Our shop (1304bikes in Raleigh, NC) has grown so much since last summer, and we too often have to deal with a shop of 35 or so poeple with only a small handful of volunteers.  Since our inside space is fairly small and mostly storage, all of our bike repair work gets done outside.  This makes it almost impossilbe to limit the shop capacity because there is no way to keep folks from walking up and blending in with the mass.  We also don't really want to turn anyone away, or make them wait around all day.
 
We run an adult Earn-a-Bike program, with the goal being that those enrolled learn something about bike maintenence while they are volunteering to earn their bike.  This is done by having them strip bikes, wheels, sort parts, etc.  Often times we will pull all the Earn-a-bikers aside, and have one volunteer teach an informal quick lesson like fix-a-flat or brake adjustment.  This helps to free up the shop resources (tools/workstands/etc.) for those poeple working on their own bikes, as well as to make the earn-a-bikers a little more self sufficient when it comes time to work on their own bike.  Plus, these folks can now assist those who roll up and just need a flat tire fixed, and the shop coordinators can focus on the more involved repairs and keeping the shop functioning.  
 
Utimataly though, it does seem like a crazy mess when you have 35 people running around looking for a 5mm allen wrench, but we make it work somehow.
 
for 1304bikes,
-Doug         

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 9:26 PM, Stuart O Anderson <soa@ri.cmu.edu> wrote:
At Free Ride we have a waiting list on a clipboard at the front of the
shop when it's busy.  We also redesigned the front-end of the shop to
include display cabinets that form a single narrow entrance and a seat
for the greeter/cashier/orientation-giver - this lets us keep control
over how many people enter the shop at what rate.  Usually once we
start to fill up the greeter will check with the mechanics to see if
they feel like they have the capacity for another person.

The problem with this scheme is what to do about folks who - 1. just
want to volunteer and don't need a stand, 2. just have a flat or a
loose brake pad or similar (although more than half the time these
turn out to be bigger projects than the person realized), or 3. say
they don't need mechanical help to work on their bike (until they get
their BB disassembled and spread across the shop floor 20 minutes
before closing).  We're working on a redesign of our open shop night
that may help to fix some of these problems.  On the whole though, the
waiting list is a lot easier on our staffers than the free-for-all we
had before.

Stuart

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 9:18 PM, yellow bike <austinyellowbike@gmail.com> wrote:
> we at yellow bike in austin have seen an increasing number of folks using
> our shops, and have found it very useful to have two or more people work
> together on a bike.  it's most effective when one of them knows a little
> something about fixing bikes, but even when none of them knows much, they
> tend to be more willing/able to figure things out without lots of
> step-by-step instruction from our shop coordinators.
>
> we also have a nice supply of repair manuals available for people to consult
> - sutherland manuals to the DIY Chainbreaker book published by some nice New
> Orleans folks that I hope to meet some day.
>
> shop coordinators move about the shop, checking in on people, but rarely
> spend more than a few minutes at a time with an individual.  if someone
> comes in who really needs lots of one-on-one help, we recommend they take a
> more formal, enrollment only class.  we plan to teach these ourselves when
> we get our new shop up and running, but in the meantime, there's informal
> classes held each semester at the university in town.
>
> in this way, we have been able to effectively handle shops with up to 35
> people and three shop coordinators.  we have had shops with more people in
> attendance than that (i think 52 was our record in a given night), and it
> does get very hectic at some point.  our solution in our new shop will be to
> have a (yet to be determined) shop capacity, and a waiting area with good
> reading material, coffee, etc. and have people wait for their turn at a
> workstand.  we haven't really tested this idea out yet, since we have not
> yet built our new shop . . .
>
> hope this helps -
>
> jennifer
> austin yellow bike project.
>
> On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 5:46 PM, Clifford McCarten
> <director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
>>
>> Two semi-related questions:
>> How do you folks deal with it when it gets crazy busy? i.e., the times
>> when there are more 2 people per volunteer mechanic, tools all over the
>> place, and all (or most) of the people need step-by-step, hands-on
>> assistance?
>> Do you have a set capacity? Do you turn people down?
>> At B!KE, I've been starting to put together some exploded parts displays,
>> along with basic steps, clear dos and don'ts, and examples of good or bad
>> parts (i.e., severely pitted bottom bracket axles). Has anyone done this and
>> found this helpful to your members (allowing people doing more self-guided
>> learning)? Any useful discoveries made while building this kind of display?
>> Thanks!
>> Clifford McCarten
>> Co-Director, B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop
>> 400 Wolfe St
>> Peterborough, Ontario
>> (705) 745-2103
>> http://www.communitybikeshop.org
>>
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>
>
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>
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