All-
The most impressive program that BICAS has going, in my mind, is its highly effective work/trade system. Currrently, we credit any work/trader at $8/hr. Anyone who does 10 hrs gets to pick out a bike, and use as much shop time, and as many used parts as they need till it rolls out the door. Anyone can earn as many bikes as they want this way.
I'm not saying that this is easy. There are certain youth that are really demanding, and want to earn a new (extra) bike about once a month. There are certain adults who act just the same. But their work/trade labor is valueable to the collective. If it isn't, we treat it as OUR failure to find useful tasks for folks.
Personally, I don't worry that much about these folks selling these bikes on the street or taking them to a pawn shop. If you do 10 hours of work to earn a bike, and spend, say, at minimum, another 5 getting it rolling, and then sell it on the street for $75 (that would be difficult, right?), then you are making $5/hour. Hardly like folks are exploiting the shop. Plus the bike leaves the waste stream, and is given new value, and gets someone around town. No big deal. Seems much more in keeping with our shared missions than letting bike geeks cherrypick and resale on eBay, right? That is pretty much the philosophy at the bike church santa cruz too. I think it is important to approach all patrons with good will, and remember that they are all contributing to the shop. We don't do 'charity', so there doesn't seem to me to be a problem with folks using the shop as much as they please--as long as (s)he, too, is acting in good will.
As to locks, the cheapest solution I've seen was to take bike chain, link it in a loop, put it inside a sliced open tube, and then use a cheap pad lock as a closure. More of a deterant. But, then, isn't everything? BICAS is using chain WELDED to the seat tube, wrapped around and a pad loack welded to the other end on all our rental bikes. This way, we don't lose locks, and all the locks have the same keys.
best,
kyle
On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Jonathan Morrison <
jonathan@slcbikecollective.org> wrote:
Let's capture this info:
We've been running into this with the younger folks at the bike shop, and we have to be firm about our earn one bike and one bike only policy. They're allowed to trade in their bike for a different one only if the one they're turning in is in good condition, and we regularly have chats about why our policy is what it is. We also chat about how not to get your bike stolen. It's hard when older siblings are the ones taking the bikes away from the kids who come up to the shop and otherwise abide by what we have to offer, so we do our best to be understanding. The most we can do is create a system of accountability that makes sense for us, stick to our rules for the good of the entire shop community, and be understanding about extenuating circumstances.
When we can find deals on locks, we buy a few and distribute them to folks who express the need for one. That seems to work for some people. The younger folks tend to lose keys, so combo locks work best for them. I try to keep a list of their lock combinations and spare keys to help them out when things get lost or forgotten.
If folks don't trade cash for bikes, are they doing anything to create a sense of investment or ownership in the bikes?
-r
On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 3:24 PM, <
plan_9@riseup.net> wrote:
We at the FM Community Bicycle Workshop have had a good,(read: busy,
chaotic, overwhelming) first spring openand have run into a few
unexpected situations regarding stolen bikes. We have a one bike a
year limit policy and have had individuals get bikes from us, then
come back the next week saying theirs was stolen and they want to get
another one. Some of these were pretty decent, modern bikes (trek
4300, Giant Cyprus, Diamondback BMX) and we don't want to suspect the
worst, that these bikes were pawned or sold for profit rather than
ridden, but we also don't want to open ourselves up to exploitation
either. We have put in place a policy that if you bring us a copy of
your police report you are eligible for earning another bike, assuming
that folks wouldn't file a false police report. We don't live in an
area that has high bike theft rates, except for "bike hopping" where
people just grab a bike that isn't being used and leave it wherever
they end up. Basically, crime of opportunity rather than intent. The
bigger issue here is that we are getting folks bikes who can't
normally afford one, but not giving them the means to secure it. We
are interested in getting locks to give out to people who get bikes
from us through our referral system but are debating which is the best
solution. One idea would be to buy cheap cable locks in bulk. Another
idea we have had is a much more DIY approach: Get a roll of beefy
hardware store chain and a padlock and call it good. Has anyone run
into this? Thoughts?
-Andy FMCBW
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Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison
Executive Director
Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
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Get Addicted to Crank!
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The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.
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