Paying People who Refurbish Bikes
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
Tegan,
We had an offer open to mechanics we deemed to be working at or near professional levels, wherein they could be paid as contractors at a living wage to fix up bikes for sale.
It was thought of as a win/win because people who would otherwise have been repairing bikes for free would be getting paid, and the shop would get a lot more out of it financially than it was putting in, since what defined a bike set aside for fixing up to sell was that it had to meet the criteria of being repairable in an hour or two. We also considered offering a set price per bike instead.
In any case, no mechanic ever took us up on it, not sure why. You might talk about this with your community and find that it seems more likely to work in your situation.
cyclista Nicholas
On 2020-11-26 23:39, Tegan Moss [B!KE] wrote:
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
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In 2013 we at Austin's Yellow Bike Project started a staff program, mostly because our big new-at-the-time shop seemed underutilized. It seemed fine until the last few years. The staff feels there is a lack in accountability from the board, which is a loosely organized group of volunteers. So when the staff has problems, they seem not to get solved and people quit. We're down to 2 employees (one of whom is part time) from a peak of 7 a year ago. Almost all staff were board members before their hire date, so the arrangement has had the added detriment of gutting the board of (often its most) capable members.
To answer your questions: We pay them hourly, and all the same hourly (which was their choice). But that may be about to change as there's talk of re-organizing from a collective to a manager-and-staff. They set the bike prices.
Thomas Butler he | they Austin's Yellow Bike Project austinyellowbike.org
On Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 5:39 PM Tegan Moss [B!KE] < director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
-- Executive Director B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 293 George St, Peterborough ON (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org she/her
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Hi Tegan, All-
The Salt Lake Bicycle Collective has, for years, employed mechanic staff (in addition to program staff, some of which is contracted, others employees). Last I checked, the pay scale is pretty flat with most mechanics earning about $15/hr. With a vibrant bike community in Utah and 4 locations, the Bicycle Collective has acted as a training grounds for future commercial bike shop employment, with several former employees in key/leading roles at local for-profit bike retailers, where wages are in the $18-24/hr for skilled mechanics. Donna McAleer is the executive director and somewhat new to the job, I don't think she's on this list.
In my experience, many community bike shops in larger, bike popular towns operate with paid staff: Portland-Community Cycling Center, City Bikes, North Portland Bike Works; Boulder-Community Cycles; Seattle- Bike Works; San Francisco- Freewheel; Boise-Boise Bicycle Project. I'm not sure if any of those orgs are on the list, but you may be able to contact them for insights. Bikes are getting increasingly complex and diverse so it's nice to see that someone could make a decent wage while promoting this great activity.
Kevin
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM Thomas Butler thomas.unavailable@gmail.com wrote:
In 2013 we at Austin's Yellow Bike Project started a staff program, mostly because our big new-at-the-time shop seemed underutilized. It seemed fine until the last few years. The staff feels there is a lack in accountability from the board, which is a loosely organized group of volunteers. So when the staff has problems, they seem not to get solved and people quit. We're down to 2 employees (one of whom is part time) from a peak of 7 a year ago. Almost all staff were board members before their hire date, so the arrangement has had the added detriment of gutting the board of (often its most) capable members.
To answer your questions: We pay them hourly, and all the same hourly (which was their choice). But that may be about to change as there's talk of re-organizing from a collective to a manager-and-staff. They set the bike prices.
Thomas Butler he | they Austin's Yellow Bike Project austinyellowbike.org
On Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 5:39 PM Tegan Moss [B!KE] < director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
-- Executive Director B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 293 George St, Peterborough ON (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org she/her
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Here at Bike Church we started a new system where each bike build is worth $30 (two paid hours) no matter which bike. Some donated bikes need a quick check, pump, dust-off and test ride and are ready. Some need a full rebuild. It is up to mechanics to choose which bikes to fix and the idea is that it'll all even out in the end to fair pay while still ensuring a profit from each bike (except for the $30 bikes, but it still benefits the shop to have super cheap bikes available for our community). Everyone is strongly encouraged to go for the quick and easy bikes first, which benefits both the individual in terms of hourly rate, and the shop because we end up with more ready to go bikes. In the end people tend to go for the sexy but way-more-work bike projects anyways.
Each mechanic or apprentice can only have one shop project going at a time and when they're done it needs to be checked off by a core mechanic, who will then add it to the builder's timesheet (for a core mechanic who builds it they get a different core to check it off). This way we have consistent quality control and by limiting everyone to one project at a time we don't end up with a dozen half-done (or 99% done) bikes that aren't ready to ride or ready to sell. It's a new system so I can't guarantee you that it works but so far it's promising.
Nik - she/they Bike Church core mechanic "Santa Cruz, California"
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 8:32 PM Kevin Dwyer kevidwyer@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Tegan, All-
The Salt Lake Bicycle Collective has, for years, employed mechanic staff (in addition to program staff, some of which is contracted, others employees). Last I checked, the pay scale is pretty flat with most mechanics earning about $15/hr. With a vibrant bike community in Utah and 4 locations, the Bicycle Collective has acted as a training grounds for future commercial bike shop employment, with several former employees in key/leading roles at local for-profit bike retailers, where wages are in the $18-24/hr for skilled mechanics. Donna McAleer is the executive director and somewhat new to the job, I don't think she's on this list.
In my experience, many community bike shops in larger, bike popular towns operate with paid staff: Portland-Community Cycling Center, City Bikes, North Portland Bike Works; Boulder-Community Cycles; Seattle- Bike Works; San Francisco- Freewheel; Boise-Boise Bicycle Project. I'm not sure if any of those orgs are on the list, but you may be able to contact them for insights. Bikes are getting increasingly complex and diverse so it's nice to see that someone could make a decent wage while promoting this great activity.
Kevin
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM Thomas Butler < thomas.unavailable@gmail.com> wrote:
In 2013 we at Austin's Yellow Bike Project started a staff program, mostly because our big new-at-the-time shop seemed underutilized. It seemed fine until the last few years. The staff feels there is a lack in accountability from the board, which is a loosely organized group of volunteers. So when the staff has problems, they seem not to get solved and people quit. We're down to 2 employees (one of whom is part time) from a peak of 7 a year ago. Almost all staff were board members before their hire date, so the arrangement has had the added detriment of gutting the board of (often its most) capable members.
To answer your questions: We pay them hourly, and all the same hourly (which was their choice). But that may be about to change as there's talk of re-organizing from a collective to a manager-and-staff. They set the bike prices.
Thomas Butler he | they Austin's Yellow Bike Project austinyellowbike.org
On Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 5:39 PM Tegan Moss [B!KE] < director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
-- Executive Director B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 293 George St, Peterborough ON (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org she/her
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Hey Nik! I used to work at Pedex and volunteer at the church from time to time. It’s nice to hear from you!
I was wondering how the bike church pays their workers. Are they on payroll? I’m volunteering at the davis bike collective and I enjoy the freedom of not having payroll but also could appreciate the extra work paid staff could accomplish. Do you have payroll? Is it as much work as I think or am I wrong?
Aaron He/they
On Thu, Dec 10, 2020 at 9:28 PM Bike Church Santa Cruz < thebikechurch@gmail.com> wrote:
Here at Bike Church we started a new system where each bike build is worth $30 (two paid hours) no matter which bike. Some donated bikes need a quick check, pump, dust-off and test ride and are ready. Some need a full rebuild. It is up to mechanics to choose which bikes to fix and the idea is that it'll all even out in the end to fair pay while still ensuring a profit from each bike (except for the $30 bikes, but it still benefits the shop to have super cheap bikes available for our community). Everyone is strongly encouraged to go for the quick and easy bikes first, which benefits both the individual in terms of hourly rate, and the shop because we end up with more ready to go bikes. In the end people tend to go for the sexy but way-more-work bike projects anyways.
Each mechanic or apprentice can only have one shop project going at a time and when they're done it needs to be checked off by a core mechanic, who will then add it to the builder's timesheet (for a core mechanic who builds it they get a different core to check it off). This way we have consistent quality control and by limiting everyone to one project at a time we don't end up with a dozen half-done (or 99% done) bikes that aren't ready to ride or ready to sell. It's a new system so I can't guarantee you that it works but so far it's promising.
Nik - she/they Bike Church core mechanic "Santa Cruz, California"
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 8:32 PM Kevin Dwyer kevidwyer@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Tegan, All-
The Salt Lake Bicycle Collective has, for years, employed mechanic staff (in addition to program staff, some of which is contracted, others employees). Last I checked, the pay scale is pretty flat with most mechanics earning about $15/hr. With a vibrant bike community in Utah and 4 locations, the Bicycle Collective has acted as a training grounds for future commercial bike shop employment, with several former employees in key/leading roles at local for-profit bike retailers, where wages are in the $18-24/hr for skilled mechanics. Donna McAleer is the executive director and somewhat new to the job, I don't think she's on this list.
In my experience, many community bike shops in larger, bike popular towns operate with paid staff: Portland-Community Cycling Center, City Bikes, North Portland Bike Works; Boulder-Community Cycles; Seattle- Bike Works; San Francisco- Freewheel; Boise-Boise Bicycle Project. I'm not sure if any of those orgs are on the list, but you may be able to contact them for insights. Bikes are getting increasingly complex and diverse so it's nice to see that someone could make a decent wage while promoting this great activity.
Kevin
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM Thomas Butler < thomas.unavailable@gmail.com> wrote:
In 2013 we at Austin's Yellow Bike Project started a staff program, mostly because our big new-at-the-time shop seemed underutilized. It seemed fine until the last few years. The staff feels there is a lack in accountability from the board, which is a loosely organized group of volunteers. So when the staff has problems, they seem not to get solved and people quit. We're down to 2 employees (one of whom is part time) from a peak of 7 a year ago. Almost all staff were board members before their hire date, so the arrangement has had the added detriment of gutting the board of (often its most) capable members.
To answer your questions: We pay them hourly, and all the same hourly (which was their choice). But that may be about to change as there's talk of re-organizing from a collective to a manager-and-staff. They set the bike prices.
Thomas Butler he | they Austin's Yellow Bike Project austinyellowbike.org
On Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 5:39 PM Tegan Moss [B!KE] < director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
-- Executive Director B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 293 George St, Peterborough ON https://www.google.com/maps/search/293+George+St,+Peterborough+ON?entry=gmail&source=g (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org she/her
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Hi Aaron, We do payroll and it's not a ton of work but I imagine it was a lot to set-up. It means W-2s and all that, but on the other side it means there's unemployment insurance if we need it. Filing payroll is done twice a week and is one of our administrative clerkships. We make sure that at least two people know how to do it in case someone isn't available for some reason. Ps. PedX is still going strong and is currently hiring! Nik
On Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 2:07 PM Aaron Shaw atshaw@ucdavis.edu wrote:
Hey Nik! I used to work at Pedex and volunteer at the church from time to time. It’s nice to hear from you!
I was wondering how the bike church pays their workers. Are they on payroll? I’m volunteering at the davis bike collective and I enjoy the freedom of not having payroll but also could appreciate the extra work paid staff could accomplish. Do you have payroll? Is it as much work as I think or am I wrong?
Aaron He/they
On Thu, Dec 10, 2020 at 9:28 PM Bike Church Santa Cruz < thebikechurch@gmail.com> wrote:
Here at Bike Church we started a new system where each bike build is worth $30 (two paid hours) no matter which bike. Some donated bikes need a quick check, pump, dust-off and test ride and are ready. Some need a full rebuild. It is up to mechanics to choose which bikes to fix and the idea is that it'll all even out in the end to fair pay while still ensuring a profit from each bike (except for the $30 bikes, but it still benefits the shop to have super cheap bikes available for our community). Everyone is strongly encouraged to go for the quick and easy bikes first, which benefits both the individual in terms of hourly rate, and the shop because we end up with more ready to go bikes. In the end people tend to go for the sexy but way-more-work bike projects anyways.
Each mechanic or apprentice can only have one shop project going at a time and when they're done it needs to be checked off by a core mechanic, who will then add it to the builder's timesheet (for a core mechanic who builds it they get a different core to check it off). This way we have consistent quality control and by limiting everyone to one project at a time we don't end up with a dozen half-done (or 99% done) bikes that aren't ready to ride or ready to sell. It's a new system so I can't guarantee you that it works but so far it's promising.
Nik - she/they Bike Church core mechanic "Santa Cruz, California"
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 8:32 PM Kevin Dwyer kevidwyer@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Tegan, All-
The Salt Lake Bicycle Collective has, for years, employed mechanic staff (in addition to program staff, some of which is contracted, others employees). Last I checked, the pay scale is pretty flat with most mechanics earning about $15/hr. With a vibrant bike community in Utah and 4 locations, the Bicycle Collective has acted as a training grounds for future commercial bike shop employment, with several former employees in key/leading roles at local for-profit bike retailers, where wages are in the $18-24/hr for skilled mechanics. Donna McAleer is the executive director and somewhat new to the job, I don't think she's on this list.
In my experience, many community bike shops in larger, bike popular towns operate with paid staff: Portland-Community Cycling Center, City Bikes, North Portland Bike Works; Boulder-Community Cycles; Seattle- Bike Works; San Francisco- Freewheel; Boise-Boise Bicycle Project. I'm not sure if any of those orgs are on the list, but you may be able to contact them for insights. Bikes are getting increasingly complex and diverse so it's nice to see that someone could make a decent wage while promoting this great activity.
Kevin
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 4:30 PM Thomas Butler < thomas.unavailable@gmail.com> wrote:
In 2013 we at Austin's Yellow Bike Project started a staff program, mostly because our big new-at-the-time shop seemed underutilized. It seemed fine until the last few years. The staff feels there is a lack in accountability from the board, which is a loosely organized group of volunteers. So when the staff has problems, they seem not to get solved and people quit. We're down to 2 employees (one of whom is part time) from a peak of 7 a year ago. Almost all staff were board members before their hire date, so the arrangement has had the added detriment of gutting the board of (often its most) capable members.
To answer your questions: We pay them hourly, and all the same hourly (which was their choice). But that may be about to change as there's talk of re-organizing from a collective to a manager-and-staff. They set the bike prices.
Thomas Butler he | they Austin's Yellow Bike Project austinyellowbike.org
On Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 5:39 PM Tegan Moss [B!KE] < director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
Hi Folks,
B!KE does not currently pay anyone to fix bikes. We do not have any staff members who do repairs for clients or refurbish bicycles to sell. Our hundreds of refurb that get completed each year are currently done by volunteers.
We have occasionally talked about how to compensate volunteers who are particularly prolific bike builders. What do other shops do? Do you pay people to refurbish bikes? Is it per bike or per hour? Are all bikes worth the same amount? Are all bike builders compensated equally?
If you have a system that is working well for your shop I would be very interested in talking to you about what you do. Please send me an email if this is something you'd be open to talking about.
Thanks, Tegan
-- Executive Director B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 293 George St, Peterborough ON https://www.google.com/maps/search/293+George+St,+Peterborough+ON?entry=gmail&source=g (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org she/her
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participants (6)
-
Aaron Shaw -
Bike Church Santa Cruz -
Cyclista Nicholas -
Kevin Dwyer -
Tegan Moss [B!KE] -
Thomas Butler