Hey there, this is a loonnngg page about how bike club works. The reason for this page is that we want to hand over bike club operations to other people. So this may make it easier. I’ll put a bit of info about how things happen so that people are better equipped to run the show. Then, when you have questions that haven’t been answered, comment below and i’ll answer them as best i can – Maurice.

HISTORY
How did it start? Bri set it up in the shed to send bikes to SOS 2005. Then she opened it to the public. Then she went away to WWOOF and ride with PACE. Then Maurice and JP unsuspectingly took on keeping it open. Then Massbug promoted it, then Cheeky Monkey, then GoGet, then Moz, Mark, Karen, SBAR, the newspapers, Sydney Uni, the radio and you all told your friends and hordes of people started coming.

Then what happened? At the end of 2008 we decided to start looking for a new space, something bigger than a backyard, more welcoming and better setup for fixing bikes. Thanks to the work of Dylan (figureight) and  Michael (The Factory) we managed to secure a new space at 1 Phillip St Waterloo. We liked the idea of having undercover work areas, a proper workshop and lockable storage. It also brought us into a neighborhood and a community that was in need of a bit of revitalizing. So we jumped ship and moved on down to Waterloo and have been growing steadily ever since.

Where are we headed? Who knows? Things are growing, we see more people each week and there are loads more regulars coming down to help out. Opening more nights a week, or starting spinoffs in other areas are ideas that excite us.

NUNNERY?
Is the Nunnery a nunnery? God, no. It’s so far from a nunnery that we call it the nunnery as a joke. We used to work out of the back of a Womens house in Newtown, they started us and hosted us for many years. Who lives there? About 4-5 women, referred to in this page as the nuns. Do they appreciate being called the nuns? I don’t know but I think i’m going to find out. Why did they host bike club? Cause they’re cool and they do lots of social projects. Do they like having bike club there? We are gone like the wind….

MATERIALS
Mainly it gets its goods from the waste stream, cost-sharing and community support. For example, all bikes etc come from donations or from the street, thrown away. No one in particular goes out to collect them off the streets, volunteers needed. Bike shops like Cheeky Monkey, Cranks and Crumpler give us HEAPS of parts and stuff for free cause they’re cool. People bring in WD40 and stuff like that from home. If we need something we ask around or put it on the web site. People often pay for stuff out of their pockets though this is maybe not ideal. If you’d like to give us stuff but don’t know what, check out the stuff we need.

MONEY
We don’t need much. We have done the Newtown DIY Markets, fixing bikes for free and selling some nunnery bikes. This is good because locals find out about the bike workshop. Volunteers needed to do more markets. This totaled $200 and we used the cash to buy cheap tools. We also got some cash from a Creative Dissent night once. We have a donations jar in the shed that doesn’t see much light or money. We raised $400 at Peats Ridge Festival with Rebycycle, hiring out bikes from our fleet to punters. We also have a donation tin in the shed which was recently emptied. We spend on tools and pumps etc from time to time and we’re sitting on about $400 now, thinking of buying a wheel-truing jig. Where’s the $300 right now? In Maurice’s pocket. Actually it’s on his dresser. Can we trust him? Trust nobody.

WEBSITE
Who does the website? Ollie does the grunt work, Dylan, Chris and Mark come to play too.  Shane is the brains behind it, he set it up (and others). Can I help with the website? Lordy yes. Contact ollie (olivercashmanATgmail.com) and he’ll make you an author. Post like crazy but try to keep it to nunnery bike stuff. Can I rip the guts out of the website and make it better? I don’t know, can you? Get in touch. Does anyone look at the site? About 50-100 visits a day.

PEOPLE
Who opens? It varies. People who have keys. Who has keys? Julien, Ollie, Dave, James, Mark, Bart. How do I do that? Ask us on Monday nights.

How do I get involved in organising? Sign up to our mailing list in order to find out when meetings happen.

BIKES
What are the bike sections? Project bikes – bike clubbers are working on these ones. Please don’t touch, they are the ones with labels with dates. Please update the date each time and leave a phone number. Bikes with dates older than 1 month are considered fair game. Graveyard Bikes/The Out Tray – these bikes have been declared waste even though they often aren’t. Thars gold is in dem hills!. They’re just the least working bikes there when the yard is full. We try to pick ones with a terminal illness, like a stuffed thread where the bottom bracket goes, frozen seat, cracked frame etc. Such bikes need to be stripped of needed parts (By who? By you. That’s the answer to everything if you haven’t noticed), parts put in the shed, adult frames are neatly stacked to become wheelchairs in developing countries anything else is stacked next the scrap metal bin (we’ll set one up soon!) for scrap metal. Free Bikes - These ones are up for grabs so that people who don’t have bikes can come and build one up and take it away. We’ve given hundreds away like this. They’re not there for people to pick parts off, there should be plenty in the shed or on graveyard bikes. Remember to spend 20 mins maintaining bike club every time you come. Nunnery Bikes - these are bike club bikes. When a bike is donated that is so complete that giving it away is just too easy, we stick it in this section. Or if you want to fix up a bike for fun and give it to everyone, it goes here. They get used as common bikes for demonstrations, visitors or festivals or sold at markets. We raffled one at Creative Dissent for fun. If we have too many they go to Africa.

WORKSHOPS
Are there any rules? Kind of (we don’t like rules, most have exceptions, maybe they are guidelines for a utopian bike club?). Do 20 minutes for bike club every time you come, each section has a sign explaining what might need to be done. Tell new people this, and show them in detail how the place works and where things go. Return your tools to the board tool board asap. If you don’t know how to use a tool with out damaging it, then ask someone. If you break something replace it. Take spares from the least constructed bike. So start in the shed, then the pile of bikes to be made into wheelchairs, then off the crappest, least complete bike. For example, don’t take the wheel off an otherwise complete bike to put onto your bike, it doesn’t make sense. Don’t take parts or bikes away from bike club without asking people first. Never take parts away if that leaves a shortage of that part (where did all those hollow axels go??). Don’t leave a bike in the project section indefinitely, label with name and date, dates older then 1 month are up for grabs. Don’t have more than one project taking space there. Don’t sell bikes made with nunnery pieces without talking to everyone about it or donating the money or something. Is there someone to police this? You. Speak up if you think something is happening that shouldn’t. No one should ever have to be your police officer. If you’re not feeling like talking to the person involved, just talk to others in general.

GENERAL
I can think of stuff that could work better or I have a cool idea. Who do I ask about it? We’ll love you forever if you just do it. Bring it, build it, whatever. If you think it’s controversial or need help or advice, ask around. There’s a wealth of knowledge at bike club and chances are we’ve thought about it before and are full of ideas but just didn’t get off our @#$% to do it. Tell people and clearly label so that your work gets used and lives on.

Can people drop off donations only on Monday? Yup, If you can think of another system do let us know

Put more questions in the comments

Maurice and JP (revised by Ollie and Chris)