Originally Posted by
blakcloud
First he is Canadian and for the most part we don't sue like our neighbours to the south so liability insurance for the work he wants to do is overkill.
For community work like you are describing you will be fine with some of the bare minimums of things like tubes and cables. For specialty parts you can have the owners purchase them and bring them to you as needed.
Helping others with your knowledge and time are worthy causes. I wish you luck.
I don't know which part of the city you are in but have you checked out Bike Pirates? They might be able to use your services if you decide to not go the community route.
Every year some people come to my condo building and over their services for bike repairs as a pay what you can (lots of families in my building) and it is a big hit around here. You might think of using that model in around your neighbourhood.
You get it... Its a community service more than a business, although it could lead into a business if things go very well. I have heard of Bike Pirates and will now do some research as you recommended checking them out. I live in a three building complex and the idea is to put posters up in the building common areas to help drum up some interest. There's also some common bike areas in the basement that I could put the posters up around but I want to do things according to the building rules. I hope one day to work in the complex so getting on their good side is the goal.
Thanks for your positivity in this. I'm not wanting to go the bike liability route and get insurance mainly due to the main reason that I loathe insurance in principal. I suppose if it comes to a point where I consider it a business I'll rethink this as is necessary. Also, as you pointed out, its Canada and we don't normally sue when things go wrong.
Community service is the goal and gaining experience is the priority. I will veto any bike that really needs to be replaced and suggest that if the bike is brought to me. I don't plan on offering any parts for sale...I'm suggesting that we discuss the parts required and the bicycle owner purchases them if we can agree upon the necessity.
I guess I'm aiming for a bike shop feel without the price gouging of some of them. I live in Pickering and the bike shops out here kind of suck.
Chrisp