A bicycle cooperative ("bike co-op") can take the many forms of the cooperative model. These often include co-ops composed of businesses to achieve economies of scale (retail cooperative), co-ops managed by those who work at the business (worker cooperative), and bicycle co-ops owned and managed by the cyclists that use their services (consumers' co-operative). To date, many bicycle co-ops have taken the form of community bike shops[1] and cooperatives organized to give the local bike shop national scale and buying power.
Assisted-service bicycle repair at the Sopo Bicycle Cooperative in Atlanta, Georgia
As a consumers' co-operative, community bike cooperatives are organized and owned by the cyclists who use them. Members often receive exclusive access and benefits to service and sales.
Shop time
Shop time is considered to be the use of the bike co-op's space and tools. Some bike co-ops charge users a set fee of between US$5 and US$20 per hour. Some bike co-ops will waive the fees for low-income users. Bike Pirates in Toronto is one example of a co-op which uses a pay what you want strategy. They request that each user make a donation.[2]
Co-ops with lower overhead costs are often more relaxed about cost recovery. For example, one co-op inside an Australian "community environment park" existed rent-free until recently. That co-op continued to charge just US$8 for a one-year membership, including unlimited shop time, even after it began paying rent.[3]
Parts
The cost of new or used parts is usually added to the shop fee, but is typically substantially below retail prices.[citation needed] Some workshops stock new items such as brake pads, inner tubes, cables and housing, and bearings, for example.
Parts may be sourced from public donations. Children's bikes are often donated when they are outgrown, and abandoned bikes are sometimes obtained through partnerships with police departments (evidence control), street cleaning firms, or from large institutions such as schools and universities.
Bike cooperatives: retail
When a bicycle cooperatives takes the form of a retail cooperative, it often takes the form of multiple businesses within the industry coming together to achieve economies of scale to compete with big-box brands, department stores and direct-to-consumer bike sales.
Membership
Retailers' cooperatives are governed by democratic member control, which generally means one vote per member. For many retailer co-ops, however, it is difficult to achieve a democratic standard. Since the members are businesses rather than individuals, offering one vote per member will leave the larger member businesses underrepresented. If the number of votes is based on the size of the business, there is a risk of all smaller businesses within the cooperative being outvoted by a larger business. A democratic solution that many retailers' cooperatives employ is an increase in votes based on business size, up to a certain point, say five or ten votes. This way, there is a varying degree of representation for member businesses, but no one member can gain too much control.
Financing and economic goals
In order to lower costs, retailers' cooperatives establish central buying locations, providing them with the opportunity to purchase in bulk. Retailers' cooperatives also engage in group advertising and promotion, uniform stock merchandising, and private branding.[4]
The aim of the cooperative is to improve buying conditions for its members, which are retail businesses in this case. The incentive to remain in the cooperative is largely due to the profits that members gain.[5]
Locations
An early bike co-op was the Fahrrad.Selbsthilfe.Werkstatt, founded in 1983 in a formerly squatted factory in Vienna, Austria. Another early co-op was "P'tit vélo dans la tête", founded in Grenoble, France, in 1994.
In the United States, one of the earliest and longest continuous running co-op is BICAS in Tucson, Arizona, founded in 1994 (named changed to BICAS in 1996.)
Later, some bike co-ops were founded in the western US. Examples include the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective in Utah, founded 2002, and the Bike Kitchen,[6] founded in 2003 in San Francisco.
Bike co-ops can be found worldwide. The Bike Collective Network includes a regionally sorted list of hundreds of co-ops scattered across a few dozen countries.[1]
Bike co-ops are some of the most historical and long standing co-ops, for example, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative is the longest established worker co-operative in Scotland.
^ ab"Community Bicycle Organizations". Bike Collective Network wiki. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
^"Frequently asked questions » How much does it cost to fix my bike at Bike Pirates?". Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Bike Pirates Bicycle Club. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 15 January 2013. How much does it cost to fix my bike at Bike Pirates? That depends on you. [...]
^Baron, Marie-Laure (September 2007). "Defining the Frontiers of the Firm through Property Rights Allocation: The Case of the French Retailer Cooperative Leclerc". Review of Social Economy. 65 (3): 293–317. doi:10.1080/00346760701635825. JSTOR 29770417. S2CID 154329844.
^Lybarger, Jeremy (February 2, 2014). "Bike Kitchen Anniversary Party". SF Weekly. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
Further reading
Duregger, Michelle (30 April 2010). "The Anti-Shop". Bicycling. Retrieved 9 June 2015. The Recyclery is Oklahoma City's first bike co-op, open three days a week. Everything is free--tools, advice from bicycle-savvy volunteers, workshops, parts and frames. It's stocked by donations from community members and a couple of bike-shop employees, and is run by volunteers.
Forbes, Rob (28 April 2009). "Bike Kitchens: Building Community, Bikes". Yes! Magazine. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
Cross, Kim (20 February 2015). "The Fixer". Bicycling. Retrieved 9 June 2015. The popular connotation is that co-ops are for urban twenty-somethings who want a fixed-gear bike. But they're more for people who don't know anything about bikes, want a community to connect with, or want a cheap and super-easy mode of transportation.
Narciso, Dean. "Bicycle co-op helps local enthusiasts learn to do repairs". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
External links
Bike Collective Network: an umbrella association of bike co-ops and other organizations
Bike Workshops Research: research into bike workshops led by Simon Batterbury, University of Melbourne
Lists of co-ops worldwide
Community Bicycle Organizations: a list of bike co-ops worldwide, sorted by country and province/state
International Bicycle Fund . Many of the groups in this directory, though not all of them, are co-ops.
Bike recyclers in Australia (map and listing, 2022) [1]
bicycle, cooperative, bicycle, kitchen, redirects, here, educational, profit, bicycle, workspace, bicycle, kitchen, angeles, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messa. Bicycle Kitchen redirects here For the educational non profit bicycle workspace see Bicycle Kitchen Los Angeles This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed May 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations November 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message A bicycle cooperative bike co op can take the many forms of the cooperative model These often include co ops composed of businesses to achieve economies of scale retail cooperative co ops managed by those who work at the business worker cooperative and bicycle co ops owned and managed by the cyclists that use their services consumers co operative To date many bicycle co ops have taken the form of community bike shops 1 and cooperatives organized to give the local bike shop national scale and buying power Assisted service bicycle repair at the Sopo Bicycle Cooperative in Atlanta Georgia Contents 1 Bike cooperatives community and consumer 1 1 Shop time 1 2 Parts 2 Bike cooperatives retail 2 1 Membership 2 2 Financing and economic goals 3 Locations 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links 7 1 Lists of co ops worldwideBike cooperatives community and consumer EditAs a consumers co operative community bike cooperatives are organized and owned by the cyclists who use them Members often receive exclusive access and benefits to service and sales Shop time Edit Shop time is considered to be the use of the bike co op s space and tools Some bike co ops charge users a set fee of between US 5 and US 20 per hour Some bike co ops will waive the fees for low income users Bike Pirates in Toronto is one example of a co op which uses a pay what you want strategy They request that each user make a donation 2 Co ops with lower overhead costs are often more relaxed about cost recovery For example one co op inside an Australian community environment park existed rent free until recently That co op continued to charge just US 8 for a one year membership including unlimited shop time even after it began paying rent 3 Parts Edit The cost of new or used parts is usually added to the shop fee but is typically substantially below retail prices citation needed Some workshops stock new items such as brake pads inner tubes cables and housing and bearings for example Parts may be sourced from public donations Children s bikes are often donated when they are outgrown and abandoned bikes are sometimes obtained through partnerships with police departments evidence control street cleaning firms or from large institutions such as schools and universities Bike cooperatives retail EditWhen a bicycle cooperatives takes the form of a retail cooperative it often takes the form of multiple businesses within the industry coming together to achieve economies of scale to compete with big box brands department stores and direct to consumer bike sales Membership Edit Retailers cooperatives are governed by democratic member control which generally means one vote per member For many retailer co ops however it is difficult to achieve a democratic standard Since the members are businesses rather than individuals offering one vote per member will leave the larger member businesses underrepresented If the number of votes is based on the size of the business there is a risk of all smaller businesses within the cooperative being outvoted by a larger business A democratic solution that many retailers cooperatives employ is an increase in votes based on business size up to a certain point say five or ten votes This way there is a varying degree of representation for member businesses but no one member can gain too much control Financing and economic goals Edit In order to lower costs retailers cooperatives establish central buying locations providing them with the opportunity to purchase in bulk Retailers cooperatives also engage in group advertising and promotion uniform stock merchandising and private branding 4 The aim of the cooperative is to improve buying conditions for its members which are retail businesses in this case The incentive to remain in the cooperative is largely due to the profits that members gain 5 Locations EditAn early bike co op was the Fahrrad Selbsthilfe Werkstatt founded in 1983 in a formerly squatted factory in Vienna Austria Another early co op was P tit velo dans la tete founded in Grenoble France in 1994 In the United States one of the earliest and longest continuous running co op is BICAS in Tucson Arizona founded in 1994 named changed to BICAS in 1996 Later some bike co ops were founded in the western US Examples include the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective in Utah founded 2002 and the Bike Kitchen 6 founded in 2003 in San Francisco Bike co ops can be found worldwide The Bike Collective Network includes a regionally sorted list of hundreds of co ops scattered across a few dozen countries 1 Bike co ops are some of the most historical and long standing co ops for example Edinburgh Bicycle Co operative is the longest established worker co operative in Scotland A cooperative for American independent bicycle dealers was established in 2003 as The Biking Solution Now called The Bike Cooperative this retailers cooperative has 300 members across the country See also Edit Transport portalBicycle Maintenance and repair discusses self service full service and roadside assistance Bicycle library a facility for lending bicycles and accessories to riders for trial or use Cycling Local bike shop Makerspace Repair cafe Tool libraryReferences Edit a b Community Bicycle Organizations Bike Collective Network wiki Retrieved 15 January 2013 Frequently asked questions How much does it cost to fix my bike at Bike Pirates Toronto Ontario Canada Bike Pirates Bicycle Club 2011 05 24 Retrieved 15 January 2013 How much does it cost to fix my bike at Bike Pirates That depends on you See Home BikeShed Archived from the original on 2016 02 05 Retrieved 2016 02 09 and http www thebikeshed org au WhatIsCERES aspx Archived 2013 12 19 at the Wayback Machine Hibbard Jonathan Merchandising Conglomerates Encyclopaedia Britannica Baron Marie Laure September 2007 Defining the Frontiers of the Firm through Property Rights Allocation The Case of the French Retailer Cooperative Leclerc Review of Social Economy 65 3 293 317 doi 10 1080 00346760701635825 JSTOR 29770417 S2CID 154329844 Lybarger Jeremy February 2 2014 Bike Kitchen Anniversary Party SF Weekly Retrieved November 1 2015 Further reading EditDuregger Michelle 30 April 2010 The Anti Shop Bicycling Retrieved 9 June 2015 The Recyclery is Oklahoma City s first bike co op open three days a week Everything is free tools advice from bicycle savvy volunteers workshops parts and frames It s stocked by donations from community members and a couple of bike shop employees and is run by volunteers Forbes Rob 28 April 2009 Bike Kitchens Building Community Bikes Yes Magazine Retrieved 9 June 2015 Cross Kim 20 February 2015 The Fixer Bicycling Retrieved 9 June 2015 The popular connotation is that co ops are for urban twenty somethings who want a fixed gear bike But they re more for people who don t know anything about bikes want a community to connect with or want a cheap and super easy mode of transportation Narciso Dean Bicycle co op helps local enthusiasts learn to do repairs The Columbus Dispatch Retrieved 1 November 2015 External links EditBike Collective Network an umbrella association of bike co ops and other organizations Bike Workshops Research research into bike workshops led by Simon Batterbury University of MelbourneLists of co ops worldwide Edit Community Bicycle Organizations a list of bike co ops worldwide sorted by country and province state International Bicycle Fund community bike programs directory Many of the groups in this directory though not all of them are co ops Bike recyclers in Australia map and listing 2022 1 Ateliers in France https www heureux cyclage org les ateliers en france html Heureux Cyclage map Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bicycle cooperative amp oldid 1121648345, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
