Hello,

The Bicycle Tree is hiring!

TITLE: Repair Manager

HOURS AND COMPENSATION: 25-40 hours/week, $25-28/hour

HIRE DATE: ASAP

GENERAL POSITION DESCRIPTION: The Repair Manager ensures that bicycles are repaired in a thorough, reliable, and efficient manner. They are able to effectively teach others about bike maintenance, developing the skills of both clientele and Bicycle Tree personnel. The Repair Manager is also responsible for maintaining organization, inventory, and documentation pertaining to repairs. They should be an active promoter of our equitable and educational approach to bicycle repair.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The Repair Manager evaluates and repairs bicycles and parts, and teaches these skills to clientele, volunteers, and staff. They help manage the inventory of supplies, and are responsible for maintaining an orderly workspace. They help people identify bikes that meet their needs as part of sales and donations. The Repair Manager collaborates with other Bicycle Tree members to optimize the safety, accessibility, and efficiency of our operations.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: A Repair Manager must be highly skilled in bicycle maintenance and repair, with familiarity with both old and new bikes. They must be effective in teaching people about bicycle maintenance. They must become proficient in the use of our point-of-sale system and spreadsheet software. Self-motivation is essential. Spanish language skills desired.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: At least three years of professional bicycle repair experience or equivalent. Experience as a teacher/instructor is a plus.

EMPLOYER: The Bicycle Tree, a nonprofit project of fiscal sponsor Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Located in Santa Ana, California, the Bicycle Tree is Orange County's only nonprofit community bicycle center. Our mission is to equitably support bicyclists and create healthy, bicycle-friendly communities through activities, advocacy, and education. We help people learn to maintain their own bikes at our shop, we serve as a hub for used bikes and parts, and we support community members with quality low- to no-cost services.

The Bicycle Tree depends on staff to use their special skills to fulfill necessary, ongoing components of our operations. Paid staff work alongside volunteers to assist the communities we serve.

APPLY HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfQmFjuD6DRHVFMdQBXvnfo-p_Xb8rMBZb7... Thank you,

Paul Nagel (he/him) Project Director *The Bicycle Tree* shop: (714) 760-4681 702 W. 17th St. C Santa Ana, CA 92706 info@thebicycletree.org www.thebicycletree.org on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bicycle-Tree/107619955928496/ on instagram http://instagram.com/bicycletree/

Public Hours: Wed 1-7 pm Thurs 1-7 pm Sat 11 am - 5 pm Sun 1-5 pm

On Mon, Aug 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM Aaron via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:

Hey everyone,

Our collective (Davis Bike Collective) is struggling to implement a volunteer-for-credit system. One of the big questions is how to make it easier for volunteers to, well, volunteer. I think creating some more "self guided" volunteer tasks would help make everything run more smoothly by opening the door to more volunteers while increasing the effectiveness of their efforts.

How do other collectives make it easy for volunteers to stay on task? What are some good "self-guided" tasks that wouldn't require lots of oversight from more experienced mechanics? Does anyone have any other tips regarding volunteer for credit i.e. what worked and what hasn't?

Thanks in advance! Aaron

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Hi Aaron,

Great question. We get volunteers with varying degrees of bicycle knowledge and skill set levels. Some require little to no supervision and others do require some hand holding initially at first. Once they are comfortable enough, they complete the assigned task and ask for more assignments or continue with previous task from other visits. Less experienced volunters will often differ to those with more experience, and others have the foresight to look up "how to" videos to do a task like remove a bottom bracket or patch a tube. When staffing numbers permit, a veteran staffer or experienced volunteer supervises the group of volunteers. You can call them volunteer coordinators. It helps to have a clear game plan for the day or week with specific task that need to be completed. It also helps to actively check in with volunteers on any challenges they might be experiencing. When staffing and volunteers numbers increase, we plan on adding additional days.

In the past we've offered "Work Days", only open to staff and volunteers to focus on projects like organizing parts, braking down or putting together bikes etc. We'll be making more content on how to's that can also help self guided work for volunteers.

We offer something similar to volunteer for credit. If an interested person comes in and volunteers an accumulative total of 6 hours, they earn a years membership to the co-op. If they volunteer for an additional 6 hours, 12 hours in total, they earn "Digging Rights," to build a bicycle from our inventory of frames, partial bikes, complete bikes parts etc. They tag their bike or project with their name, phone # and date ladt worked on. Had to be worked on at least every 2 weeks.

Easy task that shouldn't require a lot of assistance.

• Tire tube patch or replacement.
• Checking for leaks in tubes.
• Replacing grips or grip tape.
• Cleaning chains.
• Replacing brake pads.
• Removing surface rust on frame and componets with WD-40 or white vinegar using aluminum foil, a wire. brush or steel

wool.

I remember you, Sam, Sarah and a shorter man up at the counter during my visits. One of your former staff/volunters came to our co-op a few months ago. I believe his name was Ken; a very tall person. You've all been friendly and courteous. 1 other person, not so much.

Feel free to reach out.

Rd.

*The Bike Kitchen is located at 650H Florida St. at 18th Street* *We can also be found on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bikekitchensf and Mastodon https://sfba.social/@bikekitchen* https://sfba.social/@bikekitchen

*Open Hours: * *Tue, Wed, Thu 6pm - 9pm* *Sat 12pm - 3pm* *2nd & 4th Mondays 6:30pm - 9pm (Women/Trans*/Femme Folk)*

*We help you fix your bike!*

On Mon, Aug 11, 2025, 5:32 PM Aaron via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:

Hey everyone,

Our collective (Davis Bike Collective) is struggling to implement a volunteer-for-credit system. One of the big questions is how to make it easier for volunteers to, well, volunteer. I think creating some more "self guided" volunteer tasks would help make everything run more smoothly by opening the door to more volunteers while increasing the effectiveness of their efforts.

How do other collectives make it easy for volunteers to stay on task? What are some good "self-guided" tasks that wouldn't require lots of oversight from more experienced mechanics? Does anyone have any other tips regarding volunteer for credit i.e. what worked and what hasn't?

Thanks in advance! Aaron

---

TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe send an email to thethinktank-leave@lists.bikecollectives.org To view this discussion on the web visit https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikecol...