Taking over the bike shop...

[Andy in Germany]

As mentioned above, I'm trying to get the supply of used parts sorted out. Part of the problem here is that the storage room is a mess, and that most of the mess is junk.

After a great deal of tidying I'd got the storage to this stage last year:

Not great but at least you could get into the room: the heavy boxes on the high shelf were not a good idea, but it was better than stacks of luggage racks which fell off en masse when one was taken down.

However, last week things were getting out of hand again: I couldn't find a pair of unbroken pedals and those mudguards were largely useless, and apparently breeding. Also, those metal bins were wasting space and were awkward and far too big. It looked like someone had set out to make the most ineffecient, messy and awkward storage possible.

More tidying took place:

Previous clients were either not allowed to throw anything away, or unwilling; I'm not sure which, either way the result was a vast amount of rubbish that can't be used. Most of the lights in the baskets were broken or missing their fittings; I threw two baskets of pedals out because they were mismatched or loose, and about 3/4 of those chainsets above were incomplete or broken. There was even a pile of dismantled chainsets, all mixed up. Goodness knows what they thought they'd do with them.:

But then I found the assorted wheel bands; all different shapes and sizes mixed up together...

Anyway, by the end of the day the storage looked like this:

Still only a step on the journey: eventually this should be replaced by kitchen units and the wheels should hang along the wall, but at least the scrap isn't getting in the way and the dangerous shelf has gone, and soon I'll have enough space to tackle the wheel breeding colony.

Now for the next wall...

 

[sevenfourate]

As mentioned above, I'm trying to get the supply of used parts sorted out. Part of the problem here is that the storage room is a mess, and that most of the mess is junk.

After a great deal of tidying I'd got the storage to this stage last year:

View attachment 676217

Not great but at least you could get into the room: the heavy boxes on the high shelf were not a good idea, but it was better than stacks of luggage racks which fell off en masse when one was taken down.

View attachment 676220

However, last week things were getting out of hand again: I couldn't find a pair of unbroken pedals and those mudguards were largely useless, and apparently breeding. Also, those metal bins were wasting space and were awkward and far too big. It looked like someone had set out to make the most ineffecient, messy and awkward storage possible.

More tidying took place:

View attachment 676221

Previous clients were either not allowed to throw anything away, or unwilling; I'm not sure which, either way the result was a vast amount of rubbish that can't be used. Most of the lights in the baskets were broken or missing their fittings; I threw two baskets of pedals out because they were mismatched or loose, and about 3/4 of those chainsets above were incomplete or broken. There was even a pile of dismantled chainsets, all mixed up. Goodness knows what they thought they'd do with them.:

View attachment 676224

But then I found the assorted wheel bands; all different shapes and sizes mixed up together...


View attachment 676225

Anyway, by the end of the day the storage looked like this:

View attachment 676226

Still only a step on the journey: eventually this should be replaced by kitchen units and the wheels should hang along the wall, but at least the scrap isn't getting in the way and the dangerous shelf has gone, and soon I'll have enough space to tackle the wheel breeding colony.

Now for the next wall...

Good work Andy ! A lot of time / effort gone into sorting that lot out 😳 Makes you feel better going forward though I bet. There’s no feeling like being organised and prepared / ready…..

 

[Gwylan]

Good work Andy ! A lot of time / effort gone into sorting that lot out 😳 Makes you feel better going forward though I bet. There’s no feeling like being organised and prepared / ready…..

My style. "A tidy workshop is a safe workshop"

 

[Andy in Germany]

My style. "A tidy workshop is a safe workshop"

Especially important as the local version of Health and Safety are coming in a month for a very thorough inspection.

It's also an effecient workshop: I've found a lot of good parts buried under the rubbish, which will also save money.

 

[Gwylan]

Especially important as the local version of Health and Safety are coming in a month for a very thorough inspection.

It's also an effecient workshop: I've found a lot of good parts buried under the rubbish, which will also save money.

Quite. Spend time fixing not searching for bits.

 

[FishFright]

As mentioned above, I'm trying to get the supply of used parts sorted out. Part of the problem here is that the storage room is a mess, and that most of the mess is junk.

After a great deal of tidying I'd got the storage to this stage last year:

View attachment 676217

Not great but at least you could get into the room: the heavy boxes on the high shelf were not a good idea, but it was better than stacks of luggage racks which fell off en masse when one was taken down.

View attachment 676220

However, last week things were getting out of hand again: I couldn't find a pair of unbroken pedals and those mudguards were largely useless, and apparently breeding. Also, those metal bins were wasting space and were awkward and far too big. It looked like someone had set out to make the most ineffecient, messy and awkward storage possible.

More tidying took place:

View attachment 676221

Previous clients were either not allowed to throw anything away, or unwilling; I'm not sure which, either way the result was a vast amount of rubbish that can't be used. Most of the lights in the baskets were broken or missing their fittings; I threw two baskets of pedals out because they were mismatched or loose, and about 3/4 of those chainsets above were incomplete or broken. There was even a pile of dismantled chainsets, all mixed up. Goodness knows what they thought they'd do with them.:

View attachment 676224

But then I found the assorted wheel bands; all different shapes and sizes mixed up together...


View attachment 676225

Anyway, by the end of the day the storage looked like this:

View attachment 676226

Still only a step on the journey: eventually this should be replaced by kitchen units and the wheels should hang along the wall, but at least the scrap isn't getting in the way and the dangerous shelf has gone, and soon I'll have enough space to tackle the wheel breeding colony.

Now for the next wall...

My own bugbear with the spares area was other volunteers not joining pairs of stuff, pedals and v brakes, etc into the correct tubs but not tying the pairs together .

 

[Jameshow]

As mentioned above, I'm trying to get the supply of used parts sorted out. Part of the problem here is that the storage room is a mess, and that most of the mess is junk.

After a great deal of tidying I'd got the storage to this stage last year:

View attachment 676217

Not great but at least you could get into the room: the heavy boxes on the high shelf were not a good idea, but it was better than stacks of luggage racks which fell off en masse when one was taken down.

View attachment 676220

However, last week things were getting out of hand again: I couldn't find a pair of unbroken pedals and those mudguards were largely useless, and apparently breeding. Also, those metal bins were wasting space and were awkward and far too big. It looked like someone had set out to make the most ineffecient, messy and awkward storage possible.

More tidying took place:

View attachment 676221

Previous clients were either not allowed to throw anything away, or unwilling; I'm not sure which, either way the result was a vast amount of rubbish that can't be used. Most of the lights in the baskets were broken or missing their fittings; I threw two baskets of pedals out because they were mismatched or loose, and about 3/4 of those chainsets above were incomplete or broken. There was even a pile of dismantled chainsets, all mixed up. Goodness knows what they thought they'd do with them.:

View attachment 676224

But then I found the assorted wheel bands; all different shapes and sizes mixed up together...


View attachment 676225

Anyway, by the end of the day the storage looked like this:

View attachment 676226

Still only a step on the journey: eventually this should be replaced by kitchen units and the wheels should hang along the wall, but at least the scrap isn't getting in the way and the dangerous shelf has gone, and soon I'll have enough space to tackle the wheel breeding colony.

Now for the next wall...

Well done your welcome to come and sort out men's shed!!

 

[tribanjules]

Wonderful update on a lot of hard work Andy ! 👏🏻👏🏻

 

[Big John]

Hi Andy. If you're ever visiting old Blighty and find yourself in the Midlands I hereby extend an open invitation to visit our bike  scrapyard charity. Consider it a 'fact finding mission'. At the end of it you'll realise what a great job you're doing in Germany. If I worked in your workshop I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven. Sometimes I literally can't get to a workstand because of the obstacles piled up due to every other space being full of junk. How we ever get anything done is a mystery. Our place is enormous but somehow we fill it to the rafters and beyond.

 

[tribanjules]

@Andy in Germany if you visit midlands uk it would be an honour to meet and get you lunch

 

[Andy in Germany]

Quite. Spend time fixing not searching for bits.

This is currently the goal: I've mentioned before that there's so much scrap I often can't find anything usable and have had to take parts off other bikes...

 

[Andy in Germany]

My own bugbear with the spares area was other volunteers not joining pairs of stuff, pedals and v brakes, etc into the correct tubs but not tying the pairs together .

This was a big problem when I started: the pedals were all just thrown in and not taped together, likewise chainrings, which is one reason I had to throw out some otherwise perfectly decent chainrings yesterday. In my first week I discovered that even the v-brakes were not paired; I just had a massive box of single brakes, usually with the stumps of the cables. hanging off them.

A client since did a pretty decent job of pairing most things, but yesterday I discovered they'd kept all the half-missing, broken, and otherwise useless parts left over. I've noticed this before, especially amongst clients who were homeless at some point; it seems to leave them with an inability to throw things away in case they need it; that the item in question probably won't be used because it'll be buried and forgotten doesn't seem to register.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Hi Andy. If you're ever visiting old Blighty and find yourself in the Midlands I hereby extend an open invitation to visit our bike  scrapyard charity. Consider it a 'fact finding mission'. At the end of it you'll realise what a great job you're doing in Germany. If I worked in your workshop I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven. Sometimes I literally can't get to a workstand because of the obstacles piled up due to every other space being full of junk. How we ever get anything done is a mystery. Our place is enormous but somehow we fill it to the rafters and beyond.

That was my first day at this place: I had to clear enough junk to make a space to set up as stand, then find the bits to build a stand.

Then I had to start looking for tools.

@Andy in Germany if you visit midlands uk it would be an honour to meet and get you lunch

Thank you, I may take you and @Big John up on your respective invitations as I have family in the Walsall/Bloxwich area who I really need to visit because they've probably forgotten what I look like...

 

[Andy in Germany]

Thanks all for the positive feedback. I'm getting very little feedback here which I'm taking to mean people think I know what I'm doing and are letting me get on with it, but it's good to get an outside perspective.

 

[classic33]

That was my first day at this place: I had to clear enough junk to make a space to set up as stand, then find the bits to build a stand.

Then I had to start looking for tools.



Thank you, I may take you and @Big John up on your respective invitations as I have family in the Walsall/Bloxwich area who I really need to visit because they've probably forgotten what I look like...

I think they may be setting traps.
They've seen what you've done there, now they want you to do theirs. Be careful!!