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#1
04-17-2022, 04:18 PM
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Doug Fattic’s Ukrainian Colleagues-Go Fund Me
Please consider giving to help these individuals in desperate need of assistance. Anyone who has heard of Doug’s past relationship with Ukraine will understand how this will help a deserving cycling community. Here is the gofundme link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-doug...ers-in-ukraine 
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#2
04-18-2022, 12:05 AM
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I was getting my haircut this week when the hairdresser asked me how I got started doing a bicycle project in Ukraine. She doesn't take that long to cut my hair so I had to leave out interesting details. I told her a Russian PhD student at my nearby Alma Mater explained how married students at the school where he taught in Russia wasted time walking from their apartments to class. If they they had bicycles, they could make better use of their time. Bicycles were donated and a shipping container got filled but customs prevented them from getting into Russia so they went to neighboring Ukraine. A lucky alternative.
I told my hairdresser I was lucky this opportunity found me. I knew about bicycles and had some organizational skills and went to work. These kind of charity projects can improve those involved. When the XB3 bicycle company in Kharkov couldn't make what we needed, we started making them ourselves on a college campus in Bucha. It was a rather ordinary bedroom community. Our emphasis shifted when Russia invaded Eastern Ukraine in 2014. Instead of spreading our output throughout Ukraine, we placed what we made in the east where their choices for getting around was either walking or biking. During these 22 years, I've developed relationships that make a project run. It was easy enough to shift this structure into a vehicle for humanitarian aid. My people know where money can be more effectively used. Right now it is primarily to get as many people as possible to the border for safety and bring back food that is in short supply. It has also been able to provide some assistance to those no longer getting wages. The reports I get back is that everyone is under stress because of uncertainty. Knowing that help is coming is more than meeting their physical meeds but emotional as well. I'm glad our bicycle charity was already in place for this new requirement for assistance.
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#3
04-18-2022, 12:31 AM
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It’s a great cause for really good people, donated.
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#5
04-19-2022, 08:52 AM
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This is the latest news from Anna my former translator. She and her little girls and her aunt and cousin left the Russian controlled town of Kherson (it is just above Crimea) to stay at her parent's house near Odessa until her husband (he is a pastor) could join them. Their car lasted just long enough to get there. Once they got it fixed they went to Lviv. I'll let her tell her own story. When she is talking about the "south", she is referring to the Odessa area:
Yesterday evening we safely got to my relatives near Lviv. Big city in West Ukraine. We live here in small village. And today's morning the city was bombed, near railway station. There are some deaths. I do want to stay here, because I am not alone, relatives, small village, nature. Good place to be with kids. And what is the most important - my husband will come here. He will stay here for a week and then go to South, then again 1 week with us. He will take people to the border with Poland (we live now like 30 km from border) and take humanitarian aids from here to South. This is what we have now. And it is still better, then to be abroad without seeing him at all. So that is the reason why I try to stay in Ukraine. And if situation get worse, we need 30 min and we are in Poland. But these or next week I plan to travel to Poland first and then Germany anyway. I need to help my aunt to go to America. And her documents for visa are in Germany. My mum will stay here with kids.
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#7
04-20-2022, 10:30 AM
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Ever since I learned how to build frames in England in the 70's, I've used what the British called a "sizing board" as a fixture to help make bicycle frames. It is a logical progression of how I think. Over many years I've adjusted its design to suit my purposes. I now get them laser cut and etched in Ukraine.
After refining a customer's (or student's) position on a fitting bike, I place their chosen saddle and stem in the same position on my fixture. I then slide the pieces that represent the frame tubes to match where the stem and saddle are located. In other words I fit the frame to the person rather than the person to the frame. This is particularly helpful as their cycling needs change and they move away from a racing design. I'll attach a picture to illustrate this procedure. I can read almost every dimension by the markings on the fixture. After the design is set, I can check the accuracy of my miters against the other tubes held in the fixture. Most fixtures are set by the miters while I do it the other way around. Wth my way I can either remiter or reset the fixture so all the miters are dead on. Because the fixture sits on an alignment table, I can adjust the height of the tubes so everything is perfectly aligned when I spot braze the frame together. The advantage is that the fixture itself doesn't have to be machined to the highest possible tolerances saving that extra weight and expense. The alignment table provides the accuracy. What is unfortunate is the the stainless steel used in my fixture is made in the port city of Mariupol. Yes the city that is getting bombed to smithereens. In fact I heard that because city residents have gone there for shelter, it is being targeted for bombing. My laser cutting company located in the middle of Ukraine can get steel from Germany and Asia but of course it costs a lot more for the steel and for transportation. Of course the reason for having both the bicycles and the fixtures manufactured in Ukraine is so that our modest purchases benefits the Ukrainian economy. They don't need our help in Asia or western Europe. I've never really made any effort to sell my fixtures. They work great for me and my students but I don't bother much to market them. This is not my latest version which may or may not be able to be shipped out of Ukraine.
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#8
06-29-2022, 09:54 AM
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As most of you are aware, Doug Fattic's Ukraine Bike Project shop was broken into during the early phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It took a while for Doug's framebuilding partner, Yuriy, to gain access to the shop. I don't think Doug has a detailed inventory of what's missing yet, but it appears only general purpose tools were stolen, not the harder-to-replace bike tools (like the shop's Anvil jig and Doug's special fixtures). Here's a report from Yuriy that Doug posted to the framebuilders forum on bikeforums:
The locks on the door to the bike shop are smashed and broken. When our people arrived, the door was open. I asked them on the phone to somehow close the door before my arrival. They closed the broken left window and put a small padlock on the door. I found that the following things were stolen: a large vice, a drill, clamps, all drills and taps, all open-end wrenches from 7 to 17 mm, some M5 and M6 bolts and nuts, a grinder, a pump and more. Maybe something else was stolen, but I haven't seen it yet. I put two new padlocks on the door container. The three locks on the red container were broken. The doors were open, but nothing was stolen. Two of your and Tim's bikes, which we made for the pastors, were borrowed by two UGI employees. I gave them permission over the phone. I put three new locks on this container. I bought all the new locks for the house and the bike shop in Chernivtsi. Shops in Vorzel and Bucha are closed and there is no place to buy locks yet. Good news: our gray trailer could not be opened! The photo shows traces of shots. But the thieves could not open the door. Therefore, everything was preserved in this trailer. I transferred everything of value to this trailer so that everything would be preserved until my return. We will stay in Chernivtsi for some time, until it becomes clear that the Russian military will not return to Vorzel, Bucha and Irpen. When the shops open, then it will be possible to return home. For example: the large store known to you in Bucha MODUL was smashed, bombed and burned down completely along its entire length. Everything is destroyed. And so are most stores. Let's wait here in Chernivtsi so that we don't have to run away from Vorzel again. People attending my backyard bike shindig Sunday donated generously. That money is en route to Doug. I'm posting this follow-up to ask you to continue supporting Doug's Ukraine Bike Project. The GoFundMe is still active: https://gofund.me/7b5be113 Any funds donated will make their way to Yuriy so he can replace what was stolen. Thanks for your help...
__________________
Monti Special
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#10
07-05-2022, 09:09 AM
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I heard from my former translator Anna yesterday. She was telling me about the situation in Kherson that is mostly but not entirely controlled by the Russians. She and her husband and 2 little daughters left Kherson to live with her parents some distance away. Some of their younger acquaintances have to stay in the city to help their older relatives that can not leave.
This is part of what she wrote: The situation there is difficult, especially for old people. It is very hard to cash out the money, to get their pensions. Because the city is not under Ukraine now, and also not fully Russian and the problem is that you don’t know what law, what rules are there. Some church members want to continue to help people with food. And they also want to improve the bomb shelter we have in the school building. As they hope that our army will make them free, but they understand it can not be without bombing and shooting, so they want this place to be really safe enough. She also mentioned that now food comes from Crimea and everything costs 2 to 4 times what it did.
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