Been a while since I posted, lots going on.

The  bikes we sent to Pipalyatjara got there, and also the Workshop has supported 2 more Bring & Fix sessions ..  each   a story in itself deserving a fuller post. In  the meantime, ...things are busy at Plympton

Bikes for Refugees – high demand from the  organisations that work with refugees;  backlog  15 orders;…

1.  Don Nairn – founder volunteer. Don’s  been a familiar presence at the Workshop since it opened. He recently changed jobs and  can  no longer make  Saturday mornings. Many of you will remember Don:  patiently explaining bike repairs; giving courses on punctures or gears; helping people choose bikes; etc. He was there virtually every Saturday, and  did a lot during the first year to get the workshop off to a good start. He came up with ideas for generating an income stream, from…

“Bikes for Refugees” now works to order. Donated bikes are stored ‘as is’. When an organisation working with refugees  needs a bike for someone  – they phone me to place an order. I then see what’s in stock, and get it ready for them.

 This works OK for small orders of 1-2 bikes. We  can usually do those during the regular Saturday morning session.  But a few weeks back the Australian Refugee Association (ARA) placed a large order -   15 bikes. For 1 person that's 25 hours work,. I…

Contributions to the Workshop!   We usually hope visitors will drop a coin or two in the Donations Box – however on Saturday we were amply recompensed, by a contribution of music instead!    One  visitor brought a friend, who spotted the piano at Plympton hall, and immediately sat down to play. He said he hadn’t had the chance for years. So while our visitor cleaned & re-lubricated his wheel back axle -  and the rest of us fixed tyres and wheels – we had skilful…

Yay! On Saturday 8th, the Workshop did its 300th bike job - Several done last Saturday, let's say it was the service & repair of the old 3-speed someone brought in. . The workshop's been open just over a year, andthe demand, for the services and facilities, is solid. Most Saturday mornings, the volunteers are hard at work from go to woah!

Bike Check Checklist!  Much of  the work is checking .. people bring bikes in and want to know if they are OK;…

Bikes for Refugees Saturday morning sessions;

  “Bikes for Refugees” works with several  welfare organsiations, who support refugee families settling in Adelaide. The organisations have case workers, who visit the familes, help them settle in, and find out what they need.

If people would like a bike, (for themselves or their children) -  the case worker  places an order with "Bikes for refugees" . We do our best to provide a  bike that’s suitable.  (This can…

Quick up date on things.

Workshop is continuing well, now well stocked.

We recently added a second stirrup pump,  using funds from donations. This one goes to higher pressure (25 bar). the one pump gets heavily used, and the Workshop really does need a back up.

Visit of pupils from Thebarton Senior College: a few weeks back, 50+ students visited the workshop, looking for bikes. About 12 bikes were given out on the day, and students put…

Saturday 16th June and 23 June have been quiet, not many visitors. We have taken the chance to have a good tidy up.

The workshop remains open Saturdays 9 to 12. All welcome to visit.

Might have mentioned this before - but the Workshop depends for on-going funding, on donations from the public, for e.g use of the facility; getting secondhand bike parts; etc. The donations are voluntary -  volunteers feel,  they have been there for the cycling community, and tried to put…

Some time ago a visitor bought a steel frame road-bike to do up – nice bike, in good condition, maybe 30 years old. However   the seatpost was too low , and stuck.

Seat posts fit frames snugly –  0.2 mm - but  usually are adjustable. The  trick is bolt a saddle on top, and use that to get leverage. Once you can get the post twisting – you can  then adjust  height.   Seat posts sometimes get stuck if they're not greased, or they're the wrong size and hammered in, or someone has bent…

News from Augusta Park Primary School, Port Augusta - re bikes the Workshop donated in April

Yesterday got a nice phone call, from teacher Ben Kitchen, at Augusta Park Primary School, Port Augusta. Readers may remember, the Workshop earlier got together a “class set” of bikes for the School, and donated them shortly after Easter.

Ben was    delighted with the  30+  of BMX & childrens  bikes. Ben says the bikes from the…

1. Don now has his multi-tool back!.   People might remember a few weeks back,  he lent it to someone at an education evening, and the “borrower” chose not to return it, even when asked. However two weeks ago it turned up - the worse for wear - in a box of spares. To the guy who took it  -  as the tool had been well used when you returned it  -  it's fairly clear you didn't just 'forget' to hand it back earlier. Not impressed. But let's leave it at…

Saturday 26^th May,  40+ students from Thebarton Seniors College  visited Adelaide Community Bike Workshop at Plympton. Most were new arrivals, from refugee/asylum seeker background.

Neither we, nor Thebarton teachers, were expecting such a turn out.

As Brian Jenkins said  “on the way here, I saw a group of 20 students walking along. 2 of them were carrying bike helmets. I assumed they were headed our way..” .

I was expecting  6-8, but that was passed by …

9 months since we opened the  Community Bicycle Workshop! 

West Torrens Council  want for a short report, to know all is OK; BISA need a report too.   Council were supposed to get one every 3 months, but didnt ask til now....

Both BISA and W Torrens asked, if people who use  the workshop need anything further?  

Wish list time! 

My impression is, people visiting the Workshop, can nearly always get done, what they want to.    I can…

Have done some more thinking...

What Hayhurst (I said Hazlehurst earlier) chose to raise, were really issues about  groups finding ways to share space. The space is adequate, for both, to get done what they want.    There will always be niggles, but niggles can be sorted out by friendly give and take, communication.  Like we, and most of them, had been doing for 8 months.

As Hayhurst raised these as Safety, I had to address them formally, and  do a full risk assessment. Took…

There  were two complaints last week from   Hazlehurst Senior Citizens Club, who use the hall after us on Saturday . The issues are basically about how people can share space, and could have been solved earlier, and informally, and in a friendly way. However Hazlehurst chose not to do that, and instead   chose to raise them semi-officially, and as OH&S.

The issue was , while Hazlehurst members were arriving,  some  people were working on a bike, near the back door . The bike was…

The Bike Workshop isn’t just about giving bikes to individuals or families, it can also tackle projects, with more reach.. . 

Wednesday this week, we took one “class set” of 35 BMX-size bikes to Augusta Park primary school in Port Augusta. This followed a request from teacher Ben Kitchin, whom I’ve known since 2008.

Schools don't just use bikes for cycling...

 Ben, at his old school, Wilsden,   organised bike-fixing lessons (with help of the…

For recyclers, scrapyards are useful - they return components to service;  people use them to keep other things going.

Adelaide has plenty of car yards - there must be a demand  .

But Bike scrapyards? That is another service, the Bike Workshop provides to the public...

School bike project: 

 Last week,  we had a request from Melissa at WhiteLion – they were starting a bike-fixing program at a local school.  The   kids would do…

I thought people might like to hear, how cyclists are making use of the Workshop these days.   This was Saturday, 29th April... morning session.

Main development:

Refreshments! - tea and coffee, cooled water   occasionally, fruit, sticky buns and scones…volunteers and workers can help themselves any time, or stop for a mid-morning tea break and chat.. 

Helping school bike project get started: We sorted out 6 suitable bikes and parts, to…

As bike rebuilders, we   hardly ever run into proprietary components, ie components a manufacturer designs,  to specifically fit their type of bike, and no one else’s.  It’s worth-while salvaging  just about every old bike – because   you can use the parts  to repair all sorts of  other bikes.  The other day, though, we struck an exception, with an old Mongoose BMX. ……  .

 It arrived with parts missing, so I took it to Wiltja College, for the “Scrap-heap Challenge”, bike-building…

 In 6 months, many volunteers have helped  “Bikes for Refugees” at Plympton  – for  which we   are eternally grateful.  For the volunteers, all they generally see is the bike, not where it goes … so   I wanted to write about how we know there’s a need   – and what we do with the bikes after Plympton..

In Adelaide, several welfare organisations help refugee families settle in the community. Some arrange housing; others, furniture; others help with money and bank accounts. Organisations…