- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Appraising the value of a bike
by Rick Nonnekes 07 Aug '14

07 Aug '14

We recently had a lady bring in a bike for donation. It is an early 1980's Rossi Columbia, custom made for her. She's adamant that it is plated with 24k gold - looks like it too (although we're speculating on gold coloured chrome). It's in good condition. Can anyone suggest how we can get it appraised for value? Cycle Transitions, Cobourg Ontario, Canada

7 7

Re: [TheThinkTank] Paid Staff Members
by christopher＠holisticcycles.com 01 Aug '14

01 Aug '14

1 0

Paid Staff Members
by mpattisall 01 Aug '14

01 Aug '14

What is considered fair compensation, salary or pay for employees of a bike cooperative? I realize this will vary quite a bit depending on location, hours, experience and position of staff member, shop manager or mechanic. -- Mike Pattisall http://velocitycoop.org/

2 1

alcohol at shop - during meetings - pros and cons?
by momoko saunders 31 Jul '14

31 Jul '14

Hey all, We at Bike Farm recently had a proposal to ban alcohol at our general meetings. We already have a strict policy against alcohol during open shop hours. I'd love to know if other shops have policy around alcohol during meetings or in the shop off hours. Do you have concrete examples of how this effects the shop and it's patrons/volunteers? For those who do not have alcohol, do you notice an difference in time spent hanging out with other collective members, did it change the social dynamic? How does it affect your volunteer pool? For those who have alcohol, do you discuss it often? Do you think it adds or deters from your collective? What is the role of alcohol? The arguments in my mind seem to revolve around safer spaces and regulation. I believe in having as little regulation as possible, but I also respect the need for safer spaces. I wonder if there's a way to not introduce policy while still making an inviting space for all. Your thoughts and experiences would be appreciated! -momoko

15 16

JA Stein and boutique
by Leslie Peteya 24 Jul '14

24 Jul '14

Hi everyone, Has anyone ordered from JA Stein lately? We have several specialty tools we'd like to order from him (frame and fork jig) and haven't heard from him since December. If he's not making tools anymore, does anyone know of any other toolmakers who can produce the more uncommon tools? Best, Leslie Durham Bike Coop

5 5

Earn-a-Bike documentation and reporting?
by Lauren Warbeck 21 Jul '14

21 Jul '14

Hey Folks! When not immersed in planning an Ohio-themed Bike! Bike! fundraiser dance party (!!!), I'm actually doing other for real work. Including the exploration of formats, documentation, and reporting for our youth volunteering and Earn-a-Bike programs. Here in British Columbia, high school students are required to complete something like 30 hours of work experience (ie free labour) to graduate, and we get a lot of youth completing this requirement at our shops. We also run pretty informal Earn-a-Bike programs for youth who are in unconventional education settings, accessing social services, in alternative programs, or can't access our in-school programming for any variety of reasons. Lots of these kids are really focused on getting a job, but we can rarely accommodate that. I'm in the process of creating a checklist/worksheet of mechanical and interpersonal skills acquired by youth as they volunteer in our spaces. The idea is that it would include gradients of skill, becoming increasingly more complex as time goes on. It would be used to guide their time in the shop, and also document what they've learned. It would be the youth's responsibility to fill the checklist out over time and have staff sign off on it, and when it's completed, we would write them a letter of recommendation to be used in applying for jobs, school, whateva. So....do yall have anything like this in place? Or any other relevant Earn-a-Bike or alternative youth programming materials I can creep and reap? SEND THEM TO ME! Thanks buddiez! Lauren @ OCB

4 5

Bike rental advice
by Jennifer Kay 21 Jul '14

21 Jul '14

Hello, We - La Bikery Cooperative in Moncton, NB, Canada - are writing a business plan for a small-scale bike rental business. *If your bike organization rents bicycles*, *we would LOVE your input !* *The survey is found here: * https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LaBikeryBikeRental Just fill in what you know. It should take about 15 minutes. We are asking for your responses by this *Friday July 25*. *Thank you!!* *[image: Inline image 1]*

1 0

Disabling frames to be scrapped?
by Andrew Shooner 21 Jul '14

21 Jul '14

Our shop recently changed our procedure regarding scrap bikes: any donated bikes that we conclude we will scrap rather than rehab & redistribute are now disabled by cutting the frame of the bike. Recently, some donated bike that had been put in our scrap pile appeared on Craigslist. We had two concerns: first, that donors would be unhappy that their donations were being sold by another party, and second that we could develop a reputation as a source of scrap bikes to be picked and sold elsewhere (and usually those bikes were beyond safe repair). I'd like to hear other perspectives. Is controlling the use of donated bikes (to maintain the integrity of a donation as well as the safety of bikes coming through the shop) worth disabling a bike that might otherwise be reused downstream? Andy Broke Spoke Community Bike Shop Lexington, KY

11 11

Ride club curriculum
by Cweibel, Rebecca 20 Jul '14

20 Jul '14

Hi folks, I'm also new to this resource, but loving it! Forgive me if this sort of thing has already been asked, or if you're getting this a second time because I've already emailed you personally. I'm working with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and Neighborhood Bike Works to create a curriculum toolkit for a month-long youth ride club. We'd love to hear from everyone with youth ride clubs (or even adult programs, if they're not endurance training-based), and we're especially interested in projects concerned with environmental stewardship. Do you have any sort of curriculum materials for anything in these areas? I'd love to see comprehensive curriculum, but even week-by-week topics/bullet points would be really helpful. Many thanks in advance! Rebecca

3 3

membership/donor management software
by Falls City Community BikeWorks 17 Jul '14

17 Jul '14

Hey all, I'm new to this community resource, but love it already. Such creativity out there! I'm trying to find some free/cheap software to help organize our new community bikeshop's mushrooming files. I've looked at BigTent, GroupSpaces, MemberPlanet, and SilkStart...they don't do what I need them to, and really just create more work... Features wishlist includes: - Membership management (with admin ability to add members, a way to attach a signed waiver to each member account, and easy option to send out membership renewal reminders) - Shop calendar (with sign-up options) - Donor management (with option to track donations) - Online payment option (or ability to link to PayPal) Any advice (pro/con) about the software you've tried would be greatly appreciated. With gratitude, Bella Isabella Christensen & John Krueger (FCCBikeWorks) 502-558-3157 / 859-221-5329 https://www.facebook.com/FCCBikeworks http://bicyclingforlouisville.org/#fccb

9 12