Santrovelo accueil/main

Our mission (in deliberation)
Santrovélo is a do-it-yourself community bike shop associated with and supported by Santropol Roulant. Our volunteer mechanics provide knowledge and access to tools to enable people fix their bikes in an enthusiastic, respectful and inclusive safe-space.

Santrovélo’s Relationship with Santropol Roulant
Santrovélo is a collective housed within the greater organisation of Santropol Roulant. Its primary contact person on the staff of Santropol Roulant is Nazmus. Santrovélo makes decisions about its own operations mostly independently from SR, but just like other collectives within SR, its finances are controlled by SR. Santrovélo’s budget is determined by SR every year according to the state of the larger organization. Its revenues are collected by SR and naturally, its expenses are also paid by SR.

Volunteering
Expectations - Read me!

Things to do when sending newbies to training
French mechanical evaluation form English mechanical evaluation form
 * Evaluate their skill level (questionnaire). If they are proficient with bicycles, they can start without training if they stick to the things they know.
 * For mechanically inexperienced volunteers they can begin with the greeter role and gradually learn the ropes
 * Set up expectations of commitment. They might be in training for a few weeks before they can start helping out at the shop. Better be clear on this.
 * Ascertain that the desire is to volunteer at shop as opposed to just learning more about bikes.
 * Make them read the Santrovélo new volunteers guide. This is a summary of the most basic and essential parts of the handbook. Very important.

The shop
In exchange for volunteering your time, some benefits include:
 * 1) Learning bike mechanics and satisfaction of helping others
 * 2) Training sessions on how to maintain and repair bikes
 * 3) Access to shop for personal use only any time Santropol roulant is open which is Monday through Saturday 9h to 18h.
 * 4) New parts from BABAC for personal use only at cost (half) price + tax. Order must reach $300 to quality free shipping. Only volunteers who regularly volunteer qualify

Schedule/hours
The workshop is open to public Monday to Wednesday 17h30 to 19h30 A trans-friendly session is also available on the last Saturday 17h30 to 19h30 of every month. Opening hours are always subject to change depending on volunteer availability and weather. Closing is dependent on how long the volunteers would like to stay. If for any reason the shop must be closed changes must be made to the Facebook page then call Santropol Roulant to notify them and post it on Slack. The cost of a single visit is $5 non-cumulative and $15 for a yearly membership. The doodle schedule can be found in the shift schedules slack thread.

Policies/Politiques
Francais English

Roles
Every shift has at least one greeter and 2 mechanics minimum. The greeter's job is basically cash register and crowd control and does not require mechanical expertise. Please read read these documents to acquaint yourself with these roles Greeter Mechanic

Other hours
Besides volunteering during the week you can work on bikes outside opening hours to fix and sell. This is a great opportunity for inexperienced volunteers to learn how to repair bikes. Occasionally we will receive donations from third parties and even find random boxes left near the door or around the shop full of these used parts. These need to be sorted:
 * 1) Inspect for damage
 * 2) Group related parts: caliper in pairs, screws left on or taped on etc
 * 3) Everything else goes to SOSvelo

Buying selling used parts
Most items should have labels on them. Common item prices are in the greeter booklet and on the chalkboard. You may check the price guide written by Arnaud Chauchoy or BABAC catalogue as reference. BABAC catalogue are listed in full retail price.

We have a sliding scale system for used items but in general the nicer the part the less of a discount so we don't sell all the good parts for peanuts (see policy). New parts are fixed. Volunteers are eligible for cost (half) price of all items in the shop.

Selling bikes
When the bikes are approved for sale they are marketed on the SV FB page - there's a whole chapter on how to proceed in Santrovelo Facebook Page Publishing and admin guidelines document. See here for document and this for slack channel.

The bikes are technically approved for sale by a fellow bike mechanic. There’s no list on how to proceed to fix bikes to put up for sale besides the checklist on the project sheet and to give priority to road bikes, hybrids and cruiser types. As far a final pricing it should be below used market value so its affordable, but not too low so it does not attract craigslist or Kijiji flippers like in the past. See this slack channel

Broken tools
There is a little box dedicated to broken tools located ____. When a tool is added to the box, notify the appropriate slack channel and a repairman will magically appear (maybe).

The basement
Tasks here would be working on bikes for sale, labelling wheel sizes and keeping the space clean and organised.

Bike projects
All bikes need to be identified with the following : full name of owner, deposit date, telephone number, e-mail. No contact information means no owner. You would be free to claim this bike. Volunteer's personal projects use yellow sheets; Santrovélo member projects use pink and bikes ready for sale use blue. This is mostly for fun but also so that we can tell them apart easily. Try to keep them grouped together. Members are allowed to keep project bikes for up to 4 weeks in the basement. When their time expires, their bikes are considered donations to Santrovelo if they don’t take it home. A possibility of a 1 week extension can be discussed. Most people need to be reminded to work on their bike after 2 weeks. Owners must secure loose parts to their frame using a bag, tape, etc. No parts should be lying on the ground.

Wheels
Used wheels for sale are hung up on the ceiling and grouped into their sizes. If they are not labelled, check against the wheel sizing template located near the main door and label appropriately. Alternatively you can go old school; get a tape measure. Instructions found below.

How to measure wheels without template

 * 1) Quick and easiest is to compare against another labelled wheel
 * 2) Measure rim outer edge to outer edge straight as possible. The actual number is generally 5-10mm larger then measurement. So 640mm would be 630mm aka 27"
 * 3) Quick and dirty tip for distinguishing 27inch and 700c:  If no bead, then 99% = 27inch. Opposite doesn’t apply however
 * For 26 inch wheels, beware the difference between ‘decimal’ and ‘fractional’ measures. “26 x 1.50 inch” and “26 by 1 ½ inch” are not actually the same!  The use of a fraction versus decimal denotes a different standard, i.e., a different wheel diameter.  The ‘decimal’ size is far more common or better use wood template in the shop to confirm size.

Quickie guide for common name to ISO BSD:
700C/622mm - Modern roadie/hybrid 27"x whatever/630mm - Old roadie 26"x 1-2.125"/559mm = Old MTB, cruisers

Once again, try keep the wheels grouped together

Other parts

 * Frames go up on the wall
 * Forks go on the rack in the back
 * Fenders and used tires go in their respective bins
 * Other components go upstairs in their proper bin.

Inventory, new parts and ordering
Mario get crackin' temporary link just below (Coomandes / Orders)

'''Orders / Commandes '''

Waste management
Garbage and normal recycling bins are located near the front entrance of Santropol Roulant on the corner of St Dominique and Roy. The metal and rubber bin is just outside the bike entrance.

Recycling
All donations of parts/bikes from Santrovélo go to non profit organisations as per decided by the majority of the of volunteers during the meetings

Rubber
When the outside rubber bin is full, notify Nazmus and the waste slack channel.

Metal
'''METAL MEANS ONLY METAL. Used brake pads, cables with housing are NOT recyclable'''. When the outside metal bin is full, notify Nazmus and the waste slack channel.

Shop rags
As an act of environmental sustainability we have a service with Garage Arleco who collect used rags and deliver washed rags. To avoid mixing up, the rags provided in the shop are only to be used. When clean rags are running low and the dirty bin is full please notify Nazmus on the waste channel.

Bike donations/SOS Vélo
Remi is our contact with SOS vélo. Nazmus our volunteer coordinator calls him for still functional salvageable stuff/parts or bikes which we don’t want to keep (usually because then basement full of bikes we cannot use). The sorting places priority in keeping bikes that need the least repairs to be functional or to strip used parts we need. All other extra bikes go to SOS (usually we keep very little mountain Bikes). We remove and keep all saddles in good shape. Our job as volunteers is to notify Nazmus on the waste channel once we have sufficient donor frames/parts and to keep them from obstructing the basement hallway.

Resources, links
Facebook page - our communication to public. Admins - Max, Nazmus, Magali Editors - Olivier, Lukas Slack - this is our main form of communication within the volunteer space

Online resources
These resources will prove invaluable during your apprenticeship. The best learning is always from another experienced person but sometimes they are not available. However do not underestimate the power of trying even by yourself.

Videos
Atelier 36 Rayons (FR) - French bike repair videos Park tool (EN) - Superb bike repair videos from the company that makes the tools we use RJ the bike guy - great videos especially on building old bikes and doing conversions. He also has a website. GCN - Premier British road cycling youtube channel

Websites
Sheldon Brown (EN) - The Bike Bible. The cycling God's gift to humanity My ten speeds - Vintage bike expert

Books
How to build a (single speed) bike - Excellent reference for building a single speed bike from a frame. Can rent from the Nelligan libraries Park tool Blue Book - We have this Zinn and the art of bicycle maintenance - We have this

Misc links
All the bike shops around Montreal Annotated diagram of bike

Contacts
Head honcho - Nazmus nazmus@santropolroulant.org Santropol Roulant - 514-284-9335 Volunteer intake - Laura Wenzel Shift schedules: Lukas / Olivier Parts guy - Max K and Mario

FAQs
This section is really only reserved to questions the above has not answered or doesn't belong in any organized section. When can volunteers use the shop? Any time Santropol Roulant is open which is basically 9-5 Monday to Saturday Can I claim this bike? No tag? All yours