Fort Collins Bike Co-op

Ghana Bike Loading Day

On Saturday, September 11t,h 2010, we will be loading the container to ship bikes and bike parts from the Fort Collins Bike Co-op to the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana, Africa.  The container will be located at the Bike Co-op at 331 N. College Avenue. Volunteer sign up is below.  Breakfast, coffee and lunch will be provided.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/ghana
Thank you in advance for your help!

Fort Collins Bike Co-op

DATE: 9/11/2010 (Sat 8:00AM – 5:00PM)

LOCATION: Fort Collins Bike Co-op  at 331 N. College

Would you like to get involved with your local Bike Co-op?  We could use your help gathering lost and abandoned bikes around the city.  Each week the Co-op gets about 10 calls about bikes that have randomly shown up around town.  Our BARS team is in charge of collecting those bikes so that they don’t end up in the landfill.  We try to find their owners, and many of them get happily returned.  Those that don’t get rebuilt and distributed through many other Co-op programs.  We’re always looking for retrieval squad members, especially south of prospect.  We currently need a dynamic coordinator to intercept the messages and emails and wrangle the squad.  If you’re interested in getting involved, check out the links below.  Thanks!  Laura & Lacey

BARS Program Page

BARS Coordinator description

Coordinator email: Click For Email

Come to the Bike Co-op for our Bike Sale Extravaganza this Saturday. Project bikes (the one with your name on it) will sell from $50 to $150 more or less. Find that bike, make sure the color is your color and the size is yours. We’ll double check to be sure the frame isn’t bent, we’ll price it for you and it’s yours to fix up as the sweetest ride in down (you have to find the cow somewhere else!)

Not a bike mechanic? Can’t fix that bike? That’s what’s so great about the Bike Co-op! Come in during open shop hours:

Sunday 12 – 6 p.m
Wednesday 2 – 5 p.m.
Friday 2 – 5 p.m.

(Come in early and try to be first in line!)

We’ll pair you up with one of our velonteer mechanics who will:
1) Work with you on a complete diagnosis of what needs fixin’;
2) Go over the quick fix details right now and start helping YOU to fix’em;
3) Work into the bigger issues and show you how to fix those as well.

What you pay:
$5/hour for the best open bike shop access in town (including tools, chain oil, grease, parts and advice)
$5, $10 and $15 (as an example) depending on the age, condition and value of used parts (used/patched tubes, for example are $1-2 dollars; two good used tires might cost you $5-10; pedals $3-5; a nice new/used saddle $7; and a rear rack $15)

What you get:
Access to some of the best tools in town;
Access to used parts at bargain basement prices;
Access to new parts (that we can order) if you need them;
A road ready bike and a bunch of new-found knowledge to go with it!

Saturday, August 21st 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We’ll be there selling bikes, parts, frames, forks, pedals. . . . for the sweetest ride in town!

(Oh yeah, did we mention?  We sell dial-to-fit helmets for $10 US!  That’s right – or bring the family and we’ll let you have 3 helmets for $25!)

 We’re holding a Sidewalk Bike Sale Extravaganza Saturday, August 21st from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.! At the Bike Co-op:   331 North College, Fort Collins, CO
 The Co-op will donate 50 kids bikes to Salud Family Clinic August 13;
 We’ll send 450 bicycles off to Ghana in a huge container Sept. 11;

Here’s a preview of inventory on hand and what you can look forward to at the Sale.

Brand new road-ready commuter bikes from KHS and refurbished cruiser and mountain bikes (20-25 bikes). Prices: $150-$400

Most bikes are project bikes for sale “as is.”
So you’re looking at frames, framesets, framesets with complete or incomplete parts groups, and/or with or without wheelsets, (If you’re looking to make the bike “ride ready”, Co-op open shop hours are always a bargain at $5 an hour Wed, Fri and Sunday.)

Vintage/Retro Mountain Bikes (15-20 bikes)
Brands: Gary Fisher, Lots of Diamondbacks, Trek, Jamis, Schwinn
Condition: Good to great condition frames with original paint jobs.
Some bikes are near complete. Most are just frames, or frames with headsets and seatposts. All frames have been inspected for damage and have had the alignment checked. Prices: $25-$150

Road bikes for sale as-is (10-15 bikes)
Brands: Panasonic, Miyata, Peugeot, Raleigh, Cannondale
Condition: Good to great condition frames with original paint jobs.
Most bikes are near complete. Many have complete component groups, but need significant tune-ups, i.e. complete servicing of all bearings.
All frames have been inspected for damage and have had the alignment checked.
Prices: $50-$250

Cruisers and 3-speeds (5-10 bikes)
Brands: Sun, Electra, Free spirit
Condition: Good condition frames with original or new paint jobs. Most bikes are near complete, but may need bearing system maintenance.
Prices: $50-$150

Fixed-gear project frames (10-15 bikes)
Brands: Puegeot, Schwinn, Bridgestone, Motobecane
Condition: Frames and framesets. All are steel frames with horizontal or semi-horizontal dropouts for singlespeed or fixed-gear projects.
Prices: $25-$75

Tour de Fat Frankenbikes
Looking for that frame, extra wheels, or cranks to build your Tour de Fat bike? Check out our $5 parts from our metal recycling bins!

Regular hours: Visit the Co-op web site: http://fcbikecoop.org/calendar.php

Sale: Saturday, Aug. 21 10 a.m. -4 p.m.

Well, our transportation planners have heard the call to arms. Monday evening, August 9th the City’s Bicycle Advisory Committee will hear three proposals that will make cycling (and walking) in Fort Collins safer and more fun. Join us to hear all about these projects:

1) A Bike Box at West Plum and Shields: Correct, the Plum St. that leads from University Village on West Plum onto Campus. The one where the bike lane disappears at Shields and bikes are often clipped by south-turning motorists coming off of Plum.

Photo courtesy Stephen Rees’s blog

2) A Sidewalk on Lincoln Ave. to walk to Odell Brewing: Now that’s a no brainer. No longer will you have to walk in the bike lane to get from Buckingham to Odell Brewing.

3) Bike Lanes or shared lanes with “sharrows” on Mountain Ave. from Meldrum to Riverside in Old Town. This one has been a long time in coming but finally the planners are recommending sharrows along this stretch. There is no space for a bike lane and there is angled parking all along here with the relative dangers inherent for cyclists. The ONLY safe way to ride this stretch of Mountain is to take the lane and practice vehicular cycling. The sharrows will make it clear to motorists that we have a right to be there.

So come out for the fun at 6 p.m. Monday evening as the BAC hears about these proposals. Have a comment about the proposals? Come and share your thoughts or ideas or concerns. What about back in angled parking all along Mountain to really make this a safe street for bicycles? Public comment is heard at the beginning of the meeting from about 6 to 6:15 p.m.

The meeting will be held in the Community Room at 215 Mason St. Enter on the north side of the building.

Can’t make it but still want to comment? Send your public comment to Click For Email. We treat that as a part of the public record for the meeting.

Experimental share the road arrows or "sharrows" on Laurel in 2006 were replaced with simple share the road signs.

As a result of its community “listening sessions” in April and May, the Co-op submitted the following recommendations to the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) at the May 2010 meeting. We are happy to report that the BAC adopted the recommendations in their entirety and submitted them to City Council!

The Bike Co-op held its final listening session Wednesday, May 5th. This meeting served to summarize citizens’ comments made during eight previous sessions held throughout the City and to prioritize action items for referral to City Planners, Transportation Planners and citizen’s boards and commissions.

There was unanimous consent to offer the following recommendation:

“The community should take steps to improve bicycle safety and efficiency through a comprehensive bicycle safety education program and through enhanced engineering efforts. The education should target motorists, cyclist, K-12 children, and CSU students while the engineering enhancements should include:

The creation of bicycle boulevards ( like Vine, Swallow, Stover, Canyon, Stuart, etc.) for efficient long distance movement of bikes between and among “activity centers,” across town and between existing corridors, including the Mason Trail, the Powerline Trail, the Poudre Trail and the Spring Creek Trail;

Installation of additional signal actuation devices at stop lights, including the use of default modes to facilitate bicycle travel;

The use of sharrows (shared lane arrows) and improved “Share the Road” signs that include the secondary sign “Bikes use full lane.”

The group reviewed the list of 120 items from the previous meetings and prioritized seventeen items (in random order):

More grade separated crossings at intersections and along major trails;
“Share-the-Road” signs should include “Bikes Use Full Lane” secondary sign;
Increase bike/ped accessibility on and across College in “mid-town;”
Add/improve bicycle lanes along North Shields, North College, Gregory, Lemay and others;
Decrease speed limits near campus to 25 mph;
Add “scramble intersections” (also called diagonal crossings and nicknamed the “Barnes Dance”) for Henry Barnes, an innovative traffic engineer at College and Mountain, Laurel and College, and Shields and Elizabeth for bikes and pedestrians;
Add lighting on trails for safety (including use of motion detectors with lights);
Make broader use of sharrows now that they are approved by the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Code Devices);
Utilize more PR campaigns such as the “Coexist” campaign;
Target scofflaw cyclists for education;
Improve east-west access to, from and between the Mason and Powerline trails;
Enforce laws consistently;
Create more bicycle boulevards;
Improve signal actuation for bicycles or have signals default to green for cyclists;
Educate motorists about the rights of cyclists and the benefits of bicycling;
Educate K-12 children on bicycle safety;
Educate CSU students on bicycle safety;”

The Co-op is this year’s local Urban Assault beneficiary. That means that in return for us providing some volunteers, Urban assault gives us a bit of a kickback. Nice huh?

So, if you want to have a memorable weekend _and_ support the Co-op, get yourself signed up. Registration is open until July 17th, and there is no day of race registration.

If you can’t ride, come out and have a beer, and watch the rest of us make fools of ourselves. Beer proceeds are going to the Co-op, so bring your friends, and get them to buy you a round or two…..you know, for charity. Race starts at 9:00am and the suds start at 11:00, make sure you come thirsty.

Urban Assault – Fort Collins

Did you know you can match your personality to the perfect machine for you?

Lazy, Traditional, Hybrid, and Folding.

With Bike Week kicking off across the UK this weekend (and Fort Collins’ own Bike To Work Day just seven days away), here’s a quick guide to matching your social stereotype with the right bike.

Read the full post HERE!

FORT COLLINS, CO – The Fort Collins Bike Co-op, a 501c3 organization, in conjunction with REI, is hosting a Bike Week Bike Drive in Fort Collins, CO. The event will accept donated bikes of any kind to benefit kids in need, the Earn–a-Bike program and Ghana Bikes. There is a specific need for youth bikes.

The main event will take place on Saturday, June 19th from 10-2pm at REI, 4025 S. College Ave. For every bike donated on the 19th during the above times, REI will give donators a free coupon to REI! REI will also be hosting a “Get Your Bike Ready to Ride” workshop on the same day and times. They’ll answer all your bike commute questions, help you plan your best route for Bike to Work Day (June 23rd), and show you how to dress for your ride and still look good when you get there. Free bike maps, water bottles, and other cycling prizes will be given. While they are happy to make basic adjustments and give advice as part of their free basic check-up, they will refer you to their expert bike shop for full tune-ups and major work.

Can’t make it on the 19th? Donated bikes will be accepted all week long during Bike Week at REI and the Bike Co-op, during their respective business hours. However coupons will only be given for donated bikes on the 19th. The Fort Collins Bike Co-op is located at 331 N. College Ave. REI is located at 4025 S College Ave. Any donated bikes or bike parts that cannot be used will be recycled if possible.
For more information, please visit http://www.rei.com/stores/49 or http://fcbikecoop.org/

Kryptonite lock, releases a yearly list of the 10 wost cities for bike theft. Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and San Francisco are the worst four. Several studies imply that fear of bicycle theft discourages many riders. Some of them give up biking permanently after having their bike heisted.

As a solution to the problem, a new type of architectural structure is springing up all over the world: the bike station.

Check out ThePolisBlog’s visual essay of the most outstanding bike stations HERE!