Electric bike donation

Things really are really quieting down as both Christmas and the weather are preventing all but the most dedicated cyclist taking to the road.  Having said that we still have a steady stream of work coming into our workshop and as always we have plenty of bikes to work on which will just go out for sale on the shop floor.  On Saturday we did sell a Ladies Traditional Tiger loop frame bike and another was shipped out to a customer who lives only a few miles from Tiger factory in Scotland!  To keep up with this demand we had another five Town & Country bikes delivered yesterday so if you are interested in one for Christmas we have another four in stock!

On a brighter note the market stall is going well.  Kacey & Tim have worked out a rota so the stall is open Monday to Saturday.  As well as selling tickets for our Christmas raffle the publicity the stall is giving us is immeasurable. Lots of people have stopped to say hello, to find out more about the work of the charity, and also to offer us bikes they no longer need.  One great donation is a fully working electric bike which was destined for the scrap man but is now undergoing a full service in our workshop before it goes on sale.

Christmas Market Stall

It’s been extremely busy over the last few days with plenty of  work coming into the workshop.  At the moment we have a couple of vintage bikes awaiting tyres which are still out of stock with our supplier.  Luckily the owners are in no rush to get them back because if we purchase them else where they will be at least double the price we normally pay, the cost of which we of course we will have to pass on to the customer.

Yesterday also saw us open our new pop-up stall in Stafford Market.  It’s something we’ve been talking about doing for sometime but with Christmas just around the corner we thought we would test the water especially as the market is open everyday until Christmas .  Although Monday is not a normal market day so footfall was low we did get a good reaction, sold some raffle tickets – we are raffling off a new bike for Christmas (only £1 per ticket) and had a number of requests for collections of donations.

If you are in town pop in and say hello and of course buy a raffle ticket!!

Restorations Under Way

Last week we ordered some parts for two special bikes we own – the Freddie Grub tandem and the bakers delivery bike.  This morning they all arrived.

The replacement spokes for the tandem came in from Pinkerton’s Cycle Restorers while the new rod brake kit for the delivery bike came from the Vintage Cycle Centre.  At the moment they are sitting on the bench in the workshop as Tim our mechanic is struggling with a customers bike that been ridden hard in bad weather.  He is muttering as everything he takes apart is full of wet mud or sand so he’s having to clean all the bearings etc and repack them with new grease.  It looks as if this job could go on most of the day then hopefully he can get onto the job jobs of rebuilding our two bikes with the new parts!

Unfortunately after replacing the broken spoke in the tandem's rear wheel Tim took it for a test ride across the car-park.  After just a couple of yards he applied power, bent the rear derailleur into the wheel and broke another spoke!  Luckily we'd taken the opportunity to order four replacement spokes so he is now busily rebuilding the wheel for a second time, having already replaced the bent derailleur and hanger. 

Freddie Grubb Tandem

Today we started work on getting out 1960s  Freddie Grubb Tandem back on the road. It really doesn't need much doing to it apart from replacing a missing spoke in the rear wheel.  However that’s where the problem starts as the wheel is laced with much thicker spokes than normal.  After much measuring and head scratching we worked out the spokes are 13 gauge single butted (the same size all the way down) instead of the more common, and thinner 14 gauge double butted which are found on modern bikes.  Unfortunately a couple of hours trawling the internet should us that getting these off the shelf was impossible.

However our friend Doug Pinkerton, who is professional cycle restorer  from Redditch has come to our rescue and has promised if he does not have what we are looking for in large stock of old parts will roll us some from longer length spokes.  Hopefully within a few days our tandem will be back on the road.

Christmas is coming

Are you a keen cyclist and are looking for something different to hang on your Christmas tree this year.  We might just have the answer.  Some of our volunteers are busily making tree decorations in the form of bike chain holly wreaths.  They measure 50mm in diameter and come complete with red festive bow and gold hanging loop.  Unfortunately the photograph does not show they are in fact holly green and not black as they appear!  This is a unique opportunity to get a decoration that is different while at the same time supporting the work of the charity.  They only cost £3.99 each and that includes free postage!

Meanwhile in the workshop Tim has started on a complete rebuild of a vintage Raleigh rod brake bike which the owner had blasted and re-sprayed.  Unfortunately he didn't take the bike apart before all this happened so every hole was filled with blasting sand, and the nuts have been sprayed over so they are difficult to undo!   So the rebuild is taking far more time than it should!  If you are thinking of having your bike blasted and repainted make sure its in pieces before you start and that any holes, especially the bottom bracket shell is filled and masked off to prevent sand getting inside. 

Ebay record sales

It’s rather cold in the workshop this morning as the mechanics and volunteers keep telling me.  In fact every time I come back to the office I find squatters sitting around the heater!  Unfortunately they just don’t seem to understand the office heater is reserved for the use of office staff only!

I also keep telling the workshop staff that  Kacey, who is working in our eBay department, is not complaining of the cold, but this does not help in fact it just makes matters worse.  Today is just the first day with a frost so I’m looking forward to when it really gets cold!

At this time of year the sale of bikes drops off, but luckily eBay sales are going through the roof.  As we break more and more bikes we are getting a wide rage of sought after parts for sale.  This month will see us break all our previous records.  We can certainly see this increase as we are constantly topping up our franking machine and making regular visits to the postbox on the corner of our road.

If you are looking for a bargain check our eBay pages – there is a link from the front page of the Back2Bikes website.

Workshop Imrovements

We are always looking to make improvements to the two units Back2Bikes occupy in Greyfriars.  This week has been no exception as Will and his team have started work reorganizing Unit to give us more room and better storage.   When we tool over the unit last year it was divided about 2/3rds of the way down by a wall that just got in the way.  However after 30 mins, two large hammers, and some muscle the wall disappeared!  It now just a matter of tidying up and rearranging the racking.

Italian Bottom Bracket!

Another interesting job in the workshop today. This time Tim has been struggling to fit a new bottom into a bike that’s been brought in for a shed load of repairs.  After finally removing the old one he found the shell was far to big to fit  a standard size replacement.  After much measuring, scratching of  heads, and trying various space cups, he discovered the bike, which was made in the UK, was in fact fitted with the larger “Italian” type.  Luckily our supplier just happen to have one in stock and with express overnight delivery it will be with us in the morning. 

Once Tim has this it will only take about 30 minutes to finish the job before the customer is given a call to ask him to come and collect his rideable and safe bike!

Broken Crank

A young man turned up this morning pushing his friends bike which had a one piece chain set with a broken arm.  It appears his friend, who is quite large, was just riding his bike and snapped the crank arm off.  Unfortunately, as the bike is from the 1980’s and has a overlarge bottom bracket shell getting a new replacement is impossible, so at the moment we are going through our stock of used spares trying to find something that will fit. If that draws a blank there seems to be no alternative but to scrap the bike!

Busy workshop

Not really cycling weather today, or at least it isn’t if you are just a leisure cyclist.  We can certainly tell the outside temperature or whether it’s wet or dry by the amount of refurbished bikes we sell.

At this time of the year our sales do decline,  as does the amount of service work we get in.  However we do have a hardcore of regular cyclists who rely on our workshop for their repairs, so there is always work to do.

So far today the workshop has done quite a lot of work on one bike. We’ve replaced a chain and cassette replaced all the cabled, trued the wheels and replaced the brake pads.  Also on the go is repairs to a Giant MTB which include replacing the front mech – which was only ordered yesterday afternoon but arrived first thing this morning. And on top of all this our volunteers have serviced a couple of stock bikes, which having been checked by Tim are now out for sale.  Who says working in a bike shop is boring!!!

Welcome

Welcome to our new blog

We are a bicycle recycling charity based in Stafford.  Not only do we recycle bicycles to provide affordable transport but in so doing provide the opportunity for unemployed volunteers to gain workshop experience which will help them in their quest to find paid employment.

As a charity we rely on donations of bicycles from the general public, Stafford Police, and Virgin Rail. This weekend was no exception and something very special came through the door. In fact it was six exceptional donations from the same lady - six late 1920's - early 1930's bicycles in rather good condition given they are around 80 years old. They included a child's single speed loop frame and a

They are so interesting we a thinking about adding them to our collection, and will in time restore them and hopefully hire them out for theater or film props.

What has also got us thinking is that one of the bikes has an unusual Sturmet Archer twist gear shifter which looks as if it only has a high and low setting.  At the moment Tim our mechanic is researching this and hopefully will find out more about it.

Let's see what tomorrow brings?  Another six bikes like this could come through the door or it might be just a child's BMX that started life in a high street supermarket!