My friend and I (current and former co-op wrenchers) are heading to Berlin, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen, late April -early May. While we both have touring bikes, for a variety of reasons we can’t bring them on this trip. This visit is more of a scouting mission so we will be exploring around the edges of these big cities and hope to do so by bike. We both have backgrounds in the bike co-op world, and have provided this service to others in the past. Any suggestions on how to obtain affordable rentals or loaners in these regions? Any recomended bike coops around the region?  other helpful suggestions?

I'm volunteering with a new group that is fixing and giving away bikes. We have a space, but it's a mess. Does anyone have suggestions, ideas, or links on organizing bike workshop and coop spaces?

I volunteer at an all volunteer non-profit bike co-op. We refurb and sell donated bikes. Teach and assist folks how to fix their bikes. All volunteer - we do not charge for labor - only charge for parts.

I got a call from our (possibly former) insurance agent. Told me the company that covered our building and liability was dropping the product for non-profits. No renewal possible. The agent has no access to companies that will cover a non-profit. The big sticking point is liability on used bikes.

After many calls, got an application in and paid first months premium to another company. But since it still has to be approved by underwriting, they could decide not to accept it. We get at least 60 days notice if we get turned down.

Who do you get your coverage through? We're in Ohio.

Hey, all, I am trying to better store an obscene amount of forks. They're presently in those rectangular, plastic bins, which does keep them compact, but also takes up a lot of floor space.

Any suggestions or examples of low-to-higher skilled (construction-wise) storage for so many goddamn forks?

Hi I'm going to be riding the GAP and C&O trail in June this year. Me and a buddy are building up two single speeds for the ride and planning on leaving them in DC. Wanted to see if there are any coops or kitchens in DC who might be interested in the bikes we'd be leaving them frame bags, and all parts besides saddles.

The Bike Coop non-profit that I volunteer at has been using QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Desktop for a long time. We do less than $50K per year. Yesterday a message popped when I opened POS said that POS is being discontinued this October. On-line payments and everything else will stop working. The message provides a link to Shopify for replacements. So, we're now shopping for a replacement POS. Ideally, it would be a POS that supports a card payments, a cash register, inventory, and talks to Quickbook Desktop.

Anybody else in the same boat?

What are you using for POS and accounting?

I live in a small poor community of 12,000 in NY and our downtown just got a $10 million dollar grant. I want to help influence our community as it grows and am interested in starting a bike co-op, especially since our downtown lacks parking. Additionally, I want more children and adults to have access to inexpensive transportation. Can I manage this myself to get started? Should I register as a non-profit? Not sure how to get started and any advice would be great!

The co-op in Edmonton where I live has two shops and I play crankset bingo: Check donated orphan spiders against donated orphan left cranks. Pictured is the all-time orphan five years in. I'll mail this (half-of a) two-piece FSA road double for free to any co-op out there that has the left crank for it: 175 mm. Hopefully the picture provides the details you need, but 24mm spindle, was in a 68 mm BB. (Hopefully the moderator is ok with...?)

The bike co-op in my city not only survived, selling bikes and parts by appointment, but opened a relocated-second location it was launching exactly when COVID shut retail down. It has now resumed DIY, which it had not done since March 2020.

Really my post is to see if this subreddit survived tho - im pretty new here so not sure if this is derelict or what

the one i frequent has shut its walk in service to everyone and set up a go fund me. they still have appointments in their regular bike shop formatted space, but thats not really bringing in enough dough for them currently.

im wondering if any others have something better set up.

Hi guys I am apprentice in a bike coop , one of the volunteers expressed concerns about sanding and scoring disc brake pads on older bikes we refurbish as they potentially are made with asbestos.Are you aware of any specific laws or regulations regarding this matter

Hi fellow co-op’ers-

I’m in Longmont, CO, and have been working on starting a co-op for about 18 months. My experience comes with Spoke Folks in Grand Rapids, MI.

I’ve learned that the bike advocacy non-profit (Bicycle Longmont) in town had a successful co-op years back, but ran out of volunteer interest to run it. What that means is I’ve got tools, stands, bikes, an active 501(c)(3), and even a dormant QBP account ready to implement, but lack only the space to operate. Rent In Longmont is not particularly cheap, and I’ve struggled to find anyone willing to parcel off an industrial corner for the project. BL is hesitant to commit to make the leap into putting their name on a lease.

All that is to say, do you have any recommendations as far as finding space that will work until the co-op is viable enough to start paying bills? Do I need to start with a fundraiser? If so, how many months of rent am I trying to raise?

In the grand scheme, this feels like a small hurdle, though it has sidelined the project for some time now. I’d appreciate any input!

I came across this https://www.instructables.com/id/Bike-Lock-from-Laptop-Security-Cable/ and used the principle to repair my own cable lock.It then occurred to me that we could recycle the locks we cut off in a similar manner.Anyone else ever tried anything like that?

Does anyone mind sharing their awesome storage designs? We are so excited about the move!

While a couple of our board members are on the city's Bike Pedestrian Advisory Committee, after seeing what Durham, NC's bike co-op has going on we decided to push a couple events and they are going great! We have a bike to a ballgame event where we had 30 tickets donated, and we have a bike beer crawl later this month.

What are you guys working on?

Recently I had an experience that I wasn't prepared for. We have WTF nights, we have a trans wrench, we are all liberal in a sea of conservatism at our shop.

Recently, I had someone reach out to our shop because he wanted to learn how to work on his own bike, and his families bikes. He was deep southern, a former truck driver, and he brought his family along with him. On his first visit he made a comment about how they stayed in the car until he determined that we were safe, which I took as some sort of slight, but when he walked out, I talked to one of the other wrenches, and I called him a simple god fearing southern man, that may not be a good fit.

He was standing right behind me.

I am a man that makes mistakes, but I refuse to run from em. So we had a heart to heart. He had so much more life experiences than I would have ever put on an old southern boy. He has become a regular at the shop and is quickly learning the ropes.

Point of all of this, in the current state of the polarity of the US right now, I found myself prejudiced to this guy because I saw him as a southern boy that would not be able to integrate into a very open shop. I was wrong. He is great with trying to get pronouns right, and he fits in just like everyone else.

I wanted to share because I was wrong.

Guys, we have been working our butts off on B!B! this year. We closed registration last week when we hit 60 registrants, but somehow creeped over 70. Talk about Critical Mass!

Part of the reason we were selected to host B!B! Was for our famous South Carolina Style BBQ- so we have one of the best BBQ guys around to provide 3 meals and a snack, we have a stopover at an amazing lowcountry style BBQ restaurant, and for our vegans, we have plenty of great options! But heck, why talk about food at a bike event?

So, we have The Nick a historic theater on Main St. screening Backpedal, a documentary almost a year in the making produced by a friend and powerful storyteller. There will be a Q&A afterwards with him followed by a talk with former chair of the Columbia, SC Bike Pedestrian Advisory Committee Chair (and member of BPAC of 6 years) to discuss infrastructure in a policy desert.

This is literally the just the beginning. We have 2 days of packed round tables and seminars, with bike tours tucked in, changing venues over half a dozen times to make sure you get the whole Columbia experience. The event will culminate with a party at Art Bar with a close friend and super talented DJ(can you say opened for Gareth Emory?) DJ VIVID!

It should be an amazing weekend, and a good holiday for those that signed up. Thanks again to everyone!

As a nonprofit, our organisation is legally governed by a board of 9 or so members. Each board member serves 2 year terms and we hold elections every year to fill these spots.

Historically however, our board has not been much of a decision making authority but rather just a spot filler for legal requirements. Almost all of our decisions in the past have been voted or agreed upon through deliberation during our shop/community meetings. In this way we are run more as a cooperative where all of our volunteers a have a say in decisions.

Do any other coops run similarly? I am not sure why a coop needs a voting board. Seems like a coop be managed by coop members. Even though we have ran successfully like this for a while, there is clearly a shift in which newly elected board members are trying to vote on key decisions. Does anyone have any documentation which spells out the limitations of their board?

Thanks Co-op'ers