From: veganboyjosh@gmail.com <veganboyjosh@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Networking and Parts
To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
Date: Monday, March 9, 2009, 4:45 PM

the moving of bikes and parts is expensive, since they're either packed very densely, and heavy, or not packed very densely and also not packed efficiently.

the idea of sharing parts and things has crossed my mind, and while i do think there's a place for it, i think some centralized body that coordinates and/or moves the things is a bit out of our reach at the current state of  the bike collective network (if indeed that is who is going to oversee this...)

what about some sort of message board or something that is for things like this? some sort of "items wanted/items offered" freecycle style thing that's just for bike collectives?

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 4:14 PM, Rigel Christian <rigelc@gmail.com> wrote:

well, the idea we had discussed/daydreamed about was along the lines
of having an organization/network whose task was to coordinate parts
transfers to and from co-ops in different regions or even countries.

it seems like having a way to move parts whose logistical burden is
not borne by the shops would be helpful in getting new donation-based
co-ops started up, as well as help filling in the gaps for shops that
are experiencing lean times, as parts donations go.

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 2:43 PM, Tom Anderson-Monterosso
<tommonterosso@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Bike Kitchen!
>
> I used to work at the Oberlin Bike Co-op in Oberlin, Ohio. We had friendly
> relations with Ohio City Bicycle Co-op in Cleveland (35 miles away). Being
> in the center of a metropolitan region, they generally received more and
> better quality donations than did our co-op. On more than one occasion we
> hauled off a pick-up truck load of their surplus three-speeds and
> coaster-brake bikes. These bikes were typically of more use in our small,
> flat college town than in their big, not-completely-flat city. No money
> changed hands; it was all good will. (Thanks, Jim!) We also worked together
> on Co-op-to-Co-op Rides.
>
> More sought-after bits like suntour barcons would probably keep their
> assigned monetary value in an exchange, but we wouldn't hesitate to call and
> see what they had in their bins.
>
> Keeping other co-ops in your region aware of any especially large parts
> surpluses is a great idea. I suppose just saying, "hey, we're here if you
> need us," is a good place to start.
>
> Tom
>
> On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Rigel Christian <rigelc@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Me and some of the mechanics at our co-op (www.bikekitchen.org) were
>> talking about advocacy, the proliferation of bike collectives, and of
>> course as bike geeks tend to do, parts.
>>
>> I know some collectives have more parts or material resources of a
>> certain type than they can handle, and others have less. Are there
>> already parts-sharing agreements between co-ops in other areas of the
>> world? If another co-op from 50+ miles away called you up asking if
>> you had, for example, some suntour indexed 7-speed barcons, how would
>> you handle that?
>>
>> It's just a thought experiment, but I'm curious to find out how other
>> groups already share, or if there are ideas on how to more efficiently
>> share the parts donations that come in, so as to maximize the
>> allocation of available resources.
>>
>> Cheers.
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>
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