I cannot recommend coloured tags enough. We started using coloured tags 6-7 years ago and they immediately reduced the amount of confusion. Someone who knows the system can at a glance tell a lot more about the status of a bike!

We have tags that we print on quarter and half page sheets of paper that we insert into a reusable plastic sleeve and hang on each bike.

• Orange - as-is available for a volunteer or member to fix up
• Yellow - in the process of being refurbished by a volunteer
• Green - ready to ride out the door
• Pink - belongs to someone

On Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 4:04 PM < thethinktank-request@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:

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When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." Today's Topics:

1. Re: Intake + Repair Guides (Daniel Hall)
2. Re: Intake + Repair Guides (Robert Christiansen)

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Daniel Hall director@londoncyclelink.ca To: The Think Tank thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org Cc: Bcc: Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 16:49:10 -0500 Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Intake + Repair Guides We were talking about developing this at our shop as well, thanks so much for sharing!

*Daniel Hall *(he/him) Executive Director London Cycle Link

On Sun, Feb 21, 2021 at 5:46 PM Luis Fernandez luis@casildo.com wrote:

...

This is really great and so helpful! Looks like years and years of experience summarized in a few clear pages. Well done!

Luis Staff @ Somerville Bike Kitchen (@somervillebikekitchen)

On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 4:26 PM Josh Bisker jbisker@gmail.com wrote:

...

Hiya pals, lots to report on from NYC, some good, some hard, but for the moment I wanted to send around the latest and probably final version of my handy repair guide. This is intended as a teaching tool to help people in the shop work more autonomously on bike fixing, regardless of their level of skill.

There are two PDFs attached. The first one is for intake, as in, "do we want to repair this bike or strip and scrap it?" The second is for bikes that have passed through intake successfully. It gives a step-by-step repair guide -- not a "how to," but a "what to." It's meant to help especially newer mechanics move through a bike's systems, well, systematically, in a way that supports their learning and praxis.

The intake one probably works well printed and laminated; it can be used multiple times. The repair one is meant to remain with a bike throughout its repair life, and also be included with its sale (or giveaway or whatever). I designed it to be printed out double-sided on four sheets of paper and then folded or saddle stitched into a booklet or zine. *"Four sheets of paper?!",* I hear you gasp. Yes. Of all the similar documents I've come across that have been squeezed onto one page, either they've been way too cramped and shorthanded to actually be a helpful and approachable resource for people who are new to wrenching, or they've been way too terse and reductive to be good repair guides. I think this guide answers those goals really well.

Let me know what you think. Feel free to use these in your own shops, and I can make the InDesign files available too so you can doctor them to your needs. (I'm also including a copy that's laid out for screen viewing as opposed to printing, but it's really not designed to be used that way -- it's a hardcopy tool).

Also FWIW the bike intake workflow is designed around a colored tag system:

• No tag means "intake me someone, please."
• Red tags say "strip and scrap me"
• Blue tags say "fix me, someone"
• Orange tags say "price me, I've been fixed up"
• Green tags say "sell me" and have price stickers on them
• Some blue tags have sparkles and additional text that indicates

"fix me, someone -- but I'm fancy, so not a good beginner project."

• The most cost-effective tags I found are these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BHY4DH1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. (I know, I know)

xo

Josh Josh Bisker | 914-500-9890 | Executive Director, Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op http://bikecoop.nyc/ 2021 Winter Donation Drive is ON! Support Bike Equity in NYC Today! http://bikecoop.nyc/donate Funkrust Brass Band http://funkrust.com/ | Kessel Run Radio Show on Maker Park Radio https://makerparkradio.nyc/shows/the-kessel-run-w-joshjoshjosh/ ____________________________________

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---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Robert Christiansen robert@sacbike.org To: The Think Tank thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org Cc: Bcc: Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 23:16:10 -0800 Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Intake + Repair Guides Great work thank you for sharing! Idea for the colored tags: I picked up a large amount of ID card lamination sheets with a pre cut hole for a badge clip (at a thrift store). I then got colored index cards (another thrift store find) and cut them down to size and laminated them. You can write on them with a sharpie and can be erased with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with alcohol in it. Reusable and sturdy should last a long time.

Thanks again for sharing your excellent work! Very impressive.

Regards, Robert Sacramento

On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 1:26 PM Josh Bisker jbisker@gmail.com wrote:

...

Hiya pals, lots to report on from NYC, some good, some hard, but for the moment I wanted to send around the latest and probably final version of my handy repair guide. This is intended as a teaching tool to help people in the shop work more autonomously on bike fixing, regardless of their level of skill.

There are two PDFs attached. The first one is for intake, as in, "do we want to repair this bike or strip and scrap it?" The second is for bikes that have passed through intake successfully. It gives a step-by-step repair guide -- not a "how to," but a "what to." It's meant to help especially newer mechanics move through a bike's systems, well, systematically, in a way that supports their learning and praxis.

The intake one probably works well printed and laminated; it can be used multiple times. The repair one is meant to remain with a bike throughout its repair life, and also be included with its sale (or giveaway or whatever). I designed it to be printed out double-sided on four sheets of paper and then folded or saddle stitched into a booklet or zine. *"Four sheets of paper?!",* I hear you gasp. Yes. Of all the similar documents I've come across that have been squeezed onto one page, either they've been way too cramped and shorthanded to actually be a helpful and approachable resource for people who are new to wrenching, or they've been way too terse and reductive to be good repair guides. I think this guide answers those goals really well.

Let me know what you think. Feel free to use these in your own shops, and I can make the InDesign files available too so you can doctor them to your needs. (I'm also including a copy that's laid out for screen viewing as opposed to printing, but it's really not designed to be used that way -- it's a hardcopy tool).

Also FWIW the bike intake workflow is designed around a colored tag system:

• No tag means "intake me someone, please."
• Red tags say "strip and scrap me"
• Blue tags say "fix me, someone"
• Orange tags say "price me, I've been fixed up"
• Green tags say "sell me" and have price stickers on them
• Some blue tags have sparkles and additional text that indicates

"fix me, someone -- but I'm fancy, so not a good beginner project."

• The most cost-effective tags I found are these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BHY4DH1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. (I know, I know)

xo

Josh Josh Bisker | 914-500-9890 | Executive Director, Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op http://bikecoop.nyc/ 2021 Winter Donation Drive is ON! Support Bike Equity in NYC Today! http://bikecoop.nyc/donate Funkrust Brass Band http://funkrust.com/ | Kessel Run Radio Show on Maker Park Radio https://makerparkradio.nyc/shows/the-kessel-run-w-joshjoshjosh/ ____________________________________

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