- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

City considers projects for Northside cyclists--responses needed!
by MoBo Bicycle Co-op 10 Nov '09

10 Nov '09

The City is considering two potential projects that would impact Northside cyclists. Before we move forward on either project, we need to know whether or not cyclists think they would be helpful. The City will not move forward unless they receive positive feedback from cyclists. > >>> 1. Bike Corral on Lingo Street: *Proposal* - The metered motor >>>> vehicle parking spot immediately before the stop sign on Lingo Street >>>> (facing Hamilton) would be converted to a bike “corral” that would hold 8-12 >>>> bicycles (see attached image). *Question* – Would cyclists use this >>>> corral, or is it too far away from Hamilton? (A corral cannot be installed >>>> on Hamilton itself because of the peak-hour parking restrictions.) >>>> >>>> 2. Loop Detector Pavement Marking on Clifton Ave: *Proposal* – A >>>> bicycle pavement marking would be installed over the loop detector on >>>> Clifton Ave at the Spring Grove intersection (by the Kroger). The pavement >>>> marking shows cyclists where to position their bike in order to change the >>>> traffic signal to green. *Question* – Do cyclists have difficulty >>>> triggering this traffic signal when making a left turn onto Spring Grove >>>> >>>> >>>> Please send feedback to melissa.mcvay(a)cincinnati-oh.gov<https://bl2prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=916be6fbf8f2472e9177e47ff33…>. >>>> I repeat, the City will not move forward unless they receive positive >>>> feedback from cyclists. >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> MoBo Bicycle Co-op >>>> a project of The Village Green Foundation >>>> 1415 Knowlton Ave >>>> Northside >>>> Cincinnati, OH >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> MoBo Bicycle Co-op >>> a project of The Village Green Foundation >>> 1415 Knowlton Ave >>> Northside >>> Cincinnati, OH >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> MoBo Bicycle Co-op >> a project of The Village Green Foundation >> 1415 Knowlton Ave >> Northside >> Cincinnati, OH >> > > > > -- > MoBo Bicycle Co-op > a project of The Village Green Foundation > 1415 Knowlton Ave > Northside > Cincinnati, OH > -- MoBo Bicycle Co-op a project of The Village Green Foundation 1415 Knowlton Ave Northside Cincinnati, OH

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Basic safety/maintenance manuals/curriculums
by Erik Stockmeier 06 Nov '09

06 Nov '09

Hi all- Like many shops, The Recyclery has given away free bicycles with helmets and locks as part of the charitable end of our mission for some time. For a number of reasons, including several new possible partnerships with Immigrant and Refugee groups in the Chicago area and the desire to qualitatively improve some of the long-term outcomes of our Freecyclery program (which currently ends with the bicycle/signature exchange), we are now considering developing a more thorough manual and 2-4 hour class curriculum. It would cover basic maintenance questions (patching tires, adjusting brakes and derailleurs) as well as bike safety/common sense (avoiding theft, sharing the road) and would, of course, make clear that The Recyclery exists as a place where they can get help if something does go wrong. However, not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I'm wondering if any other shops have already developed a similar curriculum or handbook. If so, want to share? If not (but you are interested in the idea), would you be interested in forming an internet working group to collaborate on such a resource we could share? Right now I am working with one of our potential partners and we are picturing a graphically-intense book, the text of which could potentially be translated by people that work for their organization into a number of different languages. From there we would recruit some volunteer graphic designers or find someone that knows how to work something like scribus ( http://www.scribus.net/) to make a nice little booklet (I'm picturing something that could be reproduced photocopier/zine style or done up more flashy) available to all. OK.

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church bike drives
by Jason Tanzman 04 Nov '09

04 Nov '09

Another extremely useful outlet for bike acquisition is church bike drives. Sibley did two bike drives in the last month that yielded about 50 and 100 bikes each, including some really nice stuff that has medium-high retail value, and lots of of functional bikes for our different community programs. I believe that Working Bikes in Chicago has a lot of bike drive/bike acquisition experience. Anyone from there have any suggestions on effective ways to acquire bikes? Do you have any documents or info sheets on how to organize a bike drive? I was thinking it would useful to have a document on how to organize bike acquisition - who to talk with, how to organize a bike drive, how to connect in with neighborhood cleanups, stuff like that. Anyone out there have any resources already put together? Another thought - be careful with police department bike dumps. They can sometimes be good, but the last police dept that "donated" us bikes literally gave us a week's worth of work scrapping out junk for pretty much nothing that was useful. Jason -- Sibley Bike Depot Volunteer Coordinator 612-232-2737 (cell) 651-222-2080 (shop) www.sibleybikedepot.org Sibley Bike Depot's mission is to be an open, accessible space to educate and empower people to use bicycles as transportation, helping to build a sustainable environment and community. Volunteer with us to help build a bicycling movement in the Twin Cities!

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Liability & Safety
by John Barrett 02 Nov '09

02 Nov '09

What do other shops do in terms of safety checks and so on when clients leave the shop? We typically don't much worry about it because our bikes are sold "as is"; however, I wonder if we don't have a greater responsibility in both ethical and legal terms. I guess the major complication is that so many people pass through planning to work further on their bikes at home. On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 7:56 PM, andrew lynn <anyone(a)breathingplanet.net>wrote: > hi everyone.... > > Announcing the first BikeBike NE in Troy, NY > A regional gathering of bicycle projects in the Northeast US. > April 24 & 25, 2010 at the Sanctuary for Independent Media > Organized and hosted by Troy Bike Rescue > > What is BikeBike? > BikeBike is an annual international gathering of community bicycle > projects. It has happened in cities such as New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San > Francisco, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. This coming years conference will be > in Toronto in the summer of 2010. Regional events, such as BikeBike > Southeast have been held in Atlanta and Louisville (upcoming). > more info at: http://www.bikebike.org > > What will happen at BikeBike Northeast? > Workshops & discussions for fledgling and experienced shops, a mini film > festival, mutant bike welding, trailer building, exploring urban ruins on > bike, pick-up polo matches, and whatever else you want to make happen! > > Who will come to BikeBike Northeast? > In addition to the local public, we hope to attract participants from > community bike projects as near and as far as: Delaware, Baltimore, > Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Haven, Ithaca, Montpelier, Plattsburgh, > Burlington, New Hampshire, Boston, State College PA, Providence, Worcester, > NYC, and more... Are you on this list? We hope you can make it!! > > We have received modest interest from various groups, but will need plenty > of help getting the word out there. If you hear of people in the Northeast > wanting to start ups community shops or simply interested in joining a > conversation about building bicycle culture in post-industrial expanses of > this corner of the world, please tell them about BikeBike Northeast (and > BikeBike International- to be held in Toronto in Summer 2010). > > CONTACT US VIA OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION > http://www.troybikerescue.org/contact > > http://troybikerescue.org > http://mediasanctuary.org > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > To unsubscribe, send a blank email to > TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > To manage your subscription, plase visit: > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > -- John Barrett The Good Life Community Bicycle Shop / Two Wheel View - Calgary jonny(a)goodlifebikes.ca / jonny.barrett(a)twowheelview.org 403.619.2648 When the situation is desperate, it is too late to be serious. Be playful. -- Edward Abbey

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Bike Collectives database
by Fhar Miess 01 Nov '09

01 Nov '09

Hey all, There was a Google Docs database set up at some point to gather information about various bike collectives, including if they're looking for particular volunteers, some details about their internal organization, specific programs they run, etc. I can't seem to find that anymore. Can someone point me in the right direction? Fhar

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 38, Issue 26
by Clifford McCarten 30 Oct '09

30 Oct '09

Can we keep the peace, folks? The slow dialogue accomplished through electronic text has a particularly insidious way of making people's positions appear more heinous than they really are. What could be easily accomplished in a few minutes chatting as adults (friends, even), frequently becomes a site of attack. This is why internet debates suck. Best advice I read recently re: these situations - Sit down, write an angry email. Read it slowly. Then delete it. I'm not exercising authoritarian male privilege to shut down an unpleasant but necessary social/political argument. I'm just suggesting that there are better ways to do this; and, most importantly, this thinktank listserv (as I understand it) is a very poorly suited space to having that conversation. Clifford McCarten Co-Director, B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 400 Wolfe St, Peterborough ON K9J 2P3 (705) 748-6681 http://www.communitybikeshop.org On 2009-10-30, at 4:08 PM, thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org wrote: > 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: Digression from the non-male only projectsthread. (Bike City) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:18:31 -0600 > From: Bike City <bikecityrecyclery(a)gmail.com> > To: thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Digression from the non-male only > projectsthread. > Message-ID: <1256926711.3564.31.camel@andrea-laptop> > Content-Type: text/plain > > I believe we were discussing sexism. You seem to be discussing what a > good mechanic is. If you feel so passionately, why didn't you start a > new thread? You are either A) off-topic or B) sexist. > > Okay, you have "27 year experience." What makes you assume that you're > talking to a bunch of little girls? How old am I? It's obvious that a > good mechanic is thorough, fast, and organized. Everyone here > theoretically loves bicycles and strives daily for these ideals. Why > do > you think these little girls need you to tell them what a good > mechanic > is? I know I pranced into the industry on my dainty high heels and had > everything handed to me on a pink platter, but still. I thought a good > mechanic was one that didn't muss her makeup! You mean I have to > work as > hard as a man?! I'm outta here! > > What organization are you involved in? > > And please keep your discussion on this list. If you send any more > emails to my personal address I will post them here for you. > > > andrea > > > > > On Thu, 2009-10-29 at 21:09 -0400, bovineoaks(a)aol.com wrote: >> Why did you put the word "Female Mechanic" in the middle of my words. >> I meant all mechanics, not just xx are less organized, which makes >> them slower and less thorough. You are correct the is I am not >> automatically a better mechanic than women and men. I have 27 year >> experience that is what makes me more organized, efficient, >> faster, than most mechanics. I have taught classes for year and >> played >> mechanic speed games for many years too. The Games make you faster, >> putting your tools away every time you touch one makes you faster, As >> long as you wish to jump to conclusions that my word are against >> women >> only, you are showing that you are the sexist bastard you accuse >> others of being. I have worked hard for my skills and I in courage >> you >> to work just as hard to challenge your own skill to become better and >> better throughout your career. >> >> Christopher, >> >> Why are you assuming that you are more "efficient, thorough, and >> Fast" >> than a female mechanic? You are NOT automatically a better mechanic >> than >> a woman. My shop does not do drop-off repairs for customers, and I >> believe the situation in question involves trying to teach males. >> >> On the flip side, the bikes I build or restore are far more thorough >> than your own work that you are describing. I have had men tell me >> that >> this is because "I'm just better at cleaning and polishing". If I >> wield >> metal polish, wax, and the whole nine yards, it's a feminine virtue >> -- >> if a male does the same, it's simply good work. >> >> This is the essence of your male privilege -- believing that where >> you've gotten in life and everything you do is unaffected by any >> privilege. >> >> andrea >> >> >> >> On Thu, 2009-10-29 at 10:34 -0400, bovineoaks(a)aol.com wrote: >>> >>> A man needs his bike fixed. He will not say what's wrong >> with it, nor >> what he's >>> hearing or feeling. Only that it's broken. Fix it. He's >> doing this to >> challenge >>> me. No matter what I find, it's not the "broken" he's >> thinking of. No >> matter >>> what I fix, it isn't good enough. In an extreme case, he may >> lead me >> down the >>> wrong path (ie I find that his brakes are sub-par and fix >> those. Maybe >> he'll >>> even tell me that they're the only problem. But what >> originally caused >> him to >>> come in is a loose headset). If I miss something that breaks >> further, >> he will >>> blame not only me doing my job, but my gender. This >> reinforces his >> negative >>> stereotype of women in non-traditional roles. But is it my >> fault? No. >> He set me >>> up to fail by not telling me the problem. And he would do it >> to any >> woman >>> sharing my occupation. Again, an ideologue and the problem >> is neither >> me nor my >>> chest. It's him setting me up to be the problem. But word >> will get out >> that xx >>> shop has a bad mechanic just the same. >>> >>> If you Have an REI near by ask for all of the check off list they >>> have for Basic tunes, to Overhauls. I have found when I work from a >>> list and add to the list that I do not miss little details of a >>> repair. If every guy did this to you I would call it sexism. Sadly >> as >>> a guy in a bike shop I meet men like this all the time, We do not >> call >>> them sexist bastards, we just call them Dicks. Step back and look at >>> the issue, Was your work at fault, if so upgrade your technique. >> ( all >>> of us can learn more) Is the customer way too picky. Then he is a >>> dick, if he says that the work is bad because you are female then he >>> is a dick and a sexist bastard. Refer him to a really crapy >> mechanic. >>> I meet anal picky customers all the time. I am older, I do not take >>> guff form them. I tell them what they asked for, and what I gave >> them. >>> I always give more than they ask for. >>> >>> Example of what I do on a brake job: >>> >>> I clean every bike from head to tail, I clean each rim in the sink >>> with Dawn and a Scotch bright green sponge to remove metal oxide and >>> oil , I sand each brake pad to remove the metal oxide. I round, >>> dish, tension, and true the wheels. This is all the extra set up I >> do >>> to prepare brakes. Then I do all the normal brake pad alignment, >> and >>> toe. Check cables/ housing, caliper / lever mount bolts. Customers >>> never come back to me with squeeky brakes when I am done. Thus lots >> of >>> bad feelings are avoided and lots of rework is avoided. Sadly I >> never >>> hear any good coments from customers, But I do not hear negitive >> ones >>> either. >>> >>> I can do all this because I practice being efficent, thorough, and >>> Fast. As you become more experienced challenge yourself to do things >>> better with more detail and faster. Never compromise safety. The >>> safety of your hands or your customers life. >>> >>> Christopher >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Thethinktank mailing list >>> Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org >>> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to >> TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org >>> To manage your subscription, plase visit: >>> >> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Thethinktank mailing list >> Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org >> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to >> TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org >> To manage your subscription, plase visit: >> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… >> > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > End of Thethinktank Digest, Vol 38, Issue 26 > ********************************************

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Digression from the non-male only projectsthread.
by winter.snowy.rose＠gmail.com 30 Oct '09

30 Oct '09

I think that this is very much a multi-faceted issue. So I will only present some of them. There can be an open-mindedness in adult men about tools that isn't always present in adult women. For instance, give a man a new tool and he (perhaps from tinkering with daddy as a child) will think that he knows what to do with it. In my experience this can result in broken tools, hurt bike parts, or hurt body parts. Give that same new tool to a woman. She may be intimidated by it, not knowing what it does or how it can hurt her. Having seen other people pick it up and seemingly having an innate knowledge about it (and maybe hurting something) makes the process of familiarization that much more challenging and time-consuming. She isn't likely to come back if she was scared or even uncomfortable. Perhaps because of this reputation for unfamiliarity, work done can be second-guessed. Personally, there is no response that I've found to resolve this issue. You'd be arguing with an ideologue. An extension of that is having female instruction second-guessed. That cannot be tolerated. It doesn't allow for the learner to learn. The final case of undermining that I've been exposed to (and, thankfully, not around bikes!) is men who refuse to tell me the information that I need to get a task done. A bike-related example, thankfully hypothetical: A man needs his bike fixed. He will not say what's wrong with it, nor what he's hearing or feeling. Only that it's broken. Fix it. He's doing this to challenge me. No matter what I find, it's not the "broken" he's thinking of. No matter what I fix, it isn't good enough. In an extreme case, he may lead me down the wrong path (ie I find that his brakes are sub-par and fix those. Maybe he'll even tell me that they're the only problem. But what originally caused him to come in is a loose headset). If I miss something that breaks further, he will blame not only me doing my job, but my gender. This reinforces his negative stereotype of women in non-traditional roles. But is it my fault? No. He set me up to fail by not telling me the problem. And he would do it to any woman sharing my occupation. Again, an ideologue and the problem is neither me nor my chest. It's him setting me up to be the problem. But word will get out that xx shop has a bad mechanic just the same. Our society has changed very dramatically in the past fifty years. It amazes me that attitudes have changed as much as they have. That's mere generations of parents passing down old societal predjudices. Of course we have more to do, hence these discussions. So I hope I have helped you with what you're looking for. Ride safe Chloé ------Original Message------ From: Angel York Sender: thethinktank-bounces(a)bikecollectives.org To: The Think Tank ReplyTo: The Think Tank Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Digression from the non-male only projectsthread. Sent: 29 Oct 2009 03:48 It seems to me that this discussion is sufficiently on-topic (that is, relates to community bike shops) to keep as a part of this listserv. I, for one, appreciate this conversation. Angel On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 10:19 PM, Mark Rehder <mark(a)drumbent.com> wrote: What would be interesting is to find some cycling stats based on gender - how many women ride bikes compared to men? How many do so for commuting or casual riding, and also as a competitive sport (pro or amateur)? Here in Ottawa I would give a very rough estimate of a 3-1 ratio on the street. But that does not seem to translate into the industry. Of the shops around here, the ones that have women even just doing sales tend to the larger "sports" stores, and there's only one shop I'm aware of that actually had a woman wrench (McCrank's in the Glebe, where I used to work part-time). And it's a bike-only shop. Is it the old thing of women still not being socialized to do mechanical things? As I was growing up I thought feminism would finally help push all this gender-related crap aside, but we all know it has not. But how deep is the mind-set? I need to read up on my gender studies to see if little girls really do prefer dolls and little boys prefer trucks. What has been heartening is how many younger women are showing an interest in fixing their own bikes. We don't get too many women over 35 coming in, but lots in the 18-35 group. We've had a few with some experience say they'd like to be come a Head Mechanic, but unfortunately none have so far followed through. One of our current Shop Assistants did say last summer that she plans to become our first female HM, but then her new job seems to have kept her away from the shop, so we're no closer to even that modest goal. Women have told us they appreciate seeing other women in the shop, especially as staff, answering questions and selling bikes. While we are gender lopsided in terms of mechanics, we're at least doing better in terms of committed volunteer staff. But it is certainly not representati Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

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Digression from the non-male only projects thread.
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 29 Oct '09

29 Oct '09

I didn't want to detract from that conversation, so I started a new one. I really am interested in people's feedback. On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 9:40 PM, Mark Rehder <mark(a)re-cycles.ca> wrote: > While the tone of this makes it sound like there's some sort of conspiracy > (and maybe there is and no one told me about it), as a male I'd personally > be interested in what you come up with. > > I'll ditto what Mark said. I feel weird asking to be involved, but I am interested in how I--as a male bodied, male identifying person--can help make things more equitable in the spaces I occupy. Of course, the quick and dirty solution is to remove myself. I guess I should make myself ok with that. After some of the discussions I had in Minneapolis at bikebike this year about racial and gender inequality in our organizations, I've thought about what the implications are of me --again, a white male of upper middle class background-- assuming that the bike shop I'm involved with is something that people of other cultures and backgrounds would be interested in, and working towards making the space inclusive and welcoming. * Of course* I want everyone of every culture and economic and educational background, every oppressed class, gender, etc, to feel comfortable and welcome to partake and have access to the things I do. I just wonder if there isn't some sort of cultural bias that sort of goes the other way, and that makes this bikes-are-awesome thing less attractive to the (generalizing here for convenience) non-white, non-male elements of our community. At some point, it just comes down to someone who's not going to come into our shop just not being into bikes, or bike culture, or what we do, no matter what accommodations are made, right? I don't have a background or that much experience talking about this stuff, so I apologize if my word choice offends. I'm really interested in hearing people's thoughts on this. I really REALLY hope it doesn't come across as the white dude saying that other backgrounds/genders/etc aren't welcome. It's not that at all. > In my other life I'm a musician, and we generally have a history of > non-discrimination; you can be male / female / white / black / disabled / > whatever - we don't care as long as you can do the gig. > > Based on that, I've been kind of surprised that our shop has never been > able to recruit an experienced female mechanic. Women are of course > involved with our shop, both as staff and as customers, and I would say at > least half of our bike purchasers and a third of our do-it-yourselfers. > > I guess the lack is due to so few women mechanics in general. And is this > is a cultural thing (usual suspects of "women are less likely to be > mechanically inclined / do not want to get their hands dirty", etc.) or is > it deeper than that? Is there a bias? Is there gender discrimination? I > imagine that there is, though the idealist in me is appalled at that. > > If you can change the status quo I'm all for it! > > Mark > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > To unsubscribe, send a blank email to > TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > To manage your subscription, plase visit: > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > -- Thanks for supporting Community Cycles, Boulder's first and only non-profit bike shop! Ask me how you can sponsor a Youth Earn-A-Bike student for just $100. www.communitycycles.org

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5 year audit
by Liza Mattana 28 Oct '09

28 Oct '09

Hey everyone, We're a pretty new nonprofit org, just over 1 year. Are there older orgs out there that have done are or are preparing for a 5-year audit from the IRS to maintain their non-profit status? One of our members seems to think we need to do this in the future. I'm not sure what this means, as I can't find any info on this audit. Any info on this is appreciated--thanks! liza -- Liza Mattana president www.pedals2people.org Spokane, WA

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volunteer flyers?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 27 Oct '09

27 Oct '09

Anyone care to share their flyers for getting folks to volunteer? Feel free to send them to me off the list, and I'll post them to the wiki for everyone to share, with an update here when i get them up. Thanks! josh.

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