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 the bikes up, maybe paint frames -  and could then take  home a bike they had worked on and were proud to own.  But they needed bikes for the kids to work on. Could we help? 

 The Workshop also serves the community,  by helping to get such projects off the ground. Someone  starting a project, will need  5-10 suitable bikes, usually bikes that are worth doing up, rather than department store ones. We are one of the few places in Adelaide, that stocks those types of bikes, in those types of numbers!  [Otherwise people have to traipse round garage sales -  or take pot luck at fetes and with friends ... takes a lot of tiem to get 5-10 worthwhile bikes that way]. 

We sorted out 6 bikes that were sound, good makes, but would take too much of our time, to be worthwhile.  Either had a lot of parts missing. Or a lot of rust, which makes the bike look unsightly, and even if we fix it up, no one will want to ride it. We also sorted out,  some spare parts  we had had for some time adn seemed unlikely to use e.g wheels, forks, a few handlebars and frames. The kids might like to learn how to swap parts over! 

Mike took them home, and Melissa collected them from there .

 Stockpile of spares for repairing other bikes.

“Bikes for Refugees” also needs bike parts.   Pedals and saddles, are particularly useful . On bikes donated , specially kids bikes, they are often damaged or torn. For other parts there is a steady demand – slow, but steady. 

So last Saturday, 8 or 9 old worn rusty bikes, that would need a lot of work to do up,  were dismantled. Lots of discussion, which to keep and which to strip.   Parts are now added to the stock, in the Shipping Container, and will be used, to get other better bikes going. The remnant wheels and frames, went to metal recycling.  As "Bikes for refugees" has a steady demand for parts - we always end up with surplus frames  .  And   Even at the Workshop, just about no one  want to rebuild these .

For a  serious bike recycling workshop to work - it  needs a  serious stock pile of spare parts. Often just one damaged part  stops a bike from being useful. So  the  stockpile needs to have enough parts -  gathered from a large enough variety of bikes -  you're  certain to  find something in it that will do. Whatever  the problem.