On the Bike Root iPad:

• Open the Square app
• Select Bike Sale
  • Enter price of bike
  • Enter bike ad # in the notes (so this can be traced back to the receipt)
  • Optional: if the checklist has the serial number, add that into the notes as well.
• Select Annual Membership
• Select Discounts
  • Enter price of Annual Membership ($10)
• Select Charge
• Follow customer’s method of payment
  • Do not forget to offer receipt
• Return to iPad’s main screen and open Membership app
• Get customer to fill in details and submit

See Using the Square app for more details.

Do not forget to delete the bike from the #bikes-for-sale Slack channel. See Posting a bike for sale for more details.

Selling a refurbished bike

Bikes that are ready for sale will be located under the READY-TO-SELL BIKES sign.

Before allowing customers to take a bike on a test ride, check to ensure the brakes are fully functional!! The entrance of Bike Root is at the bottom of a ramp, so we want to make sure customers can stop as they come down it. Also remind test riders the top of the ramp is a high traffic area and to look out for cars.

Prices should be noted on the bike (to be assigned by Mechanics). If it does not have a price on it, it can be sold for around $80-150 (also taking into consideration the amount and type of parts used in its repair).

Bike purchases include 1) a free membership, and 2) $10 off the marked price of a lock. Memberships lasts for one year from date of signing up, so if signing up on April 30, 2021, it is good until April 30, 2022.

Prices are (generally) non-negotiable.

Do not offer to reserve the bike for customers to return and pick up later. Bike purchases are first come, first served. If it is bought, it leaves the same day.

Short-term rentals, refunds

We generally want to avoid offering refunds on bikes sold; potential buyers have the opportunity to look over the bikes and give it a test ride before committing to the purchase. We do not have an actual refund policy or return period.

However some people may have a practical reason for returning their bikes, such as exchange students only needing bikes as short-term transportation during their stay here. In situations like this we may be willing to offer buyers their money back minus $20 per month (or portions thereof), provided the condition of the bike is roughly the same as when they bought it.

For example,
– If a bike is purchased for $120 and used for 2 or 3 weeks, we could return $100
– If a bike is purchased for $120 and is used for 2 months, we could return $80

If people no longer require their bikes, we want to encourage them to sell it themselves especially since can get back more money from a private sale than from us.

We may also want to avoid accepting bikes back if we have a surplus of bikes to sell or we do not have a lot of space in the shop.

Before accepting the bike back, give it a quick test ride and inspection to ensure it functions well and does not require a lot of work to resell, such as minor adjustments or lubrication and no replacement of major parts.

See Processing a return for steps to refund.

Selling an un-refurbished bike

Bikes that still need work are located in the middle of the shop.

If someone is interested in a bike that is in this pile, feel free to sell it at a discounted price (~$50 depending on condition, more if it’s a really nice name brand like Specialized, Norco, Trek, Bianchi, Pinarello, etc.) These bikes are sold AS-IS. Any additional parts will cost extra (tires, tubes, kickstands, brakes, cables, etc).

Encourage customers to make use of their memberships to repair their bikes.

Selling a semi-refurbished bike

We also have a pile of bikes that are “almost refurbished” piled between the front gate and truing stand table.

These are almost completed bikes and are missing parts we do not have in stock. Some people may be okay with these if they are willing to find the remaining parts on their own and complete their own repairs.

These are unlikely to have a price on them as they have not been finished or given a final test ride. When pricing them, estimate what we would sell it as a completed bike and subtract the cost of the missing part.

Holding a semi-refurbished or unfinished bike

We want to avoid reserving bikes for customers to return and pick up later. We have had situations where people have said they wanted a bike only to never show up or respond when contacted.

However, if one wishes to choose kindness and excellent customer service in low risk situations, the volunteer may offer to hold the bike for a customer on the conditions that said volunteer:

1. ensures that the bike gets fixed ASAP (within a day or two). This may require coordinating with mechanics in upcoming shifts and communicating the priority for the repair, either in person or on Slack, and
2. is responsible for communicating directly with the potential buyer for a pickup/purchase no later than one day from the time it is complete and informing the volunteer that will be in during that time of the sale if the volunteer that put the hold on the bike is not able to be present.

Frame sizes are measured by the length of the seat tube, from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the seatpost.

Generally speaking,

• Road bikes are measured in centimetres.
• Mountain, commuter, and hybrid bikes are measured in inches.

Mountain Bikes

Commuter/Hybrid Bikes

Road Bikes

Posting an ad

1. Open up the Slack app on the Bike Root iPad
2. Select the #bikes-for-sale channel and start a new post
   
   
   
3. Enter a description of the bike
   • Include any features you may think would interest a potential buyer, ie:
     • Size of the frame (20″, 60cm, Large)
     • Make/model/colour
     • Type of bike (road, mountain, cruiser)
     • Price
     • Ad #
   • The ad # comes in handy when we have to delete the ad after the bike has been sold or when we have to do an inventory check on the bikes and make sure the channel matches what we have in stock at the shop.
4. Select the + icon and select the camera icon
   1. Take a picture of the bike, and
   2. Take a picture of the checklist, including the referring ad #.
      
      

Note: make sure both pictures are in the same post otherwise it will not be automatically reposted properly after 60 days!

Deleting an ad

1. Open up the Slack app on the Bike Root iPad
2. Select the #bikes-for-sale channel and select the post you wish to delete
   
   
3. Select the “…” button and select Delete Message.
   
   
4. Confirm you wish to delete this ad.
   
   
   Congrats on the sale!

No Tag

If a bike has no tag, assume it has not been given any attention yet.

These bikes can usually be sold with the as-is price of $50 (unless they are brand name bikes, which should be sold at a higher price). As soon as any attention has been given to a bike (repairs, new parts, etc), it will need a checklist and a RED TAG.

BLACK TAG

Black tagged bikes have been reviewed and deemed not worth the repair:

• The cost of parts and/or time to repair it would not make the bike very profitable (ie: needing to spend $70 in new parts to sell the bike for $100-125).
• It would take too long to complete repair, especially if it needs parts we do not come into very often (ie: 27.5″ rear wheels, specialized drivetrain parts, vintage parts, etc).
• The frame is too rusted or structurally damaged to the point it could be a safety concern.

These bikes should be disassembled and striped of all usable parts and everything else disposed or recycled. These bikes are also useful for training new volunteers on.

RED TAG

Red tagged bikes are currently in the process of being repaired.

Bikes should have a red tag until everything on the checklist has been checked and initialed and all new parts documented.

BLUE TAG

Blue tagged bikes are an indication that it requires some attention and should be accompanied by a note indicating what that attention should be, ie:

• “Do not repair; we will donate this to Wheels for Kids.”
• “Save this bike for X; he/she/they wants to learn how to fix Y on it.”

Blue tags are also not necessarily an indication of the bike’s repair status and can accompany another tag, ie:

• Red with Blue tags: “This needs the rear wheel bearings repacked.”
• Red with Blue tags: “I put on a 3-speed shifter but it needs a 2-speed shifter.”
• Black with Blue tags: “Disassemble, but save the wheels for the Trek mountain bike.”

YELLOW TAG

Yellow tagged bikes have been repaired and needs a final test ride by another volunteer who did not complete the repair.

GREEN TAG

This bike:

• has a completed checklist,
• has been test ridden by another volunteer who did not complete the repair,
• has been posted on #bikes-for-sale,
• and ready for a new home!

Use the Refurb Bikes Checklist to guide you through refurbishing a bike.

Note that there is some logical thought put into the order of the list and list items and skipping ahead can potentially result in having to redo steps again later, so picking and choosing items at random may not be beneficial. For example:

• If you skip ahead to changing the shifter cables and later find one or both shifters were not functioning properly, you may end up having to redo the cables again after locating suitable replacement shifter(s) or having to disassemble the shifter to clean out.
• If you skip ahead and replace a tire or tube but the wheel ends up not being true and is beyond repair, you may have to remove and reinstall them onto a new wheel.
• Starting with brakes is always a good idea because if you are testing/installing drivetrain parts or wheels, you will need a way to stop them.

Bikes that are meant to be disassembled are tagged with BLACK TAGS.

Bikes that are in the process of refurbishing are tagged with RED TAGS.

Bikes that have a note that requires attention are tagged with BLUE TAGS (ie: “This needs a new rear wheel”, “This needs a 2 speed shifter”, etc).

Bikes that are full refurbished but need a test ride are tagged with YELLOW TAGS.

Bike that have been fully refurbished, test ridden, ad posted, and are ready for sale are tagged with GREEN TAGS.

This checklist must be fully completed and the bike test ridden before a bike is considered ready for sale.

To increase visibility of available bikes (and hopefully sell them faster), post completed bikes in the #bikes-for-sale Slack channel. See Posting a bike for sale for more details.

Checklist Items

F and R indicate the item in question has a front and rear component, respectively.
Initial are the initials of the volunteer who has verified this list item has been completed.

Summary

Brakes

Drivetrain

Wheels

Misc

New Parts

• The most commonly replaced items have been pre-filled (brake pads, cables, cable housing, tubes), along with their prices per unit.
• Any additional parts can be filled in the remaining lines or the back side if there is not enough space.

Checklist PDF

The latest version of the checklist can be downloaded here:

Entering sale of parts

On the Bike Root iPad:

• Open the Square app
• Select part
  • If part not listed, enter as Misc and leave description in comment

• Enter price
• Select +
  • If more than one of same item, select item after and change quantity
• Repeat for each item

• Select Charge
  • If paying with cash or e-Transfer, select cash amount
  • If paying with card or mobile payment, use Square reader

• Offer customer receipt options

Processing a return

On the Bike Root iPad:

• Open the Square app
• Select Transactions (bottom of screen)
• Locate the sale you are looking to refund
  • Sales may be searched by the credit card number, customer name, customer email address, and/or date of purchase
  • If none of these can be found and a bike was purchased, the date of purchase may be located by searching the membership document for the customer
  • If no other information can be found and the customer cannot provide any, then a refund cannot be provided

• Select Issue Refund
  • Select the item(s) to refund, or
  • Select the amount to refund

• Select Next
• Select Refund
• Select Done

e-Transfer Payments

We also accept e-Transfer payments if the customer does not have cash, card, or mobile payment options. Payment can be sent to info@bikeroot.ca with an obvious password and the sales can be processed as a cash transaction.

1. Swipe to the page 2 (or select More) from the main Square page.

2. Select the “Misc” category.

3. Scroll to the bottom and select “Miscellaneous Unlisted Item”.

4. Enter the price and press “+“.

5. Enter the description of the item in “Notes”. Add/remove quantity, if applicable.

6. Select “Add”.

7. The unlisted item should not appear in the sales items.

(Optional) Repeat steps 2 – 7 for each additional unlisted item.

If a mistake was made, select the item and select “Remove item” and start again.

We have bins in the shop to dispose metal into (bike parts, chains, cables, etc). When these bins get full, we can take them to the Physical Plant on campus for recycling. The bike wagon can be used to transport these, as well as any metal too big to fit in them, such as bike frames.

The metal recycling bin can be accessed 24/7.

See map for directions.

Alternatively, metal can be taken to scrap metal recycling. To encourage this practice, anyone who brings the metal to scrap recycling gets to keep the money.

Tires (NO TUBES)

Tires can be be transported to the Grounds Building on campus for recycling. Note: they can only accept tires; no tubes.

The tire recycling bin can be accessed 24/7.

See map for directions.

Bike tires can also be recycled at the following locations in Calgary:

Bow Cycle
6501 Bowness Road NW

Ridley’s Cycle Kensington
223-10 Street NW

See: Alberta Bicycle Tire Recycling for more details

Hazardous Waste

The closest location to dispose of hazardous waste (ie: lubricants, cleaners, etc) is:

Bowness Fire Station #15
6328 35 Avenue NW
Open 8am-6pm

Bike Wagon

The wagon can (usually) be found in the back. To mount the wagon, you will require a bike with a quick release rear wheel as it latches onto a special quick release (QR) skewer.

Replace the bicycle’s QR skewer with the wagon’s and attach the wagon’s arms onto the QR mounts. Lock the ends in place so the arms do not detach from the mounts.

Do not forget to remove the wagon’s quick release skewer from the bike when finished!

Recyclables

Recyclable material (paper, plastic) can be disposed of in the green bin outside of the Bike Root bay doors.