Supporting local bike co ops

[cribbit]

Curious to know:

How many people here visit their local bike co op? How many volunteer there? How many donate to it?

And related, Spokeland in Oakland California is facing a tough financial situation right now after rising rents and last year's bad winter (way less customers when it rains) wiped out their reserves. They're getting help from other co ops both to implement better practices and donations to stay afloat long enough for a course correction but every volunteer hour, spare part and dollar matters.

[fa63]

I don't know how they survive, especially in high-rent places like Oakland. For grins, I recently priced out a ~1,500 sq. ft space in one of the nice suburbs of Atlanta. The quoted rent was almost $4,000/month. At that price, you are going to need a lot of donations and a lot of tune ups to keep the doors open.

[jtakeda]

I don't know how they survive, especially in high-rent places like Oakland. For grins, I recently priced out a ~1,500 sq. ft space in one of the nice suburbs of Atlanta. The quoted rent was almost $4,000/month. At that price, you are going to need a lot of donations and a lot of tune ups to keep the doors open.

Full on for profit bike shops are closing left and right here.

[melac1]

I'm actually a core member at spokeland, and we've been having talks about how we're going to get through this winter. Fortunately we just received a grant from a bike coop in socal and while that'll keep us going for a few months, I believe we're going to have to do some more outreach for more patrons. We are also graciously accepting donations, so everything is welcome and if you're nearby, feel free to stop by and say hello:)

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[cribbit]

I'm actually a core member at spokeland, and we've been having talks about how we're going to get through this winter. Fortunately we just received a grant from a bike coop in socal and while that'll keep us going for a few months, I believe we're going to have to do some more outreach for more patrons. We are also graciously accepting donations, so everything is welcome and if you're nearby, feel free to stop by and say hello:)

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I'm a member at Bikerowave, us giving you guys that grant is part of why I made this post :)

I don't know how they survive, especially in high-rent places like Oakland. For grins, I recently priced out a ~1,500 sq. ft space in one of the nice suburbs of Atlanta. The quoted rent was almost $4,000/month. At that price, you are going to need a lot of donations and a lot of tune ups to keep the doors open.

Employee salaries are also expensive. Most co ops don't pay their volunteers with money (but instead with community, access to the shop and discounts on parts) so their only costs are rent, insurance and utilities. Spokeland has a remarkably low monthly fixed cost, coming to around $20,000 a year. Bikerowave has one of the higher ones, we come close to $50,000 a year. That's money that we have to spend no matter how much or little we're open - parts, grease, tools, anything consumed by being open is additional cost.

Spokeland managed to survive on a very small and non growing buffer for a long time, Bikerowave is lucky to have a much larger membership (Spokeland is open 3 days a week, we're open 6) but still only turns a couple thousand in profit each year. We also have the advantage of being a not-for-profit rather than a 501(c)3 which allows us to sell retails parts which accounts for a large portion of our income.

[weisan]

I volunteer, donate, patronize at my local co-op Yellow Bike Project regularly.

http://austinyellowbike.org

I don't know a whole lot about how they operate but I believe they are doing quite well.

If you call them, I am pretty sure they would be most willing to share their experiences and information.

[Clean39T]

I’ve frequented the two main co-ops in Portland for years, but haven’t volunteered and don’t know their operations. They both get cool donations here and there...some of which are from me, via purchases here...circle of life [emoji41]

[nesteel]

I donate, volunteer, and serve on the board of directors on the local coop. They can be great resources. Support them when/where you can.

[AngryScientist]

to the best of my knowledge there is not one near me here in NJ.

is there some way to search for the nearest one?

[cribbit]

to the best of my knowledge there is not one near me here in NJ.

is there some way to search for the nearest one?


Unfortunately many co ops have terrible online presence or any sort of advertising. There are lists out there, some of which are out of date.

[fiamme red]

Great story about Ross Willard, founder of Recycle Bicycle in Harrisburg, PA: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2017/1113/Meet-Mr.-Bicycle-who-s-helped-fix-thousands-of-bikes-in-Pennsylvania.

[pdonk]

I try to use the one in my neighbourhood for special jobs and leave proper donations, BUT they are reverse classists. When I bring in my moots or wheels to use a tool I don't have 9mostly truing stand and BB tools) I get sent to the end of the line, even if a stand or the tool is available.

They are also a bit too political for my liking.

The other co-op that runs more as a store vs a DIY workshop, I've also had bad experiences at as well. Partially my "fault" as their core market is commuter, but since they have been around for a long time I have gone in looking for older parts which they have posted on line and when I get there they are clueless.

Both of these experiences are similar to local shops so hard to know if co-ops are special or just reflect the industry.

[ultraman6970]

THe two coops I know here are more like a store than a coop, specially one in falls church, the owner is a hoarder that makes super sale events each like 3 years when he realize he needs more room or when the fire marshal gets to the building and threat them to close the building, the 2 times Ive been in the super sale event I saw just tons of Cr@p going for expensive prices. Tons and tons of bins with virtually junk, the used good stuff we see in the forums was located in the building and was not for sale or the dude was asking brand new store prices.

The other Coop which never been at post some stuff at CL time to time, full retail price for stuff they got for free. I do get they get donations and they have expenses but IMO disguise a shop behind the name coop is not like the right thing to do.

[ORMojo]

I regularly donate parts, frames, wheels to my local coop. They are always thrilled to see me, and are extremely nice folk. I think my charitable donation tax write-off last year (based on the values they establish, and the receipts they write, for what I've brought in) totaled about $2,600.

[nesteel]

I regularly donate parts, frames, wheels to my local coop. They are always thrilled to see me, and are extremely nice folk. I think my charitable donation tax write-off last year (based on the values they establish, and the receipts they write, for what I've brought in) totaled about $2,600.

FYI, it's not kosher for the receiving charity to assign a value to your item.

[commonguy001]

We have one that I've donated to in the past and this thread is a good reminder I should go through my stuff and see if I have anything for them this year. For anyone in the twin cities it's called Express Bike Shop and is on Selby in St Paul and can always use our stuff that still has a use but maybe isn't something you want to bother selling and shipping.

[josephr]

"bring beer" and "work on your bike" turned into "beer not allowed for insurance reasons" and "shop stations set-up by volunteer mechanics perform maintenance at discounted rates"...they had a lot of other problems too in terms of non-consistent hours, cliquish group, shop tools grew legs often....not even sure if they're still operating.

[summilux]

I donate and sporadically volunteer at Recycled Cycles in Ottawa (http://www.re-cycles.ca/). When I lived in Montreal I did the same at SantroVelo in the Plateau (https://santropolroulant.org/en/what-is-the-roulant/collectives/santrovelo/). Great places to work with and a fun place to spend a winter's evening. They get my unused bike stuff and whenever I see a bike in the neighbourhood trash I'll pick it up and drive it to them.

[cribbit]

"bring beer" and "work on your bike" turned into "beer not allowed for insurance reasons" and "shop stations set-up by volunteer mechanics perform maintenance at discounted rates"...they had a lot of other problems too in terms of non-consistent hours, cliquish group, shop tools grew legs often....not even sure if they're still operating.

Unfortunately that is the way that some of them can turn. It takes a good bit of dedicated leadership to keep things going strong.

[phutterman]

I taught classes for a few years at the Bike Kitchen in San Francisco. Got harder to make time when I moved back to the East Bay (still working in the city), and for the past couple of years haven't had the time/energy to get involved at Spokeland, but I do periodically donate nice/complete/usable things. (Which reminds me, I have a big box for them that's been sitting around for a couple months now.)

[josephr]

Unfortunately that is the way that some of them can turn. It takes a good bit of dedicated leadership to keep things going strong.

clearly a free place to hang out and work on bikes isn't a good business model unless you're funded with deep pockets or have a buddy with extra space. Personally I think a good idea would be to open a small bar (3-4 taps) with several bike work stations. :banana:

[caspian]

I live in Olympia, WA and the state college in town has an excellent volunteer run community bike kitchen. They survive because they're essentially grandfathered in as a registered student group, which means they're guaranteed a minimum level of funding each year in addition to an annual working budget they propose. I'm sure some folks would be opposed to the notion of taxes 'subsidizing' a bike shop but they provide an invaluable resource and help people build up bikes from scratch, all parts and labor provided for free. I've dropped off parts there over the years and even though I don't volunteer any time I go in I end up helping other folks regardless.

[honestmachinery]

THe two coops I know here are more like a store than a coop, specially one in falls church, the owner is a hoarder that makes super sale events each like 3 years when he realize he needs more room or when the fire marshal gets to the building and threat them to close the building, the 2 times Ive been in the super sale event I saw just tons of Cr@p going for expensive prices. Tons and tons of bins with virtually junk, the used good stuff we see in the forums was located in the building and was not for sale or the dude was asking brand new store prices.

The other Coop which never been at post some stuff at CL time to time, full retail price for stuff they got for free. I do get they get donations and they have expenses but IMO disguise a shop behind the name coop is not like the right thing to do.I think I have been to both places. They seem to benefit from below-market rents and survive on hand-to-mouth sales and service. I'm sure they would make more money selling used cars or something, but I'm glad they are trying to make it with bikes. Their good stuff is priced high, but it is their collection, and they are collectors more than riders or retailers. I like walking in like the American picker guys and getting shot down.

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