MrCjolsen

Has anyone ever done anything like this?

A nearby bike-themed brewpub has agreed to let me set up a little table and work stand where I can do bike repairs and tune-ups in exchange for donations to the NorCal Aids Cycle.

I'm an accomplished garage mechanic. All of my bikes were built by me from the frame up, including the wheels. My skills should be fine for the task. I have every tool needed for just about anything on a bike short of welding the frame. The only thing I might not be able to work on might be suspension, new bottom brackets and electric bikes.

This particular brewpub is packed on Fridays and Saturdays with people and their bikes. All types of bikes too, from road bikes to cargo bikes. I may be quite busy. I might have a volunteer from the high school (also an accomplished mechanic and the son of a co-worker.)

What parts do you think I might need to have on hand? I'm thinking I might go and buy a few new chains, tubes, etc. and return what I don't use. Or I might actually get a few shops to donate stuff.

Any other things I haven't thought of?

Retro Grouch 

I don't mind contributing a little labor for charity but I'd try to keep my out-of-pocket expense to zero. Initially I wouldn't buy any spares that you wouldn't personally consume in a season.

FBinNY 

Clark in Hawaii has been doing something similar, building and buying wheels for sale, with the proceeds helping the local food bank. So far he's raising hundreds of dollars per month for his cause. You might send him a PM and asking about details.

gsa103

Cables and housing seem like the obvious things. Given the location and setup realistically the majority of what you're going to be doing in tune-ups. If people are riding bikes, chances are they don't need tubes, but having a few might be good.

It seems like the main thing is you need to be able to quickly evaluate the problem, and potentially setup an appointment to resolve later or the following week.

JohnDThompson 

My charity bike work is somewhat different: I rehabilitate donated bikes (mostly "BSOs") for use as transportation for homeless/unemployed people in our local jobs skills project/community garden. Consumables like tires, tubes, chains, cables & housing are the biggest needs we have. I'd love to find a bulk source of cheap friction shift levers -- there are so many mutually incompatible indexed shifting systems found on cheap bikes that finding a compatible shifter to replace a bodged indexed shifter is a major challenge. It's much easier just to put a friction shifter on the bike and be done with it. I've stripped all the friction shifters off the most desperate scrap-bin cases and still have a backlog of otherwise decent bikes with no shifters.

Andrew R Stewart 

I would suggest that the first couple of sessions the op not bring any parts. One of the challenges with this kind of "open" servicing is when to stop and move on. Perhaps every bit as important as how to di the actual servicing is how to deal with the interactions with the public. Not having any parts puts a stop to how far one goes in the time spent with any one bike pretty quick. After a couple of sessions the OP will know SOOO much more as to what's expected, what's able to be done and how he goes forward. Andy.

HillRider

That is a problem. I looked at Bike Tools Etc and Loose Screws' web sites and the cheapest I found were these Sun Race Thumb shifters at $12/set.

Bike Tools Etc. - 1000's of bicycle tools and parts for the home mechanic!

I wonder if you could get a quantity discount and perhaps a price consideration for the fact it's for a charitable cause.

dedhed

[QUOTE=JohnDThompson;17611998. I've stripped all the friction shifters off the most desperate scrap-bin cases and still have a backlog of otherwise decent bikes with no shifters.[/QUOTE]
Down tube? flat bar thumbies? I may have some stuff around.

nfmisso

Hi John:

take a look at these options. Niagara will occasionally give volume discounts, ask.
Sunrace SLM10 Friction Shifter Set
Falcon friction ATB thumb shifters
Pyramid Thumb Shifter ATB Right and Left Black

HillRider

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned but will you have a legal liability if someone gets hurt and claims your repair was faulty and sues? Does the charity or Brewpub or you personally have liability insurance? In our current legal climate, "no good deed goes unpunished".

spdracr39

I would let it be known that you will change parts for no charge but the parts must be supplied by the bike owner. Limit it to tune ups, tube patches, seat adjustments .... If you feel it will really be that big of a hit you will not have time to spend an hour on one bike. You could have some donated grips, bottle cages, and such to sell and mount. Maybe even see if an LBS will give you a gift card(s) to silent auction.

Looigi

I wasn't wondering about a similar but less serious situation, like how do you plan to handle the situation where a cyclist is unhappy with your work or thinks you damaged his bike (right or wrong)?

Retro Grouch 

See how hard it can get to be nice! And so far nobody has even mentioned governmental permitting, zoneing or sales tax issues.

Andrew R Stewart 

The liability issue was one of the reasons that I suggested to not supply parts. I didn't say so but should have, good point. Andy.

AlmostTrick

Good on you!

I've been part of a charity bike repair booth twice a year (once in spring, again in fall) for several years now. It's just one part of a larger event sponsored by a few local churches where people in need can get many types of goods and services free of charge. I'm a non-believer who doesn't belong to any church, but like bikes, and like helping others.

We usually have 3 to 5 "mechanics" and a few "helpers", and have repaired up to 70 bikes in one day. It's 6-8 hours of non-stop action! Our rule is to make 'em road worthy and move on to the next one. Most repairs will consist of fixing flats and adjusting brakes, gears, and everything else. Most parts we supply were stripped off garbage picked bikes, or bikes people donate. If a bike needs some major work, we explain to the owner and ask if they would consider donating it to the cause.

Cables don't need to be replaced all that often. Tubes either... we patch 'em.

My advice:

Get a helper or two. Make sure to set up in a fashion where your tools are protected and safe. Block or rope off an area if necessary. You can't constantly be watching your stuff while you're working on bikes. Stop accepting bikes an hour or two before you want to call it a day.

My favorite repair: A mom asked if I could adjust the brakes on her daughters walker. Physically and mentally challenged, the young teen could not talk very well. I dropped the bike I was working on, made the necessary adjustments, and asked her to test it out. The smile on this young girls face made my day and melted my heart.

leob1

I've been volunteering here The Boys & Girls Club Bike Exchange for about 5+ years now. We sell +/- 2000 bikes a year, of every type. If you live in the area, come on in(most of us don't bite).

ClarkinHawaii

If it were me, I would start very small, like (for example) limiting myself to adjusting brakes and shifting. Aligning brake pads. See how it goes.

Add more services slowly, after you've had a chance to see what's in demand and what you can realistically do in that type of setting. Keep it simple.

Trying to be all things to all people in a boozy environment with all my expensive tools lying around would not be my game plan. Figure out ahead of time how you're going to deal with all the bizarre things that people will want you to do. If your first customer wants an extensive job done, then all the ones who follow him won't get any service at all and you'll end up with one (maybe) satisfied guy and 30 who are pissed off at you, or at least disappointed.

I like to work slowly and methodically without distractions, so I could never do what you are describing. But hey, we're all different. I'm sure it will be an experience you will remember for the rest of your life, one way or the other. Good luck!

miamijim

I did it for awhile and never went back. It wasn't my thing.

AlmostTrick

Me too, but it's fun to let go of all that sometimes. The slam 'em out repair fests I've done are a blast. The bikes are far from perfect, but every one left in better shape than it was when it came in. And everyone appreciated it. Even so, twice a year is enough for me! Actually getting ready for another one in a few weeks.

noglider 

chains
brake pads
cables
cable housing
handlebar tape
handlebar grips
saddles
tubes
tires
maybe brake levers?
oil
grease
bearing balls

Maybe you'd want to stock helmets, too. You can get them cheap and pass a little profit onto the charity. Same for bottles, cages, and other common accessories.

mstateglfr 

Hopefully there will be a lot of advertising for this well before so people know to bring bikes.
It's been sorta mentioned already, but if bikes are there at the pub, they typically aren't in need of service.
Without notice, I wouldn't think there would be much to work on.

Papa Tom

I, too, was wondering when someone was going to bring this up. I'm glad I wasn't the one to spoil the party, but I want to just mention that I ran a bicycle recycling club for teenagers for seven years. I trained kids how to rehabilitate donated bikes, and then we gave them away (more than 1000 of them) to disadvantaged children. Although we never had any type of claims or lawsuits brought against us, we had to maintain $3 million in liability insurance to cover us in the event that anyone ever sustained an injury that an attorney could prove was the fault of one of our bikes.

I wouldn't let anything stop you from doing what you believe is right, but it wouldn't hurt to find out what you may be exposing yourself to if you go out and do this without some type of insurance policy.

dynaryder

A friend of mine who's a para-legal did some research a few years back when we started our clinics,and couldn't find a single example of someone suing. Since you're not a business,it's basically you're letting someone work on your bike.

I've been running a free clinic for the past five years:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glove...89369581092260

Never had an issue beyond me popping a tube on a difficult tire install. Then it's,"well,this happens,run to the shop and get another tube". I don't carry any parts beyond cable ends;the 'customers' are required to bring anything needed. I do the basics;shifting and brake adjustments,fix flats,install new tires/chains/brake pads. I don't true wheels,re-cable,or install headsets because I'm by myself,and things like that can take up too much time(plus I haul enough stuff). The Mt Pleasant clinic does because they generally have at least 2-3 people wrenching.

If you're by yourself,you might want to limit the work to what I described above. There have been times when I spent most of the day just leaning on my workstand,but other times I've had people waiting on me and worked through to having the Farmer's Market packed up around me.

I really enjoy doing this. In addition to helping the community,you get to see some really interesting stuff. Also helps improve your skills,I can toe-in brake pads with my eyes closed now.

squirtdad

Anyone wanting to do this type of charity can grow into take a peek goodkarmabikes.org - Good Karma Bikes i

The executive director started by doing repairs for homeless people at a local park.

I know he is up on the legal issues and there are some ones you wouldn't think of being an issue ( I think there was a thing about not putting reflective tape on a bike because it is not a an approved reflector) and may be willing to point people to resources.

squirtdad

I know i posted this already....... but this is very similar to how this charity started goodkarmabikes.org - Good Karma Bikes

They are 501c and have a QBP account so they get parts at a good price.

they get a lot of donations of things like older or slightly used tires and a lot of tubes are patched. A lot of local bikes shops donate older parts bin and takeoff parts.

putting on a cheap thumb shifter is often a fix

before they got their current location, the founders backyard had hundreds of donated bikes in it......his wife is a very nice and understanding person.