Bike Project Shop Rules and Guidelines

Last revision: July 5, 2022, 9:03 am

Put things away when done. Leave workspace neater than you found it.
Clean up as you go and every time you leave the shop for the day:
1. Put tools away.
2. Clean floor of cables, rim strips, tubes, and other junk.
3. If leaving mid-project, put extra parts in a labeled bin (see below). Any unlabeled items you leave behind may be collected by staff to be recycled or sold.
  1. Find an empty yellow bin of appropriate size for your parts
  2. Make a masking tape label
    1. Your name
    2. The date (use 4-digit year format “2008-Aug-20” to avoid confusion))
    3. Bike number/description if for non-personal bike
  3. Hang the bin on any “In-Progress” grey wall-rack.
4. Move your project bike and its wheels out of the workshop and into the Big Room “In-Progress Bikes” area.
5. At end of day, main workbench should be clear of all parts, trash, tools, soak bowls, metal filings, and gunk.
  1. Only wheel truing stand, hand wash, and empty parts pans (stored vertically) should be on workbench.
  2. When you leave shop for the day, you are expected to clean up whatever part of the workbench you are using.
Work safe
1. When using any power tools:
  1. Wear eye protection.
  2. Tie back long hair
  3. Secure hanging clothing
2. When using grinder, make sure these are not in the path of sparks generated
  1. flammable liquids
  2. papers and rags
  3. rubber tubes and rim strips
Be Secure
1. If alone in shop, every time you step away (even for five minutes), shut door and rattle knob to check door is locked.
2. If last person in shop and leaving for the day, check that fire escape is closed, with bolts in place.
3. Exterior basement door should remain closed.
4. Exterior basement door may seem to have “clicked locked” when it actually hasn’t, especially when closing from outside stairwell. After closing, yank on handle to be sure the door has locked closed.
5. Don’t loan keys to non-co-op members.
6. No violence, assaults, physical threats, or stealing.
7. The Bike Project staff members and Steering Committee reserves right to ban any visitor or any member from premises, for a set time/date range.
  1. Individual staffers may ban a shop user for up to two days (48 hours), and will immediately notify staff and steering committee.
  2. Steering Committee may ban a shop user for any time period they choose (e.g. 5 days, 1 month, etc.) and may choose to ban a shop user permanently.
  3. Staffer decisions here may be appealed to Bike Project Steering Committee.
  4. Steering Committee decisions here may be appealed to general membership. Such appeals must be publicly announced (mailed to Bike Project discussion mailing list) at least 2 weeks before a monthly general meeting, then discussed at that general monthly meeting.
8. Choose bag checks or bag searches: entering the shop indicates agreement to either:
  1. Check your bags/backpacks and other containers with a Bike Project staffer, to be stored in a locker, and retrieved — only by a staffer — when you exit shop
  2. -or-
  3. Permit a search of your bag, backpacks and other containers by a Bike Project staffer before you exit shop.
Be considerate
1. Respect others’ use of the space for bike repair, and respect others’ time. It is of course great to talk with other shop users — this is part of helping each other, and of having a good time using the space. But: if someone tells you that they want to be left alone to work quietly on their bike, then do leave them to their work. Conversely, if you feel another shop user is just so friendly that you can’t concentrate on a repair, or that you are otherwise prevented from using the space, don’t be afraid to let them know clearly and politely, e.g. “I’m here to work on my bike; sorry, but I can’t talk much right now”.
2. Review and follow the Safer Space Policy.
3. If you would like to schedule a group activity in the Downtown Urbana space, coordinate with the steering committee by emailing contact@thebikeproject.org .
Tool use: Careful with that cone wrench!
1. If you’re not sure how to use a tool, get some help/advice. (First-time users have unintentionally broken many shop tools.)
  1. Best: other people working in shop.
  2. Web videos and web repair guides: see links in “Repair Manual” on the Bike Project wiki.
  3. Repair guides/manuals in shop (paper manuals on shelf, and PDFs on shop computer)
2. During your first repairs, have an experienced member check your repair, before you ride your newly repaired bike home! Arrange a meeting time, or just show up during staffed
3. Keep in mind your limits when repairing other people’s bikes. No shame in getting these repairs checked over, either.
4. Keep in mind: you may not know what you don’t know.
5. Seeking professional help.
  1. If you bring your bike to a local bike shop for help with a repair, listen to what they tell you. An experienced bike mechanic might:
    1. see something you entirely missed
    2. see that the problem you are fixing as just a symptom of a more important problem that _really_ has to be fixed
    3. see how to correct the faulty adjustment you made to a 20-cent part, avoiding the eventual destruction of a $50 part.
  2. Be polite to your local bike shop mechanic — especially if you tell your mechanic you started your repair at The Bike Project!
Leaving your things in Co-op: tag/label anything you own, but don’t want to be sold/scrapped, with your name and the full date. Attach “NOT FOR SALE” tags to your bikes, wheels, and large parts. Leave contact information — your phone number or email address — on any personal bike or build-a-bike project so you can be contacted in case of any confusion. Limit storage of bikes to no more than two weeks, unless you are actively working on the bike and updating your tag. Personal bikes left in the Co-op for more than two weeks (14 days) will be considered donations, and will be scrapped or sold.
1. Use labeled plastic baggies or labeled bins to store small parts
2. Label any personal tools you leave in co-op.
  1. A Red “C” is reserved for co-op, as is a Red Line or Red Blob for tiny tools.
  2. Co-op tools may not leave the Co-op, not even to other parts of the IMC building.
3. Use tags for bikes, detached wheels, and large parts like forks. Print “NOT FOR SALE” on both sides of the tag, in thick red marker 1/2 the height of tag. Print your name, the date, and phone/email on one side of the tag in smaller letters with thin marker or pen.
We are a charity and we cannot have people use our shop for personal enterprise. (e.g. Building multiple bikes for private sale.)
Bikes with motors (electric, gas or other mechanized motors) are not allowed to be repaired or built in the shop due to safety concerns.
If building a bike,
1. claim it for up to 14 days from today by attaching one of the white Build-A-Bike tags:
  1. Member number (likely your phone number)
  2. Your First and Last name
  3. Your phone number or email address
  4. “Build Start:” Date you started building (4-digit year).
  5. “Build Expires:” Date of claim expiration, initially 14 days from Start, afterwards 14 days from the current date.
2. As you build, push forward the tag’s “Build Expires” date to 14 days from whatever your latest contact with the bike.
3. Builds may take longer than 14 days total, but cannot be idle for fourteen consecutive days.. Any build idle for two weeks (e.g. past its latest Build Expires date) risks being claimed by another member and/or sold.
4. You are encouraged to check off each item that you complete so you know where you left off. The items are arranged in a specific order to help facilitate completing the bike.
5. If you put any new parts on the bike (chain, tires/tubes, cables, brake pads, etc.) please write them on the bottom under notes.
6. One build at a time per person (see staffer / email discussion list for special case
Work equity memberships and work hours
1. To arrange a work-equity membership, you must see a staff member, discuss on the work you will do, and have the staffer set up a work equity commitment on our shop “Little Green Light” database.
2. Recording work hours: see a staff member during each session you do the work hours, on the day you do them, so she/he can enter the hours into the shop database. It is up to you to remember to do this on the day of the work-hours performed.
Record any shop needs on the “Shop Needs” web form — bookmarked on browser toolbars on the checkout desk PC
1. If we need to buy a new a tool, replace a missing one, or buy anything else (e.g. sandpaper, dry lubricant, delicious Pop-Tarts(R) Frosted Chocolate Fudge Go-Tarts!(TM) Snack Bars), please enter here, including any relevant specifics.
Buying items
1. See a staffer to pay for items.
Stripping parts from scrap bikes
1. Only co-op scrap bikes — bikes with a tag reading “SCRAP” — may be stripped for scrap parts.
2. Please see a co-op staffer if you see a bike, without a “SCRAP” tag, that is in such poor condition that you think it should have a “SCRAP” tag. Do not add a “SCRAP” tag without consulting a staffer.
Email the high-traffic discussion list about mystery bikes, shop questions, other issues..
1. Discussion list is: bikecoop@lists.chambana.net

Rules for Staffers and Mechanics

Preparing bikes for sale
1. Staff/Volunteers may select a bike to repair to be sold to benefit the co-op called a staff build.
  1. In order to tag a shop build, please use one of the pink “Shop Build” tags and fill out the appropriate information.
  2. Staff are encouraged to mark the box allowing any staff to finish the bike.
  3. Staff should check the box as they progress through the build so to make it easy for other staff to help finish the build.
2. When you you complete all repairs on a bike (hooray! great work!):
  1. Have an Experienced Mechanic perform a Ready-to-Ride Safety Check; bike must pass. This must be a different mechanic than the person who fixed the bike. Typically, these will be the keyed staffers on the night that you are working.
  2. Fill out a sale tag (located in the top drawer of the desk):
    1. Suggested price: $XXX (if really unsure, estimate a rough range if you can or simply “$???”, and ask email discussion list)
    2. You may add a nickname if you like.
    3. Staff initials of volunteer who built the bike
    4. Staff initials of experienced mechanic who has safety checked the bike.
  3. The bike should now be stored in the for sale rack.
Receiving Donated Bicycles / Donated Parts (See “Donation Guidelines” for detail, but essentials follow)
1. Thank donor
2. Get information:
  1. fill out a donation form then slide it into cash box slot
  2. -OR- record in the Shop Log: donor’s name, email, physical mailing address, items donated, date; add prominent mark as “Donor”
3. Immediately tag donated bikes with:
  1. “Donated by:“
  2. Donor name
  3. Date (w/ 4-digit year)
4. Unless obvious scrap, make up a new page for each bike in Bike Repair Log with:
  1. Description, date, Tag # (copy Tag # to tag)
  2. Obvious problems (missing wheels, etc)
  3. Special, large-print entry “NEEDS ASSESSMENT”, with the Date — to show bike needs to examined/assessed by an Experienced Mechanic (If you are an Experienced Mechanic, feel free to instead go right ahead and assess!)
The floor-standing display rack in the Big Room is devoted to sales bikes.
1. Terms:
  1. Sales bikes: bikes destined for sale by co-op. Sales bikes have either Ready-to-Ride or Almost-Repaired status.
  2. “Almost-Repaired”: bike that has been worked on for sale by co-op, but which still requires light-to-moderate repairs.
  3. “Ready-to-Ride”: bike that is ready to ride safely; may be sold by the co-op immediately without additional repair work.
2. Ready-To-Ride bikes should be stored on the left (north) side of the rack
3. Almost-Repaired bikes should be stored on the right (south) side of the rack,
4. To give a bike “Almost Repaired” status, write on both i) the bike tag and ii) the numbered Repair Log page:
  1. Almost-Repaired
  2. Date (w/ 4-digit year)
5. All mechanics are encouraged to continue repairs on any Almost-Repaired bike (found on the right(south) of the floor display rack) in order to finish up for sale.
  1. Any mechanic can continue repairs on any Almost-Repaired bike, regardless of whether it was that mechanic or a different mechanic who worked on the bike immediately previously.
  2. When starting a session of continuing repairs on an Almost-Repaired bike, check the Repair Log page for notes.
  3. If you finish a repair session on an Almost-Repaired bike, but additional repairs/final safety-check are still needed:
    1. Record with date, on the bike’s Repair Log page, any information that another mechanic might need to continue the repair (e.g. non-obvious problem, non-standard part procedure, etc.). If bike only needs final safety check, note this prominently.
    2. Return the bike to the Almost-Repaired side — the right (south) side — of the floor-standing display rack.
6. Almost-Repaired bikes on the right (south) side may not be pulled for build-a-bike projects or other non-sales purposes.
7. The floor-standing display rack should not be used for personal project bikes. Personal bikes should be kept towards the back of the co-op, preferably on the rear wall.