Workshop Details

5pm-9pm every Monday and now Wednesdays

(Weds started 2nd of June)   Rain, hail or shine !

In the carpark,1 Phillip St Waterloo (cnr Cope St)

WHAT DO WE DO?
The Nunnery Community Bike Workshop collects abandoned bikes and parts to create working bikes to put back into the community.

These bikes are put together by you, the community, with help from others who come. It is also a place to fix up your bikes with the tools and parts available. Come and learn to fix bikes, show us how to fix bikes, fix your bike or a friend’s, or just come and have some tea and coffee. Everyone is welcome!

WHERE ARE WE?
1 Phillip St, Waterloo, cnr of Phillip and Cope Sts. We are located in the two garages below the ‘Turanga’ building; we are now a part of the Waterloo Recycling Workshop.

A map is available at the Bikely website which shows the route from our previous location at Forbes St, Newtown to our new Phillip St, Waterloo location.

WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN?
Every Monday from 5pm til 9pm (we’re all volunteers, so sometimes we open slightly later). If you think you can open up bike club for us one Monday a month, please get in touch. If it’s raining, feel free to call us to see if we’re there. Same goes with long weekends.

DO YOU SELL SECOND HAND BIKES?
No. However, we can help you find people that do, so feel free to ask. The main reasons we don’t are that we would rather have your help than your money, and having some people as customers and some as bike sellers detracts from the community bike workshop.

HOW CAN I HELP?
To see the latest happenings and news at the workshop, go to our Discussions and Events page.

Tools, oil, WD40 and small donations are greatly appreciated, but most of all, we’d like your company while fixing bikes and help keeping the workshop going. Check out our stuff we need page.

The first time you come please ask for a detailed tour of how the place works and where stuff goes. After that we ask you spend 20 min maintaining the space every time you come. This labor share is what keeps bike club going. We gratefully take donated bikes and parts that are not going to be used. At present we do not have a means to receive donations out of our operating hours, we are only able to take donations on Monday afternoons.

WHO CAN I CONTACT?

As a first point of contact, we recommend our mailing list. This will put you in touch with a cross-section of people involved with the workshop.

As a last resort, you can directly contact any of the following:

James	0422 684 236	james.ashton.nichols AAATTT gmail.com
Julien	0434 844 659	mountainairextrem AAATTT hotmail.com

Please note that we do not reply to text messages, unfortunately we don’t have the time or money to reply to the volume of messages we get.

*Update : both of these contacts are currently overseas : if you would like to be a contact person please drop a comment here on this page with your contact details. Until then – please browse the site or just turn up for more information.

Cycle Re-Cycle needs you! And you, and also you over there.

The place is running primarily by volunteers and wishes to continue helping the community get back on bicycles, share the joy of cycling, socialize without having to buy something and lets not forget recycle/ reuse as many bicycles as possible.

“But I don’t know anything about bicycles!”

“If you know that they generally have 2 wheels then you are good to help.”

To volunteer, you don’t need to know anything about bicycles. There are many different ways on how you can help.

Here are some different ways you could help the club with that doesn’t require bicycle knowledge:

Food distribution (Monday Nights only):
- Set up the serving table, prepare some hot water tub for washing up/ rinsing, receive the food from the Hare Krishna’s, serve the food, collect donations, help clean up and put away the material used.

Working with people:
- Welcoming people to the workshop
- Asking them to sign in the welcome book. (Name and postcode)
- Giving a general intro and referring them to someone that can help.

Manual handling:
- Help us sort out parts, material and build the place to be even better.
- Opening/Setting up and closing down the workshop
- Building tool boards, shelves, stands, etc.
- Helping at the Shed

Pick-ups:
- Going around bike shops and picking up bike parts that they don’t want.
- Picking up bikes from various places in Sydney
- Organizing drop off and pick up points around the city and greater Sydney.

Computer stuff:
- Help update our Mac with Internet sites that can be accessed off line,
- Upload videos, music, workshop manuals on our computer / website.

Design:
- We love cool looking stuff, T-shirts, funky things to promote the club
- Banner

Web site:
- Our websites need updating, sorting out and regular updates on any cool stuff that is happening at the club or that the club could be involved in.

Pictures:
- We love pictures that we can use, print, handout, post on the website.
- Good shots help for funding applications.

Media:
- Writing articles
- Creating documentaries
- You Tube videos
- Etc.

Funding:
- Helping us get donations, write submissions, chase grants, etc.

Advocating for cycling:
- Up to you.

Fun stuff:
- Organizing events, parties, meetings, meet ups, etc. We are open minded and love having fun.

Learning to teach others:
- This place is a fantastic opportunity to learn about bicycle mechanics and apply your new knowledge to help someone else at the club. For example, how to patch an inner tube.

For more information/ ideas/ suggestions please check in with Julien Radcliffe at 0434844659 or mountainairetxrem@hotmail.com or at the Club.

Please check with Julien regarding any task you would like to undertake.

Thanks for supporting the growing Cycle Re-Cycle Club.

coverage on bikelove radio show

hello there,

for the most of us who probably missed it: heres the bikelove podcast piece on us.

This week BikeLove talks to members of the Nunnery! A bicycle workshop in Redfern where you can take your bike and learn how to fix it for free! Lots of tools and spare parts to use… even whole bikes if you want to get into cycling but don’t want to spend up until you know you’ll enjoy it! (as if you wouldn’t!!) We spoke to Julian who has been there the longest so is kind of in charge… We also spoke to many other volunteers and users of the workshop. They are always on the look out for spare bike bits… so if you have a bike or some tools you no longer need why not donate!
Find them at 1 Phillip St, Redfern every Monday from 5pm til dark!

Having trouble uploading MP3s… 2SERs site is down so watch this space for this weeks and last weeks MP3

Categories: Bike Repairs

Download mp3 here – original post here - enjoy – d

Meeting 11:30am Sat 17 April at 67 Raglan St Redfern

Hello Hello,

We have been talking about having another meeting for while now, Its the best opportunity to check in with each other about how things are going, to look at developments and make plans for the future. Please come along if you want to get more involved or just have some ideas of how you think we can make bike club better.

So, it looks like for 11:30am Sat 17 April at 67 Raglan St Redfern is a go.

See you there… look for the 3m tall green doors.

Also thanks so much to everyone who made it down to the last minute working bee on Tuesday night (it was only suggested at about 8 on Monday night!). The workshop looks amazing,

Ollie
0422 331 213

p.s. we are currently very short on patch kits, if anyone has a bulk source or wants to donate some let us know

Another Night for Bike Club

Hey,

So at the last Bike Club meeting we had a huge turn out (Thanks everyone!) discussed opening another night a week, and there was consensus that this was a good idea. Thats right, Bike Club is looking to go steady TWO nights a week!

Meeting September 2009

The idea behind this is to create a space for more focussed learning, for regular mechanics, those keen to get involved or simply wanting to learn more. This would supplement our regular Monday free for all sessions.

A a bit of Background: We ran a two day mechanics training a few weeks ago and we were overwhelmed by keen people. We had 15 people come for two 8 hour days, and about another 30 send us emails asking to be informed of future trainings.

It would be a semi structured learning program with a set topic or area for each week, which while allowing for some tangents, would aim to comprehensively work through the bike over a couple of months.

We would aim to draw on the expertise and experience that exists already within Bike Club and to expand that to all mechanics and keen new people. We could also occasionally get in particularly experienced people from outside the club for one off sessions, perhaps advanced wheel building, tig welding, who knows!
One idea floated was that we have a suggested donation of a 6-pack that goes to whoever runs the session each week.

We want feedback on whether people are excited by this prospect, and how it could work for them, so either leave a comment or select a day from the poll below.
Select a day and time on the link below (sorry the times were just drawn from thin air, we can fine tune them later)

http://www.doodle.com/hguxx96xmrk76xe8

Once we select a day, i would suggest we spend a few weeks promoting it on the website and with leaflets, then run it as a trial up until Christmas
Other ideas or feedback is welcome

Cheers,
ollie

Meeting & Updating the website

Hi everyone,

We’re having a meeting this Wednesday, the 23rd of September,  from 7pm at Berkelouw Books Cafe, 6-8 O’Connell St (just off King St), Newtown. Lots of things to get through and discuss, so if you would like to be involved with the organisation and future of the workshop then come along and give your opinion.

Also, we’re looking at updating the website and the information. Most of the information has been static for the better part of 3 years now, despite our required inputs and outputs changing a lot. While all the people involved with the organisation will be giving their thoughts on the update, the most important people are those that will actually use the site: namely you. While we are just starting this process now and it will likely take some time, we need all the help we can possibly get.

If you’re interested in helping us with this: you can read through the website and if anything strikes you as wrong or in need of improvement, then let us know. Opinions on the format, layout and general presentation would be appreciated too.

Any thoughts on the website, feel free to email me at markfinger*at*gmail.com

Thanks, and we will endeavour to keep everyone updated on the results of the meeting and the ongoing happenings at the workshop.

-Mark

Bike Mechanic Workshop

 

Hi yo!

This is a shout out to anyone who has ever come down to bike club wanting to know more about fixing bikes, or has wanted to help out but been unsure if they have the skills to do so.

Some of the keen volunteers at bike club in conjunction with UNSW and Sydney Bike club have decided to put on a two day skillshare on bike mechanics, repairs and maintenance skills. On Saturday and Sunday the 12th-13th September in a range of sessions with different facilitators, we will be working through the different parts of the bike in a hands on fashion. Tea, Food and Tools will be provided. 

WHY? Bike Club is a space that encourages people to develop their skills in working with bikes and with other people, to encourage the development and sharing of skills within community spaces. But breaking down the knowledge hierarchies takes work, work that we are keen to start. 

Cheers,

ollie

Bike Club just keeps on rolling

Hey,

Just a brief note that things are going swimmingly! We have had a few nights over the last month with almost 50 people dropping by! We have probably put twice this number of bikes out on the road in this time as well.

To all those people who have been helping out lately, those of you who are down every Monday, or even just once a month, THANKYOU, this is how roll. We have had some great donations of tools, bikes, parts and a vice recently, which also makes a huge difference.

If anyone is interested there is a great event coming up called the Sydney Tweed Run – a chance to get out your bike and your tweed vintage clothing and join a casual ride around the city- on Sunday the 7th June – I hope to see a few people down on their vintage bike club bikes. See- http://www.sydneycyclist.com/group/sydneytweedrun

cheerio,
ollie

Meeting this Monday 26th Jan 5pm

Heya everybody,

we’re meeting this Monday at about 5pm to discuss the present state of things, nail down what we need to direct our efforts to, and generally muse about bicycle related things.

The State of Things…from the blurry vision of Mark
The Storage Shed is now fairly well organised, so a big thank you to Dylan and all the other volunteers for doing the hard work and building the shelving and mezz level.

The Workshop is currently alternating between looking like high-density housing and a junkyard, so we need to clean it up. The actual act shouldn’t be too hard, just a matter of putting all the accumulated boxes of donations into their correct places and maintaining it in the future.

The majority of calls and emails that I recieve, in regard to the workshop, are asking about ways to get cheap bikes, if we do repairs, and how to make donations. All this information is buried in the website and as bi-product of the incremental growth of the website is has never been organised after first being set-up. This needs to be remedied, most people admit to being generally confused by it …

…. Things be thus

Cheerios,
Mark

Working Bee from 1pm on Monday, 19th Jan

Hiya all,

we’re having a working bee this coming Monday, 19th of January, from 1pm, to primarily clean out the shed, cull a lot of unneeded bikes and strip parts. We can always push on and clean up the workshop a bit if the energy reserves are high, but the state of the shed at the moment is chaotic at best. Basically no one can get in our get anything out without first spending 15 mins digging through and removing piled up bikes.

So we’ll be going through and getting rid of lower quality bikes, stripping their parts and scrapping the frames. This should mean that we can once again admire our beautiful garage without having to surmount a mountain of pointy metal pieces.

Anyone that turns up and helps out will get first pick of the Cheeky Monkey clean-up parts(lots of random stuff).

So see you all at 1pm!

Cheers,
Mark.

Bike Club Meeting 23rd Nov at 7pm

Heya all,

There’s an organised meeting at 7pm, down at the new Waterloo location (1 Phillip St, Waterloo). With the move mostly complete we need to start organising a lot of things that will need to be run differently from the old site. We also need to sort out collection for all the stuff from the Nunnery, the old site on Forbes St. Julien said something about meeting at the Nunnery at 6 to do all that, I’m not sure of the specifics, but if you’re in the area at the time it would be helpful to check it out and see if anything is happening on Forbes st.

Everyone have a great day, and I hope I will see you tonight!

Cheers,
Mark.

We’ve moved!

***
This Monday, the 17th of Nov, we will not be open for fixing or providing bikes, we will be busy sorting out our move into the new premises at 1 Phillip St, Waterloo.
If you come down to help out, we can probably in turn help out with your bike, but we are going to be too busy installing fittings and moving things around to help everyone so we recommend coming down the following Monday, the 24th of Nov, and we can help you then.
Any and all help for today, the 17th, from about 6pm at the Waterloo site is greatly appreciated as we have a lot to do to be ready for opening.

Cheers,
Mark.
***

Hey everybody,

we’ve finally moved down to the Waterloo towers!

We are now based from the two garages under ‘Turanga’ Building,

1 Phillip St,

Waterloo 2017

The long belated move is thanks to the fantastic efforts of Mike from The Factory and Dylan & James from figure8, they’ve all done so much and helped everything happen.

We’ll be unofficially opening up this coming Monday the 17th of Nov, but at present we have moved in without actually setting up. Our primary concern right now is to get everything set up and ordered, but we are still happy to help everybody out. Once everything is working ok we’ll have a ‘proper’ opening. So, feel free to swing down this monday – from 5pm – to check everything out, get some advice/help to fix your bike, or just hang out and chat.

Cheers,

Mark

Otesha Project (Aus) & Nunnery Bike Brunch

The Otesha Project (Aus) and The Nunnery Bike Workshop are hosting a bike brunch fundraiser on Sunday 12 October in Newtown… $5 all you can eat… 9:30-12pm

Bring your bike for a re-tune…

Money goes to a great cause, the Otesha Project (Aus.): Cycling for Sustainability which 17 crew members are involved with. Leaving in November on a 5 week bike trip – riding from Brissie to Newcastle stopping at High Schools along the way to talk about sustainability issues and perform a play on enviromental sustainability & social justice issues. Hoping to empower and provoke thought along the way.

Hope you can make it to the FUNdraising brunch!

We would love to have your support and hang out on a beautiful Sunday!

Details:

Where: 16 Sloane St, Enmore

When: Sunday 12 October 9:30am – 12

What: $5 all you can eat brunch

Why: to fundraise for Otesha’s 17 tour members to cycle from bris-newcastle to visit schools and engage kids on sustainability issues…

All the money helps us further develop our project and help pay for needed equipment and other expenses along the tour.

If you can’t make it perhaps you might consider making a donation to our cause by checking out our goal to get enough funds to support youth after we have left communities – http://otesha.org.au/biketours/nswtour

Also check out the event here –

http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=28651413084

Working Bee at new Bike Club Space

Hey,

So the after sorting out the paper work, we are set for a working bee
this Saturday at the new bike club space in Waterloo. The Idea is to
get the new space set up so we can have an orderly and hassle free
relocation in the not too distant future. Any help would be great, as
would any spare tools and fittings (like wall brackets, hooks,
shelving materials etc)

Its on this saturday from 12 midday.

A WORKING BEE
Waterloo Recling Project, Phillip st Bottany, between Cope st and
George st, (down botany road from redfern station away from the city,
turn left at Raglan st, left again into Cope st, right into Phillip

st).

Sweet as, Hope to see you all down there

cheers,
ollie – 0422331213

Pushy power, funky vibes, and the odd fair-trade chocolate bar: Otesha prepares to empower rural Victorians

Are you looking for something challenging to do in January? How about empowering youth about a sustainable future? Or riding around rural Australia living sustainably and “being the change you want to see in the world”?

The Otesha Project (Australia): Cycling for Sustainability is undergoing massive preparations for its upcoming bicycle tour in rural Victoria starting in Melbourne on January 18th. The tour will ride along the Great Ocean Road, up to the Grampians, making our way over to Bendigo before finishing back to Melbourne while speaking to youth about sustainability issues.