Current Bike Co-op Status

I would like to apologize to the community for letting this blog fall by the wayside. I have not checked in here or with the athensbikecoop Gmail account in over a year. As far as I know, a workshop is still in place at 30 First street, but details on the availability of volunteer help is sketchy. If you are seeking resources from the Bike Co-op your best bet is to contact a member of the household and see if you can make an appointment to use the workshop or look at the bikes they have. You might have to just show up and see who's there and ask if they have time  or will allow you to look into what's there.

I myself have continued working on developing my businesses here at 18 Euclid, both the pedicab service (www.bikesbringit.blogspot.com) and my custom-manufacturing business (www.upcyclebikes.com). I will also provide for basic cycling sales, help, and services upon request. I will also continue taking bike donations at 18 Euclid, no matter what type of bike or condition its in.

I have updated some of the contact info on this site because my phone number has changed, and I have deleted some contacts that I'm pretty sure no longer work with the bike co-op.

Hopefully all of you in the community looking for help with cycling endeavors will be able to find the resources you are looking for, and if not through the Bike Co-op I recommend to you my favorite bike shop in the region, The Athens Cycle Path (www.athenscyclepath.com)

Cheers, and happy 2014!

Notice of Bike Co-op Name Changes

Hello, webosphere! If you didn't know by now, The Athens Bicycle Co-operative has split into two separate entities with different locations and slightly different functions, though they maintain a mutual goal of providing bicycle-related services to those in need.

Nestled in the hills of the West Side Neighborhood at 30 First Street, we have what is now dubbed the ShadeTree Bike Works, which is maintained by most of the core members of the former Bike Co-op, including Nate, Cusi, and Eddie. They have bikes for sale, take bike donations, and will be happy to help you work on a bike of yours or one of theirs until you can ride it smoothly and gracefully into the sunset. All services are in exchange for your donations and/or prices suggested by the mechanic on duty. They also like to organize bike-related events from time to time. You can find them on the web through their new Facebook page under the name "ShadeTree Bike Works". Their shop's hours are as follows:

Mondays from 5-8 pm
Thursdays from 5-8 pm
Sundays from 1-4 pm


The other half of the former Athens Bike Co-op is more or less a solo project run by me, Eric Cornwell. I have dedicated the lower half of my residence at 18 Euclid Drive to serving much the same function as ShadeTree, with a few extra services geared towards custom utility bikes. The shop is called UpCycle, in reference to the process by which old, rusty, otherwise useless bikes are stripped down, chopped up, and reconfigured into new machines with expanded capabilities. My most successful product using this procedure has been a line of sidecar pedicabs, which are operated under the name "Bikes Bring It". Our former AthensBike Co-operative Facebook page has been renamed "UpCycle Bike Garage". There is also a blog I created at the address of bikesbringit.blogspot.com . I have no regular hours for either UpCycle or BBI, though I generally operate my pedicab from 12am to 3am on Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes Thursdays. To take advantage of the services I offer, please call and schedule an appointment. My number is (513) 226-1379.

December Hours

Howdy All,

We'll be closed from the 23rd of December and re-opening on the 2nd of January.  2012, here we come!

Monday's Are Back

We are happy to announce the return of the Monday shift!!!  Monday's 4-7 pm the back door will be unlocked and the wrenches will be turning.  Also look for our new sign out front during open hours.

Grand Opening Party, April 29th!!!

We're having a grand opening party at 30 First St.!!!  6:30 pm after Friday's Critical Mass ride, we'll be hosting an open house.  If you haven't seen the new space, come on down and check it out.  We'll bring the refreshments, you bring the suggestions for a new exciting name.  Also, don't forget about the Critical Mass ride meeting at the monument on college green at 5pm.

New Friday Shift!!!

We're happy to announce a new shift!!!  Fridays from 4-7 we'll have more staffed hours at the 30 First St. location.  Come on down and fix bikes with Chad!!!  He's super helpful and an all around great person.  We've also reorganized the space a bit.  Also, we'll be having a grand opening party April 29th.  More details will be posted soon.

SPRING MECHANICS TRAINING

We're excited to announce our first Mechanics Training.  This four week workshop series will give participants the skills to overhaul most bicycles.  Topics to be covered will be brakes, gears, bearings, wheels, bike fit, etc...  Class size is limited and pre-registration is required.  Starting on Saturday April 9th, the workshops will take place on Saturdays from 5-7pm.  There is a sliding scale suggested donation of $10-$50.  For questions, call or email Nate Ebert, drivingsbad at yahoo dot com or 740.856.9388.

One year of sidecar bicycles

One year has passed since I built my first sidecar bike, and now I am on my third. I have been attracted to the sidecar setup ever since 2009, when I began driving an imported India rickshaw here in Athens. First off, the Raja Royal was super heavy, and probably should not have been driven anywhere but on the bike path. Navigating steep hills was either toilsome on the way up or unstoppably fast on the way down. But besides the drawbacks of working with and on such a bulky and foreign machine, it certainly made me fall in love with pedi-cabbing in general. And when I found out how sidecar bicycles are built and used in various parts of Southeast Asia, I came to realize how this could solve most of the problems of pedi-cabbing in hilly Southeast Ohio.
Sidecars have a number of advantages, but the most important one is weight. The Raja Royal was a trike so heavy I didn't even want to know how much it weighed. The latest sidecar is light enough that I can pick it up easily. The advantage is most notable when climbing hills, but also in negotiating curbs, or when making emergency stops. The slight disadvantage to less weight is that the wheels may lift off the ground when cornering sharply. To counteract this, the driver must lean heavily into corners, which makes things interesting. Properly conducted, however, a sidecar has a level of agility much closer to that of a bicycle than that of a rickshaw.
Another distinct benefit of the sidecar is having your passenger in a more conversational arrangement by your side. It is nice to be able to see who I am driving and how much fun they are certainly having while on board. Since my passengers seem to almost always want to ask me questions, this is a great way to have it.
On my latest version, the car itself is detachable from the bicycle. This makes owning and building pedicabs far more convenient, because I don't have to sacrifice a bike by permanently welding an addition onto it, nor do I have to build completely from scratch. Also, once it has been built it can transform from pedicab back to a bicycle for seasonal storage.
Another thing about the sidecar is that, for a pedicab, it is very compact. sidecars are usually both narrower and shorter than traditional rickshaws. This makes it far easier to bring it onto sidewalks, where it can more easily entice customers.
One thing I heard yelled from the sidewalks when I drove the Raja Royal were comments like, "This isn't China!" "We're not in China here!" People had some pretty strong cultural prejudices regarding that type of vehicle, it seemed. In contrast, when people see a sidecar, they usually respond positively. Perhaps it is because our culture is at least familiar enough with sidecars, usually in the context of motorcycles, to be able to assimilate the idea of a bicycle sidecar.

The first build I call the Skruvskar, because its seat is made from a recycled Ikea office chair.

This being my first sidecar, it taught me many things good and bad about sidecar logistics. It has been on  many an interesting ride and carried many a drunken a passenger. It has a three-passenger limit, and I found out what happens when the limit is exceeded a few times. As the wheels get more and more splayed apart and the bike leans toward the sidecar, the vertical load imposed on an angled wheel will eventually fold it. for this reason the car must be firmly braced to prevent flexing, and sturdy or smaller diameter wheels should be used because they incur side-loads that most wheels are not designed to handle. The Skruvskar's frame was made mostly from 1/2" electrical conduit, which I discovered was much too flexible to stand up to the abuse I was giving it. I had to repair and re-weld the thing at least a half dozen times, and is still far too deformed to go back to carrying two to three passengers regularly. One part of this car I really like is the backseat made from a bike frame's rear triangle and seat, with handlebars that had a pair of klaxons on either side. It also has a coaster brake on the car wheel, operated by a foot pedal.

The next sidecar I built is called the Widecar. Simply because its...wide.

The idea was to build a 4 passenger sidecar, if possible. The base was made from recycled bed frame angle iron, and the rest 1/2" conduit. It became a tandem when I added a recumbent seating position with a crankset linked to the sidecar wheel. With a stoker on board, it was able to reach a good cruising speed. Unfortunately, the driver pictured wrecked into a curb because his passenger, already on the far right side, was leaning even more to the right when a left turn needed to be made. They both recovered, and so did the Widecar too, for the most part. It was also brought to the PawPaw fest last year, where the kids got to have fun on it until the wheels were shot to hell. I still haven't had it working since it went out on Halloween.

And so, here comes the newest iteration:

The Decidecar - because you can decide whether or not it stays attached. It was made almost entirely of recycled bike frames, with conduit used only on the armrests. The thing I like about this design is that it can be adjusted for camber and toe-in. A sidecar works best when the wheels are not quite vertical but very slightly angled in at the top. Also, the sidecar wheel should track not straight ahead, but very slightly towards the bike. Being able to tune these adjustments, I ended up with a sidecar bike that can be ridden no hands, which is always a good sign for a customized bike.

This car has a 24" wheel instead of 26", so that the seat can be over the wheel and the track width be fairly narrow. What I failed to do is place the wheel in the proper fore/aft position. It is a few inches behind the bike's rear wheel, when it should be either in line with or ahead of. This makes it such that coming off a sharp dip while loaded may cause a tipover, so I may need to add a safety wheel to catch the bike should that happen. This version also has a third brake, again operated by foot pedal. Braking the sidecar wheel is tricky, however, because sharp braking will certainly pull the vehicle to the right unless both rear brakes are applied together. When all three are put to use, though, this thing sure stops quickly.

Now opening: The East Side Bike Co-op

Hello fellow Athenians. I am pleased to announce that a new bike co-op space has been set up in the downstairs area of this residence at 18 Euclid. The space will be designated mainly for the production of yellow bikes used in the bike share, AYBiTS. There are also bikes available for sale, and tools available for use, a VCR and a Super Nintendo for entertainment, and a small library available for lending. In the garage custom bikes and cargo vehicles are made as a part of Bikes Bring It, a planned business that specializes in sidecar pedicabs. Excess frames from the bike-share program are chopped up and used for fabrication. Do you wish to see either a flourishing bike sharing program or more pedicabs on the streets of Athens? Do you see yourself in the seat of a yellow bike or a pedicab driver's seat someday? Then come volunteer at the East Side Bike Co-op!

Hours for the East Side Bike Co-op are:

Tuesdays 5 to 7pm

Thursdays 5 to 7pm

New Bike Cooperative Address!

Hello fellow cyclists!
We have an announcement to make.
We have a new indoor space located at 30 First Street!
So we are no longer using the Brown St. garage that the lovely Brown Towners let us use for some time :].

Where, you ask, is 30 First street?
The new Bike Coop space is located one the street parallel with Brown.
Bring your bikes out back to the white door,
work space is located in the basement.
Luckily now we'll have some heat during the winter!

We have the same hours as before:
Sunday:1-4
Monday:5:30-8

and remember.....

See you there.

-Eddie

Bike Co-op @ Browntown

OFFICIAL MOVING WEEKEND!!

Yes, we have to move. This Friday, May 21st, starting at 4pm we will start cleaning out the garage at 37 South May and piling it into Nate's truck and my Ma's truck to transport to 35 Brown Ave. We will meet again on Saturday at 1pm at 37 South May to finish up what we didn't get cleaned or sorted, and to set up and arrange our things at 35 Brown. Please come out and help us get moved, if you can! The bike co-op is a community thing and if you help take part in it you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

After Saturday, we'll have our first workshop at Brown Town on Sunday from 1-4pm. Then the next on Monday from 5:30 to 8pm. That's our new workshop schedule for now, a bit slimmer to place less expectation on our small volunteer work force. Any new weekday hours will be in the same 5:30 - 8 time slot for simplicity.

Moving Preliminaries

Hey Athens. Sorry I caused a little confusion by posting "Bike co-op moving day" on the Facebook and not elucidating the full nature of that moving party. It was our preliminary move, for clearing away some unnecessary items and storing them at my place on Euclid Dr. Here are some pics from that move:

That's me, Jim McAuley, and Bobby Hatton in those photos. Thanks guys! In the future, the bike co-op may operate workshops in my garage pictured above, but for now we're setting up the bike co-op in a garage on Brown Ave, which was in need of some work. 

For one thing, it needed a door.

So I brought one on the Bueno Trike and hung it. That day repairs were also made to the roof, and electricity installed, with the help of Nate, Cusi, and Piper, among others. The garage door is being fixed up a little, too.

Our official moving day is this Friday, but I'll post anew with that info so it's atop the page.

Some New Informational Flyers

Permission granted to reprint, modify, and distribute.

Green American Bike-Share Article

Special thanks to Cathy Wilson for writing this piece on AYBiTS:

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/pubs/greenamerican/articles/Fall2009/bikeshare.cfm

Market Ride

With the help of OU's Office of Sustainability, we have planned this bike ride starting from the Farmer's Market on April 10th. Rainy weather will postpone the ride to April 17th. Call me (Eric) @ 740 707 9719 to affirm which date if the weather is questionable. The idea is to bring your bike to Market, buy all the wonderful organic foods and plants you need, and then leave the market in a large group, carrying your goods home with you. We will simply head West on the bike path and let the group direct itself or slowly dissipate as riders go their separate ways. If we want we can set a destination and head to it for a picnic or something. This event is part of Earth Month 2010: Roots of Sustainability. See the full calendar at:http://www.ohio.edu/sustainability/EarthMonth2010.htm

News Article

Great thanks to all at Athens Midday for the story:

Share a Bike in Athens

A Sidecar is Born

Here is the Skruvskar shortly after being completed on the last day of 2009.

Newsletter!

Welcome to the Athens Bike Co-op Newsletter!

This new feature of our operation will serve to inform you, the community, on our ongoing quest to enable others by virtue of mankind's noblest invention. Herein will be announced each month's schedule. (the schedule is agreed upon at our planning meetings, held the first Sunday of each month at 4pm.) Other content will follow in the newsletter, at the discretion of its author(s), who are also selected at meetings. You are invited to participate as well by sending e-mail and sharing your experience with or questions about the bike co-op, or any other suitable content.

If you would like to receive these e-mails, just send a simple request and compliance will be likely. Otherwise, please suggest this newsletter to anyone you think may want to receive it and have them sign up by sending us an e-mail and requesting it.

That being said, here comes the

SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER:

Open Shop Hours -

Sundays 1-3

Mondays 7-9

Wednesdays 1-3

Thursdays 7-9

Fridays 3-5

These hours are often subject to change without notice, and even more so in the winter.

Special Events -

...uh...Christmas at home with the family?

WANTED

-If you have a space heater that isn't being used, it would help us to keep working in a cold garage this winter.

-Your bike donations are always accepted. Please leave them (maybe with a note) outside our garage.

-Monetary donations can also be made by mail. Send checks made out to: Eric Cornwell / 18 Euclid Dr / Athens, OH 45701

ANNOUNCEMENTS

-Sponsor a Bike Taxi! For $5, you can dub a yellow bike with the name of your choosing. For $10, You can add your favorite phrase or quotation to the side panel of a bike!

BIKE CO-OP FAQ

Q: "How does the bike co-op work?"

A: Basically, one (or more) of our volunteers will offer their assistance and expertise to help you with anything bike-related, such as they are willing and able. In return you are expected to make some sort of contribution that helps our cause, such as you are willing and able. (monetarily or otherwise) Hopefully, the exchange is something that is generous to both parties. Our policy is to be generous by both offering affordable bikes and by sharing our mechanical knowledge and expertise while we assist you.

Q: "How are things going at the bike co-op?"

A: Slowly but surely. Sometimes even little operations take more time than you would think, because we are working with either secondhand parts, cluttered space, or partial knowledge of what we are doing. Steadily, however, things do get done. Bikes get fixed and put in the sale rack. Small improvements are made here and there to organize the space. People get their hands greasy and learn new things about their bicycles, too. Since it's winter break, things are naturally a lot less busy, so our activity is mainly geared toward having lots of bikes ready for next spring, both for a spring bike sale and for a spring bike taxi release.

Q: "How does the bike-share work?"

A; It's called the Athens Yellow Bike Taxi Service, or AYBiTS (Aye, Cap'n! Bits o' steel!) Yellow bikes with universally keyed padlocks are put on public bike racks throughout campus and uptown Athens. By paying a yearly membership, you can access any of these bikes for free trips. This can be handy for students, locals, or visitors who can use a more affordable and convenient bicycling option.

Q: "How is the bike-share doing?"

A: I'd say that it's been going pretty well for its first 9 months. A few bikes are MIA and a number of repairs have been made on the bikes, but I notice them getting used and sometimes courteously repaired or delivered by one the members, which is great. Membership is around 35 and our fleet is at maybe 13-15 bikes. I have 13 frames on the rack so far, being painted for the release in the spring. They are getting decorated with stencils as opposed to printed stickers this time, hopefully with better-lasting results.

ATTENTION MEMBERS OF AYBiTS

-The bikes always need attention to work properly! Bikes left to sit too long will often have deflated tires, so if you just air them up and they will likely hold. Bikes left under the weather will keep getting rustier, so choose covered parking spots for them if the weather is going to get nasty. That means you can bring a bike onto private property overnight and put it back on a public rack when there's better weather outside.

-If you come across a problem with a bike, please continue to let us know about which bikes need help and where they are.

-Thanks everyone for keeping an eye on those bikes!

-Your feedback on the Athens Yellow Bike Taxi Service would be greatly appreciated!

SIDE PROJECTS

Logo - The Bike Co-op has a new logo!

Website - Francis Tatem has been working on a website for our humble organization, but I haven't any news yet as to when it will be available, or at what address. Stick with our blog for now.

Art Bikes - John donated his well-decorated singlespeed MTB for us to sell, and I had this idea for an art bike auction. Two other nice mountain bikes have found their way here, both with ugly spray-paint jobs that tell of being stolen. I was going to custom paint and decorate these bikes and maybe we can hold a fundraising event where we auction off a handful of rad-looking bikes.

Our Own Bike Rack - Welded from two scrap frames and forks, the thing will serve as a lock-up place outside our garage, and a place for outgoing and incoming bikes and taxis. It will have two flags on kickstands that will work just like a mailbox flag does. It's kinda funky-looking. and good for welding practice. It's OOBeR!

CRAZY IDEAS

-A number of years back there was this idea for a fundraiser that involved cyclists riding stationary bikes in the cold, and stripping their clothes off for donations. Sound crazy/awesome? This of course is not happening until we have more drunk college students and some absurdly dedicated volunteers.

-Having a welder and lots of bike parts is inspiring. Next crazy custom bike idea: a bicycle sidecar.

SIGNING OFF

Thanks for tuning in to what's happening at the Athens Bicycle Co-operative. As ever, our aim is to promote and facilitate cycling in Athens and beyond. Ride safely this winter.

            m

____e  c

THE ATHENS BICYCLE CO-OPERATIVE

37 South May Avenue

Athens OH 45701

athensbikeco-op.blogspot.com

Winter Activity

Bike Taxi Production!