walk. Where he cannot ride his bike, he can usually push it. * The bicycle also uses little space. Eighteen bikes can be parked in the place of one car, thirty of them can move along in the space devoured by a single automobile. It takes three lanes of a given size to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using automated trains, four to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only two lanes for them to pedal across on bicycles. Of all these vehicles, only the bicycle really allows people to go from door to door without walking. The cyclist can reach new destinations of his choice without his tool creating new locations from which he is barred. * Bicycles let people move with greater speed without taking up significant amounts of scarce space, energy, or time. They can spend fewer hours on each mile and still travel more miles in a year. They can get the benefit of technological breakthroughs without putting undue claims on the schedules, energy, or space of others. They become masters of their own movements without blocking those of their fellows. Their new tool creates only those demands which it can also satisfy. Every increase in motorized speed creates new demands on space and time. The use of the bicycle is self-limiting. It allows people to create a new relationship between their life-space and their life-time, between their territory and the pulse of their being, without destroying their inherited balance. The advantages of modern self-powered traffic are obvious, and ignored. That better traffic runs faster is asserted, but never proved. Before they ask people to pay for it, those who propose acceleration should try to display the evidence for their claim. [from: Energy and Equity <http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/%7Eira/illich/texts/energy_and_equity/>. In Ivan Illich: /Toward a History of Needs/. New York: Pantheon, 1978.] -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Mentor needed for an academic paper on Bikes and Poverity
by dragonfly＠mac.hush.com 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hello, Cris and Geoffery and everyone else. My nane is Sasha, and I'm from Torotno, too. I'm from Torotno, but I've spent the past three years plus a little bit in the Detroit area. I lived in downtown Detroit until recently, when I moved back across the border to Windsor; I'm pregnant and I want my kid to be born in Canada. I don't drive, and when I moved to Detroit, I knew it was going to be a struggle to manage Motor City without a car. There are all sorts of issues. Downtown Detroit, (like many other poor neighbourhoods in the USA), is a food desert. That means that there are no grocery stores, or that the grocery stores that are here do not sell healthy food. When I first arrived, I was shocked at the number of diabetic amputatees I saw wheeling themselves around; many of them seemed to be homeless. The best vegetables come from the weekly farmer's market, and there are also good vegetables miles and miles away from my old neighbourhood, in Southwest Detroit, which is a very Hispanic neighbourhood. Transit sucks. Getting food is hard. The stores that do exist often close early, as the store owners fear the ghetto at night. They leave for their homes in suburbs like Dearborn, MI. You get out of school or work and have no where to shop; many families try to live off the terrible food you can get at gas station conveinience stores. Sometimes there are sections of scary no-go zone neighbourhoods inbetween you and the vegetables; the route can be fine or too dangerous at different times of day. This can change with the weather, too. Winter roads are unplowed; summer heat makes people antsy. If you are female, the level of sexual harrassment and threatened or actual sexual violence is profound. A bike is essential in a neighbourhood such as this. You are safer on your bike than you would be walking. The bike extends the available daylight in an amazing way, as you can run errands or meet friends at twilight and even at night, once you know your way around. My bike saved my female soul, I swear. It made me feel safe and powerful, and kept me from becoming stir crazy and too angry to function. It let me breeze past the men screaming obcenities or threatening me. Bringing groceries home from a long way away would be horrible without a bike and a knapsack. In winter, it still sometimes seemed too hard to even try. A bike can make all the difference, but it isn't enough to fix the problems. Until recently, people could not use their food stamps at farmer's markets, so even if they had had a bike, they wouldn't have been able to use it to get vegetables. The time question-- that the vegetables are only available one day a week, or during hours when the woman of the family is working at her job-- is a huge problem. Sometimes also people don't want to cross over an invisible neighbourhood boundery; there is gang activity, there are unwritten rules. A bike can help you go around a whole section of the city is would be better if you didn't try to go through, letting you access needed services or supplies. I don't know how anyone copes without a bike. If you are looking for a mentor, Chris, you might want to get in touch with some of the people who work at or run Back Alley Bikes in Detroit. Some of the best people to talk to are not actually at Back Alley these days-- after six years, some people have decidedto take a break, or to move on to try to start their own shops, or to start community shops in other neighbourhoods. I'll leave my e-mail, and you can contact me for some names. Back Alley was the most important place in Detroit for me. If your bike breaks down in a neighbourhood with no bike shops, you are screwed. I remember going on weird journeys out to suburbs I'd never been to just to get a new tire; the transit was so confusing. The psychological barrier to making that trip might be higher for a born and bred denizen of the Cass Corridor than it was for me, even though I was a disabled foreigner. I'm white, and I'm used to travelling to places I've never been, and I don't have any of the local angst about Eight Mile that xometimes seems like the only thing that city dwellers and suburbanites share. Back Alley is an amazing place. It is one of the most racially and economically integrated places in Detroit. It has the tools and supplies and helpers that you need to fix your bike. If you are thinking or writing about bike cultures in poor place, please always think about supply lines. Think about how you are going to acquire the basic things you need. It gets complicated. So much of you time is spent puzzling out how to get a tube or a patch kit or tire levers (and you need patches and new tubes at a crazy rate, due to all the broken glass all over the streets, and constantly torn up roads.) Sometimes, you are crippled without your bike for want of some simple, simple thing. You need to make friends with other people who ride bikes. You need to be a part of that informal network of reciprocal aid that allows you to survive. The way that people teach at Back Alley is gentle, and I've watched people who never had a good experience of school or of any other learning environment so amazed to discover their own capacities it made me want to cry. Learning how to care for your bike can heal some suprisingly deep wounds. I suprised myself, too. Now I can fix pretty much anything that goes wrong on my bike all by myself; I love the self sufficiency that Detroit and Back Alley inspired in me. As I rode around town, people would shout "Hey, Back Alley Bikes!" at me (now that I've moved, people still do this when I'm back in Detroit; being part of the bike culture make me local; in immigrant recieving areas, that is an important thing to know); it made me feel so much safer to know that I was known to all these people in my neighbourhood; it made me feel watched out for. It was great to start recogizing the bikes of everyone I knew when I saw them locked up around town. In a place where lots of people have no phones, you'd be amazed how easy it is to locate someone because someone else just saw their bike locked up outside someone's house or out in front of the coffee shop. I know that other people felt safer because of me, too. Many women friends or acquaintences would ask me if I'd ride with them when they were trying to claim for themselves some part of the city they'd been too scared to go on their own before they had a bike. Back Alley was the centre of bike culture in Detroit for a while; now that bike culture has more than one centre. There are problems at the shop these days. Back Alley deals with complex issues. Providing safe spaces for girls and women is a huge one. Also, women work hours that make getting to the shop difficult. (Bec brought in a Women and Trans night, like the one inovated by people at Plan B in New Orleans, but we still need more women mechanics who can volunteer, and there are other issues.) It is hard to Earn a Bike for yourself and your two sons when you are a working single mother with no transport who lives in the Cass Coridor. Some sort of better system has to be developed to meet the needs of these women. When my friend had her bike and the bikes of her sons all stolen she was totally devastated. She'd worked hard all winter to acquire them and to fix them up, and her heart was broken. Back Alley serves a large male homeless population, too. The shop is so busy on summer evenings that you have to come hours in advance and sit outside waiting to get a good spot on the waiting list so you can go in. This makes it very hard for men who also need to go and sit and wait to get a meal or a bed for the night. We need some sort of mobile shop to go to the shelters, or some daytime hours or hours especially designed for these men. It is interesting that people mentioned theft. That is a problem in Detroit. Back Alley sees a lot of stolen bikes; people try to sell them to the shop. Often, the owner of the bike will be known to the shop, and the bike will be taken from the theif and returned. Compared to Toronto, I thought people in Detroit were lax about locking up their bikes-- often, you'd see bikes left outside stores not locked up at all, which amazed me. On the other hand, last summer's rash of bike thefts at gunpoint was something new to me. The city policy of scrapping bikes for metal as opposed to taking them to some place like Back Alley provides a market for the thefts. A change in the law and local custom is needed. Bikes are stolen to get drug money, and to use to get away from the scenes of other crimes. Cyclists need to register their bikes and report the crimes to the police, who will laugh at you and not do anything, but who need to be educated about bikes and about how tracking bike crimes could help them deal with other, bigger crimes. I feel odd suggesting the police, but based on all the conversations I've had with people, it seems right to involve them. Perhaps to the bike shop would be a good idea. A map could be set up and the events plotted. Theft at gun point is a serious thing. Eventually, someone is going to be killed, and if caught, the stupid kids responsible are going to have awful experiences in prison. Sorry about the rambling early morning notes about bike culture in a poor neighbourhood. There is a lot more to share, of course. Detroit's bike cultures include fantastic art bikes, and the bike as a means of personal expression in my old neighbourhood would be a great paper for someone. (Some of us are collecting pictures for a book we may manage to create.)Detroit has a great Alley Cats race scene, and gleaner's rides, and many other bike rides. Detroit has Rock Dove Couriers (their T-shirts are coveted, and to possess one is some sort of badge of something.) Detroit has fixed gear scenesters, and old ladies with large bottoms who ride bikes decorated with plastic flowers (I see my future self in them), like any other place. If you bring your bike to the Blessing of the Low Riders in Southwest Detroit this spring, a priest will sprinkle it with holy water. We probably all know lots about the kind of community that bikes can foster, (including the relationship that seems to exist between bike people and community gardeners, which is a super important one in a place dealing with intense food security issues and problems), and I'm sure others share many of these issues and problems. Cris, please consider looking to Detroit for your mentor. On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:34:36 -0500 Geoffrey B <vous.je(a)gmail.com> wrote: >I am from Toronto, Canada, not much use for you > >I have done some research in this field. I have used Stat Can to >show >ridership in the suburbs. The social economic requirements of >riders is >evident. Its ten percent all around my city of Toronto, not >faulting or >fluctuating. The suburban populous ride their bikes not because >they want >to, but because they need to. Transit is three bucks a ride. >People are >forced to ride their bikes without bicycle infrastructure. It >becomes >evident with bike on car casualties in the suburbs and poor and >migrant >people riding their bikes in winter. > >Toronto has a huge migrant population, they know bikes better then >anyone, >they speak the universal language of bike. We work with them, they >help us >with bikes and we help them with English skills. > > One reason that boost bike theft is the level of impoverished >ridership, >the demand for used bikes on the part of the impoverished class >boost bike >theft. Our recycle bike groups try to under price stolen bikes >for sale. > >We give poor people money to volunteer in our shop, we give bikes >to >shelters and employment resource centers. We try to understand the >poor >commuter and work to meet their needs. They can teach us allot >about how the >city works. Relying on public transit us madness. > >Give me shout if i can help you more. Im with the >www.communitybicyclenetwork.org. I worked with BIKESHARE, the >yellow bike >program that lends bikes out to people in need. We scrapped the >program just >to focus on recycling used bikes and mechanical skill sharing. We >also give >out free cooked food cause people think and ride better on a full >tank. >Hehe. > >Geoffrey Bercarich >York Environmental Studies >vous.je(a)gmail.com > >On Feb 17, 2008 9:24 PM, Cris Shirley <cgshirley(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hey! >> So I'm taking a class at Yale on Inequality and American >Democracy, and >> the writing component of the class requires that I find well >established >> community member to work with in developing an academic paper >(about 20 >> pages long) about how bikes help combat poverty in America. If >you would be >> interested in working on this with me please email me back. >Your role would >> be an adviser that would push me to create a paper that would be >beneficial >> to both bike collective community as a whole and to the New >Haven Bike >> Collective by meeting with me on the phone making suggestions >and >> recommending any research that you are familiar with. (Need a >response >> soon!) >> Thanks! >> Cris >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Thethinktank mailing list >> Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org >> >> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank- >bikecollectives.org >> >> > > >-- >"Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia" - H.G. Wells -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Note: This signature can be verified at https://www.hushtools.com/verify Charset: UTF8 Version: Hush 2.5 wkYEARECAAYFAke6nIUACgkQ5O7ahKJmrRlJZwCeJ7xstESXEc+TFqXOkadLkzApgokA nRay6Xjx//PN6j/NnAZYMlhX33q6 =+4e5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Bike Bike Meeting East Bay 2/24 (Woo hoo!)
by Ivan Denker 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

hiya folks ivan, emilyn and quentin here. At the last bike bike meeting (bike church, santa cruz, 1/18) we decided to have the next meeting at our house in the east bay. We live at 3090 King St<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3090+King+St,+Berkeley,+CA+94703,+USA&sa=X&oi…>. at Prince St. in south Berkeley. That's two blocks south of Ashby and three blocks west of MLK. We are about three minute's walk from the Ashby BART. Discussed meeting time was noon on sunday, february 24th. If you have a really, really big issue with that time, please email the group so we can see if we need to figure something else out, otherwise, I think that's the plan. Ok? Ok. any emergencies, please call Emilyn at (831) 421 1942 (i.e., if you're lost, if you get part of your bike stuck in the BART door and need us to send a rescue squad, if you're dying for want of an odwalla bar just a few blocks away, we'll be there.) Loving Bicycles from your Invasive, Non-Native Bike Church Transplants in the East Bay

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Mentor needed for an academic paper on Bikes and Poverity
by Cris Shirley 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

Hey! So I'm taking a class at Yale on Inequality and American Democracy, and the writing component of the class requires that I find well established community member to work with in developing an academic paper (about 20 pages long) about how bikes help combat poverty in America. If you would be interested in working on this with me please email me back. Your role would be an adviser that would push me to create a paper that would be beneficial to both bike collective community as a whole and to the New Haven Bike Collective by meeting with me on the phone making suggestions and recommending any research that you are familiar with. (Need a response soon!) Thanks! Cris

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Earn-A-Biker wants BMX
by Rich Points 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

Collectives, We work with the Boulder County Jail's work release program where inmates begin the program at our shop and Earn-A-Bike. This past weekend we did a bunch of work in our storage where we keep kids bikes. Three of the work release guys, in their late twenties and early thirties, found BMX bikes they wanted to keep as their Earn-A-Bike. Our response was to discourage this as we generally try to set people up with commuter style bikes. I especially tried to discourage the six foot two guy from choosing a BMX. We're aware that /some /people are more than happy to commute by BMX but believe that won't work for most people. So the question is should we allow the work release guys to choose any bike they want regardless of the practicality? Are we being elitist bike snobs to make this decision for them? Should we just be happy we got them back on a bike? Feedback is appreciated. -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019

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Lance Armstrong unveils his new commuting bike shop
by Rich Points 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

Maybe there is hope. http://www.austin360.com/recreation/content/recreation/stories/2008/02/0214… -- Rich Points Community Cycles Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019

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Keeping track of bike/part sales...
by Jonathan Morrison 17 Feb '08

17 Feb '08

For those of you that do it, how do you do it? What information do you or don't you record? -- 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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BCN: International Map of Shops now working
by Jonathan Morrison 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

http://www.bikecollectives.org/component/option,com_sobi2/sobi2Task,search/… In a nut shell you have to enter your lattitude and longitude into your directory entry. If you don't know it, just enter and save your address and visit this link to automatically calculate and set it: http://www.bikecollectives.org/component/option,com_sobi2test/ Note: If you entered a "poorly formated" address, it may have trouble calculating it. Try looking your address up in google maps first, and using the way they format it. -- 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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Bike music festival
by Taylor 14 Feb '08

14 Feb '08

Yea gabe! I met him in san fran after a crit mass ride! Keep the list updated if its happening again!

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Bicycle Music Festival?
by Jonathan Morrison 13 Feb '08

13 Feb '08

http://www.bicyclemusicfestival.com/ -- 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] Volunteering time
by Andrew Bushaw 13 Feb '08

13 Feb '08

Kyle, I will stand in solidarity with everything you just said. It's refreshing to hear someone frame the idea of white and class privilege in such an elegant but accessible way. Mainly I just wanted to voice my support because this is a tough discussion to have but an important one. To Bruce's comment about women and bike shops, I'd have to say that you are using a symptom of patriarchy (few women not in bike shops) to justify that outcome. For an analogy: if there was no bike rack or pole or anything to lock your bike up to outside of a new Thai restaurant, should the owner of the shop assume that you not eating there because it "you as a cyclist innately don't like Thai food" or because there is barrier to entry, not having a place to put your ride? If he assumes it's because cyclists don't like Thai food, he'll never put a bike rack out front and you'll never eat there. Maybe that's a goofy analogy but maybe it's still relevant. We actually had this discussion with a couple of women that frequently patronize the shop when we asked them if they would be interested in a womens only night. Their response was pretty interesting. They said that it would be nice so that new women patrons could become comfortable in a new setting with other women but then once they felt confident in the basics they wouldn't have any problem going to regular shop hours because the wouldn't feel like they were relying on men volunteers for everything. I think that makes a lot of sense. As to the folks that get uncomfortable about this and feel they are being accused of "being a racist" this examination of privilege isn't about personal prejudice but rather about institutional racism, the systems that have permeated American society from it's inception. Wage and wealth inequities based on race, access to services based on race, gentrification, unfair employment practices, structures of the economy, allocation of democratic rights, these are all part of institutional racism that is at the core of white privilege. Really it's about admitting that it exists, owning it and trying to find ways to use it to a mutual benefit of everyone involved (organizing a community bike shop and empowering those communities without white male privilege) and that is light years more progressive and effective than than going on about how your not a racist and your oppressed too (not saying anyone here has done that but it's a common response from liberal folks). I think paying wage is a great way to enable marginalize peoples to participate in Com. Bike shops and I'm sure there are many more, we need to find those too! Keep the ideas coming! Andrew FM Community Bicycle Workshop

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Re: [TheThinkTank] bio cleaner, and bike blue book....
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

Beth you are Crazy! and I hope you stay that way sane people are so boring. Blue book bicycle pricing is the same as pricing a house. A bike in one market will bring a different price in a different market. A three bedroom Victorian house in the middle of a corn field will bring a different price in down town Chicago, Boston, San Francisco. Some markets have fads they go though. The west coast has a mini fad of old TT super bikes from the 1980's ( does anyone remember the 24" front 700c or 28" rear wheeled bikes? I have two of them. Fast and painful to the neck. New and used cars are kept at superficial price by nation wide dealer networks, New bikes are under the same control from the manufactures, Used bikes are not sold buy most shops so they are priced at what the local market will bare. A car is also priced by mileage, All car have odometers All bikes do not. Hard to tell how many miles are on the bike. Hard to swap out drive train in a car, easy to replace derailleurs, chain, cogs, chain rings, wheels. Cars that are modified are discounted at the dealers and sell better on the open market. Bikes that are upgraded are no big deal because all used bike are sold on the open market. I say go for it, There were blue books in the past for bicycles and you can do anything you put your mind to. It is also a big project with no end and constant updating. The BIO cleaner is a ball of wax, it is good to use Bio solvents (citrus oils or Detergents like Simple Green, Dawn) then filter the water and put a oil filters in a enzyme bath that will eat up the oil. I have not seen enzymes that work fast enough to clean a chain in 10 minutes. I do know enzymes will chew up oil over time in a barrel out back. **************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. Go to AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)

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Fwd: FYI: Lance Camisasca Receives BRAINy Individual Advocacy Award
by Jonathan Morrison 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chip Smith <csmith(a)soarcomm.com> Date: Feb 11, 2008 1:24 PM Subject: FYI: Lance Camisasca Receives BRAINy Individual Advocacy Award To: info(a)bikecollectives.org *Dear Jonathan,* FYI. In conjunction with the Bicycle Leadership Conference held in San Diego last month, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News presented Lance Camisasca, former Interbike show director, with the BRAINy award for Individual Advocacy. The award honored the advocacy alliances he built and sustained during his tenure with Interbike and beyond. The complete news release is below. Sincerely, Chip Smith, for Interbike and Lifeboat Solutions SOAR Communications 801.523.3730 csmith(a)soarcomm.com ========================= *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* *Lance Camisasca Receives Individual Advocacy BRAINy Award from Bicycle Retailer and Industry News* *Interbike consultant and former show director honored for sustaining and creating new advocacy alliances and increasing Interbike's investment in advocacy fundraising* *LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - Feb. 11, 2008 -* Lifeboat Solutions founder and Interbike industry consultant, Lance Camisasca, was recently named Individual Advocate of the Year by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. The award was presented at a dinner and reception held in conjunction with the Bicycle Leadership Conference, January 18-20, 2008. Now in its eighth year, the BRAINy Individual Advocacy Award recognizes individuals within the cycling industry who have been an effective agent of change and a positive mouthpiece for the industry. "As a committed cyclist and bike commuter, Lance appreciates the important role bike advocacy groups play in making our streets safer for cyclists," said Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. "Moreover, he understands just how critical advocacy efforts are to the growth of the bike business. In his role as Interbike show director, he has supported numerous national bike advocacy groups over the years, providing them visibility, promotional and fundraising opportunities at the show." According to industry members, Camisasca has been a consistent supporter of all the national bike advocacy groups and has created a variety of successful fundraising projects in support of groups like Bikes Belong, the League of American Bicyclists and IMBA. He also recently helped broker a new 10-year alliance between Nielsen Business Media and Bikes Belong that will substantially increase Interbike's investment in important advocacy programs such as Safe Routes to School and Bike Friendly Communities. Independent from the retailer BRAINy awards, the Individual Advocacy award is based on industry nominations with the final decision being made by BRAIN and Bikes Belong staff members. Past honorees include Ariadne Scott of Specialized, Bill Fry of Bell Sports and Gary Sjoquist of QBP. "I am proud to have been a part of increasing Interbike's monetary and in-kind advocacy efforts over the years, even when budgeting was tough," said Camisasca. "Looking back, I am grateful to various show owners who listened to and respected my advocacy efforts and team members like Mike Greeham, who patiently taught me 'Advocacy 101'." While Camisasca is no longer the show director for Interbike, he is still very involved in the high-level strategy and management of the expo as an industry consultant. With the creation of his new event management, sales and marketing firm, Lifeboat Solutions, Camisasca also helps individual manufacturers identify and develop cost effective tradeshow strategies, and provides logistical support such as identifying vendor partners, service form submission, on-site coordination and post show follow-up. For more information about Lifeboat Solutions, please visit www.lifeboatsolutions.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0015ONwy4Ws-2meF52RmT1ubihyGDD5hMlt59KJIOSgBNgesB6k…>or contact Lance Camisasca at lance(a)lifeboatsolutions.com. *About Lifeboat Solutions *Founded in 2008 by Lance Camisasca, Lifeboat Solutions is an event management, sales and marketing firm that provides consulting services to companies within the recreational sporting goods industry, such as Interbike, Health+Fitness Business, and Bikes Belong. For more information about Lifeboat Solutions, please visit www.lifeboatsolutions.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0015ONwy4Ws-2meF52RmT1ubihyGDD5hMlt59KJIOSgBNgesB6k…> . # # # *MEDIA CONTACTS: *Chip Smith, SOAR Communications, 801.523.3730(wk) / 801.597.7515(cell), csmith(a)soarcomm.com or Lance Camisasca, Lifeboat Solutions, 949.444.8805, lance(a)lifeboatsolutions.com Forward email<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1101387134951&ea=info%40bikecol…> <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?v=001fCFdTiS7mDQCQB3mNdsHuGTDUaAgc…> This email was sent to info(a)bikecollectives.org, by csmith(a)soarcomm.com Update Profile/Email Address<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?v=001fCFdTiS7mDQCQB3mNdsHuGTDUaAgc…>| Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?v=001fCFdTiS7mDQCQB3mNdsHuGTDUaAgc…>™ | Privacy Policy <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp>. Email Marketing<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_BusLet_003>by <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_BusLet_003> SOAR Communications | 392 E. 12300 S. | Suite J | Draper | UT | 84020

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Valet Bike Parking
by Jonathan Morrison 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

Does anyone else do it? http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Valet_Bike_Parking -- 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] Valet Bike Parking
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

Chicago Bicycle Federation works with banks to pay for Valet Parking at many down town events through the summer. night time movie nights, food, cultural events, triathlons, and the end of family bike ride. Simple snow fencing, for the outside barrier, three staff, metal racks for 500 bikes, and paper claim tickets for the patrons and their bikes, a repair stand if you want to get fancy **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp0030000… 48)

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Parts washers/gmail
by Tom Emm 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

Pat, scroll down a little and click on link that say parts washers, after "Kelly bluebook" also, a few letters in the gmail should be looked at. Tom Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org You can reach the person managing the list at thethinktank-owner(a)bikecollectives.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: bio cleaner, and bike blue book.... (Jonathan Morrison) 2. Valet Bike Parking (Jonathan Morrison) 3. Re: Valet Bike Parking (ronald ferrucci) 4. Re: Valet Bike Parking (keri conrad) 5. Re: Valet Bike Parking (Urban Bike Project of Wilmington, Inc.) 6. Re: Valet Bike Parking (Chris Carlsson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 10:30:46 -0700 From: "Jonathan Morrison" Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] bio cleaner, and bike blue book.... To: "The Think Tank" Message-ID: <4dd29fd10802100930v77acfcc3t858adfcb5718e8df(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" 1) The Kelley Blue Book for cars is also affected by region too. We have a unique issue because to keep our shop from getting too full we sell the bikes for next to nothing, or give them away to people who have a letter from a good will agency, just so they don't start stacking up. Working Bikes in Chicago is a great example of an organization who makes their margins in quantity. 2) http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Parts_Washers -- 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/ On Feb 10, 2008 12:17 AM, Angelo Coletta wrote: > While there is no comprehensive pricing book for cycles, there are ones > that have been done for those who collect "classic American bikes(1930 to > 1960)" > > I have used a halfing method for appraisal. $200 was the new selling > price; 1yr old $100; 2yr $50.00 and so forth. That is a base line. Then > comes the art and the subjective: condition, desirability, rarity. Any > up-fitting done? Frame type and size. Component quality. Accessories. > All factors that affect value. Also there is the wholesale price and the > retail price. That would reflect any labor invested in making the unit > saleable. > > Hope this helps. > > Angelo > > *Velocipede Bike Project * wrote: > > So here are two hare brain ideas that have been thrown out here in > baltimore and i wanted to get y'alls take on them... > > 1. a bicycle blue book...we were talking about pricing bikes and how > arbitrary it often seems,(often two members will claim wildly different > prices with equal authority and citing the same number of sources) and > someone mentioned that in this time of the growing bicycle > collective/community shop projects there may be enough of a market to be > able to approach a publisher about creating a blue book that would price > for instance, a 1982 murray...I know this sounds crazy, but I was > wondering how crazy was it really.... > > 2. Someone approached us recently about a bio friendly parts cleaner. > Apparently it has enzymes that eat oil so less bad stuff going into the > environment/less exposure to toxic chemicals ourselves. He said he may be > able to get us a machine for free, but it would cost around a grand to > fill it up. does anyone have any experience with this kind of machine or > technology? Is it worth our time and fundraising? I've been thinking alot > lately about ways to make our shop more green friendly by doing things > like cutting down on plastic use and using vinegar and baking soda as > cleaners instead of bleach and such... > > http://www.biocircle.com/portal/page?_pageid=73,394253&_dad=portal&_schema=… > > what do y'all think? am I crazy? > -beth > velocipede bike project > baltmore, md(hey, try to remember to include your city and shop in posts) > > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > >

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Sheldon Brown passed away...
by Jonathan Morrison 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html -- 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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Volunteering time
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

Being white gives us privileges that might make it easier to 'donate' a lot of time to a project you love. Nice racist statement. Other communities donate time to things they cherish. All races and earning levels donate time to the religious practice of their choice. That is universal. Bikes, sadly, are not cherished universally by all communities. Owning a house is focused more in some communities and the car is just a tool to get to work. Owning a fancier car has a greater focus in some communities and owning property is less of a focus. Of course this is a generalization and there are always exceptions. In either rich or poor a community where there is more focus on the car as a status symbol; the bike is less likely to be Cherished. How many Yuppies or true upper crust volunteers do you have? Any Trumps?, Hiltons?, Pritzkers? They all have the money to stop working and volunteer at your bike program. But sadly they do not cherish the bicycle. So for a communities that do not cherish the bicycle, you need to invite the local community members into you bike shop if you want diversity. The bike program should offer adult training and have OBIOUS ways for the adults to volunteer to work on bikes, teach youth, sell bikes, teach other adults, work on inventory, work on web sites, spread the message to the community, help with business contacts, help with volunteers and what ever you need to be successful. I have had special classes for women taught by women that liked my classes. Not all women want the first classes to be with men. They what to do it "on there own" and want to have a like minded teacher, not a person who does a project for them. They want self sufficiency and to feel supported. We need to support the needs of a diverse community, if we want them to come and be part of our shops. If they do not love the bike now, you will have to teach them LOVE OF DA BIKE! and give them oppertunity. Christopher Wallace Chicago **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp0030000… 48)

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Key woes and solutions!
by Jonathan Morrison 08 Feb '08

08 Feb '08

I don't know if your organization has issues with volunteers, "lost" or M.I.A. keys, or just not knowing who left the shop a mess after hours. We did, but after looking into all the options ( http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Keyless_Entry) we were able to get a smart card (RFID) reader donated for our shop door. This has worked out really well so far. * A log is kept of who uses the shop and when for accountabilities sake. * Smart cards (http://www.hidcorp.com/technology.php?tech_cat=1&subcat_id=9) can be purchased at any locksmith for the same cost of getting a traditional key cut, but they don't work until they are "registered" with software that controls the door. * Smart cards cannot be copied. * If a card is lost or there is a problem with a volunteer that can't be resolved in a civil manner -- the card can be denied future access. Luckily we haven't had that anything besides "lost" keys. * Access to the shop can be limited to the hour, so if we wanted to we could incubate a volunteer by only giving them access to the shop at certain times. * A magnetic contact on the door gives us a count of roughly how many people use our shop. We realize that some people hold the door for others and some go in and out more than once -- while those might cancel each other out, it is a rough estimate. * We installed the smart card reader at "butt" level. So if it is in your wallet you can open the door without taking your hands off a bike with the "butt swipe." * No personal information is stored on the smart (RFID) card, there is just a pre-programmed number that has to be an inch away for a card reader to detect. -- 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] Volunteering time
by Jessica McPherson 07 Feb '08

07 Feb '08

Also, can I point out that there is a big difference between characterizing a statement or action as racist, and calling a person a racist? I think it's really important to be able to talk frankly about racism, and that is hard when bringing up the word at all is automatically interpreted as calling people racists. We all do or say racist things sometimes. It doesn't mean we're evil, horrible people. It means there's a situation when people could benefit from honest discussion and an opportunity to learn from others' perspectives. So can we try to be open to that without being offensive/taking offense? And make an extra effort to be clear when this loaded word does get put out there? Race, gender, and class all definitely fit into this issue of accessibility, so it's great we're talking about it those terms. And it's complicated; we can probably all learn something from other peoples' experience. -Jessica ----- Original Message ---- From: Erik Ryberg <ryberg(a)seanet.com> To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2008 2:29:22 PM Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Volunteering time When I went to college I was a poor white kid from rural Oregon on a scholarship to a fancy East Coast private university. Everybody I met there had more money than I did. During the summers they all went off to unpaid internships in NY or LA. I had similar offers, but there was just no way I could afford to do that, move to NYC for three months with no pay. When my friends graduated they got jobs at these places and I ended up working at a bakery. That's what Kyle was talking about. And as an aside he made the leap, perhaps disputed by some here, that people who are not white are more often among those who don't have a lot of money. Maybe you don't agree, but all he was saying is that if you pay people, then you will be more likely to find class and probably race diversity on your staffs. True? False? Maybe? I don't know, but it makes logical sense, and it seems possible to agree with him or disagree with him without being a racist. Erik Ryberg ien wrote: > I see Kyle's point as tunnel vision. Look at other areas reliant on > volunteers and you will see many females, in some cases overwhelmingly. > Case in point: the local chapter of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters > organization reported their volunteers by gender composition is 75% > female, 25% male. That should shoot the theory of white boys being > privileged and in positions to volunteer. It is the bike business in > general that attracts males to the sport. Don't believe me then take a > look at the staff at any bike shop for your random sample. Females are a > breath of fresh air to the sport of cycling and bike riding in general. > But look also to the junior ranks of any state cycling organization and > you will find many more males than females. Credit to those that > volunteer and here is wishing more would join us, especially females. > bikedad > > */Andy Dyson <andy(a)neighborhoodbikeworks.org>/* wrote: > > BovineOaks(a)aol.com wrote: > > Being white gives us privileges that might make it easier to > 'donate' a > > lot of time to a project you love. Nice racist statement. > > > > Some great points in your post, Christopher, but it's the first line I > have a problem with. I think that if you're going to call someone a > racist you should do so in a more direct and clear way, for all of our > benefit. > > Perhaps I'm just not smart, but sarcasm like the above leaves me > wondering exactly what about Kyle's post you thought was racist and > why. > There are various interpretations I could think of, but why people in > our community are calling each other racists is not an area where I > want > to jump to any conclusions. I do actually want to know what you think, > because I don't think that Kyle was denying that people of all > backgrounds volunteer, rather that privilege exists and it makes things > easier for young, white males. > > I think that the whole point of Kyle's post is to draw attention to the > existence of privilege, something that, in my experience, is not > obvious > to all of us. > > Peace, > > Andy > > -- > Andrew C. Dyson > Executive Director Neighborhood Bike Works > Increasing opportunities for youth through bicycling > > > Check our Web Site: > http://www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org > > > Neighborhood Bike Works > 3916 Locust Walk, > Philadelphia, PA 19104 > > > Office: (215) 386-0316 > Cell: (215) 873-6695 > FAX: (215) 386-7288 > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Erik B. Ryberg Attorney at Law 445 West Simpson Street Tucson, AZ 85701 (520) 622-3333 _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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Cheap Helmets!
by AndaLaLucha 05 Feb '08

05 Feb '08

Hello Think Tankers, I was wondering where people get their kids bike helmets from. Has anyone had sucess getting some donated? Are their websites/companies people can recommend. So far we have found www.prorider.com $3 for basic kinda crappy helmets www.*helmets*rus.net/*nonprofit*/ $5 and $6 for nicer helmet with modern adjusting features that are much safer Any other ideas? Andalusia P.S R.I.P. Sheldon Brown : ( PPS If i get a chance I may also try later to explain how free ride's volunteer/comission/contracting staff system works.

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Re: [TheThinkTank] [SLC Bike Collective] Sheldon Brown passed away...
by Bacus, Tom (KLC) 05 Feb '08

05 Feb '08

Sad news indeed. I never met him, but he helped me set up my first single speed via phone calls and email. The bike community has lost one of the great ones. -------------------------- Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld ----- Original Message ----- From: community-bounces(a)slcbikecollective.org <community-bounces(a)slcbikecollective.org> To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org>; SLC Bicycle Collective <community(a)slcbikecollective.org>; SLC Critical Mass <community(a)slccriticalmass.org> Sent: Mon Feb 04 13:17:03 2008 Subject: [SLC Bike Collective] Sheldon Brown passed away... http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html -- 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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alternative payment/stipend structures
by Erik Stockmeier 04 Feb '08

04 Feb '08

Hello, comrades, At BB last year I heard a number of different takes on the issue of payment to core/committed/etc members of the shop. This is obviously something that many of us have struggled with--a small stipend can enable someone to spend much more time in the shop and increase productivity, etc, but it also can have pitfalls: shifting emphasis toward making money & away from service/community/etc goals. Not to be nosey, but I'm wondering how different shops have approached this, both through payrolls and alternate routes. I'm also wondering what kind of decision-making and account-taking goes on in regards to taking care of each others' needs so that neither individuals nor the organisation as an organism is exploited. There are also questions of seasonable labor, the threat of a paid, empowered elite vs the volunteer masses... I'm just thinking out loud. Sorry this question is so broad and filled with etc's. If any kind of discussion comes out of it I will be happy to elaborate on my own experiences (can't speak for all of The Recyclery) but for now I'm curious about what else is out there and how well it has worked. I'm interested to hear from all-volunteer groups as well, of course. Thanks- Erik Stockmeier The Recyclery www.therecyclery.org

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Collective members/ordering from QBP
by Jessica McPherson 04 Feb '08

04 Feb '08

Something to add is that we require people to give 24 hours volunteer time every three months in order to join the collective council. The qbp privilege is a bonus for that commitment. And, it is consistent with QBP's policy, in that the people who can make personal orders are essentially the "employees" of the shop. -Jessica ----- Original Message ---- From: Stuart O Anderson <soa(a)ri.cmu.edu> To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 4:17:43 PM Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Collective members/ordering from QBP I can't find the policy on the QBP dealer site, you might want to call your account rep to check. I believe the deal is that it's OK for shop employees to make personal orders for personal use, possibly with some total dollar cap on how much can be ordered for this use in a year? We let collective members add items to our orders for personal use with the understanding that the stuff they order isn't going to be given away/resold. If someone wants more than $500 worth of stuff it goes through collective review. Stuart On Jan 30, 2008 2:14 PM, <plan_9(a)riseup.net> wrote: > I was wondering if anyone has any policy in place that allows or > dis-allows collective members from ordering new parts, frame/forks, or > even complete bikes from QBP. Shops that do allow ordering, what > restrictions from QBP apply? > Thanks, Andrew > FMCBW > > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Forums for Website
by Sarah 04 Feb '08

04 Feb '08

Hey, y'all! Anyone have an amazing free forum program you run on your website? Or, what have folks used on BikeBike websites in the past? Are there free forums you suggest, or some you don't like at all? Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks, ~ Sarahtops thebestsarah(a)gmail.com Madison, Wisconsin FreeWheel Community Bike Shop - www.freewheelbikes.org Neverwood Collective - www.pnc2rnc.org

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Collective members/ordering from QBP
by plan_9＠riseup.net 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

I was wondering if anyone has any policy in place that allows or dis-allows collective members from ordering new parts, frame/forks, or even complete bikes from QBP. Shops that do allow ordering, what restrictions from QBP apply? Thanks, Andrew FMCBW

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Grant Seeking and Collective Foundation Center Subscription?
by rachael spiewak 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Hi, everyone! People have been asking us lately about how we do our grant seeking. We're not experts (at bike maintenance either), but we've scored a little bit of support in the last few months. What helps the most is the Foundation Center, and we're lucky enough to have a physical location in Atlanta. However, there are tons of free resources on their website, and I just learned about a bunch at a workshop there recently. They also publish books, and I'm thinking about getting their Guides to Proposal Writing<http://foundationcenter.org/marketplace/catalog/product_monograph.jhtml?id=…> . *The FAQ has tons of technical info, and links pretty heavily to samples of things. I used the Letter of Inquiry<http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/faqs/html/letter.html>entry recently, and it was massively helpful. I put a sample letter that I wrote on the BCN Wiki<http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Grant_Writing>(but I can't figure out the formatting). *There are free online tutorials<http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/learnabout/foundations.html>at the bottom of this page. *As for process.. *I would like to suggest that we buy a collective subscription<https://fcsecure.fdncenter.org/fdo_signup_prof/register.php?setplan=start>so everyone can access the database regardless of location. When you access a record in the database, it returns critical info, like areas of interest, contact info, initial contact method, etc.. all the things you need to know so you can zero in on the foundations that are likely to help you and start building a relationship with them. What we're going for are as non-corporate as possible Atlanta-specific foundations that provide operational support to community development organizations. Most of these are interested in education and/or the environment, so we fit right in. It gets that specific. *To get started on thinking through what your organization does, what you need money for, and whom to ask: **Create a logic model<http://www.managementhelp.org/np_progs/np_mod/org_frm.htm>. This helps you name and quantify measurable things. *Create a budget. We have a spreadsheet broken down by month, things quantified by quarter, and a projected annual budget. I did this in Open Office spreadsheet, but maybe some folks have found more user friendly software. Anyway, included are major developments so we can relate those things with changes in income and expenses. It's easy then to prove how shop activity and income generated increased when we expanded shop hours. And that makes it easy to describe how operational support for a Shop Manager salary will provide the necessary means to support said explosion in shop awesomeness. *Create a companion timeline. *Have a compelling and concise argument, and make sure everything relates back to your mission statement. *Start early. Grant seeking is not just filling out an application and turning it in on the deadline. It's a process of getting to know people. *Realize that Operation Support can include personnel. You may be organizing a community bike shop that could benefit from having some paid staff. *For folks wondering how we're pitching ourselves: *Sopo is a community development organization. We use bicycle repair education as a way to empower people while we work together to create affordable transportation. Our core program is the Shop. The Shop is open to the public four days a week, and it is accessed by 100 people per week, including drop in visitors, volunteers, donors, community leaders, kids, etc. All participants access the shop in order to share resources and knowledge. The organization has paid director, and our next staffing goal is to hire a project manager for our core program (Shop Manager). If you need more info on the community development piece: Creating affordable housing and food security is considered community development activity. Like housing and food, transportation is a major household expense (see: the Census), and taken together we've got our big three producers of pollution and consumers of energy. Transportation is the neglected component when it comes to organizations creating affordable access (A lack of vocabulary indicates social invisibility [I think of gender expression and pronouns here]. How many organizations are addressing rampant "transportationlessness" in our communities?). Community bike shops not only address an economic gap. We also address the social and environmental components (which means we're doing sustainable development work). I have a diagram that goes along with this. And a flowchart. Nerd alert. Anyway, I hope this helps. : ) -- 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 Important Dates: Monday, January 28, 6 pm - Volunteer Orientation at Sopo Wednesday, January 30, 7 pm - Craft Night at 858-C DeKalb Ave

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GrassRoutes [Bicycle] Caravan August!
by Sarah 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hey, bike enthusiasts! I wanted to give y'all a heads-up about a bicycle caravan taking place in August 2008. The Neverwood Collective in Madison, Wisconsin is organizing a bike ride to St. Paul, Minnesota, arriving a few days ahead of the Republican National Convention protests! We're calling the ride the GrassRoutes Caravan, as we'll be hooking up with various grassroots organizations along our route, doing volunteer work and learning about regional struggles. Madison is holding a counter-convention to the Republican and Democrat National Conventions. It's called the People's Networking Convention (PNC), and it's going down August 15-17th. The GrassRoutes Caravan will link the PNC to the RNC. Check out more about the PNC and the Caravan at: www.infopnc.org -- People's Networking Convention www.pnc2rnc.org -- GrassRoutes Caravan We're super-excited about the GrassRoutes Caravan! It's sort of a mix between the Democracy Uprising DNC2RNC march in 2004, work done by the SuperHeroes collective, cycle circuses everywhere, a mobile version of Burning Man, and everything in-between! We just published a zine about our vision -- find it to download online. We welcome any input, advice, or bike travel hints you may have. I invite y'all, and yer bikes, to the Midwest this August for our mobile village of resistance! I hope to hear from you soon! Sincerely, ~ Sarahtops of the Neverwood Collective Madison, Wisconsin PS: Many thanks if you spread this message far and wide!

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selling bikes
by Liza Mattana 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

if this has been answered before, can you link me to the archive thread? my questions is how does your org price used bikes? we've come across some nice older bikes (bridgestone CB-0 and an old stumpjumper), and we're trying to figure out a way to price them, kind of a way to standardize the process. we'll be turning them into commuter bikes with fenders and racks and making them safe and rideable, but we're not doing complete overhauls. i know this is a tricky question, but any advice you have will be helpful! thanks, liza -- Liza Mattana www.pedals2people.org Spokane, WA

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mailing list
by Tom Christopher 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Please put me on your mailing list. Thanks, Tom

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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 17 Jan '08

17 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 16 Jan '08

16 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 13 Jan '08

13 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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