Apparently a few people on this forum were expressing their discontent with the bike shed, I’ve been looking to what had been said because I am both a bike shed volunteer and a member of this forum.
Can someone show me the string of messages they may have been referring to?
I’d like to point out a few things as well, but first I want to see what people were saying about us.
On the contrary, I’ve heard only good things about the bike shed on this forum…like how good it would be to dig through all the gear and find a few gems.
I’ve stopped going. That old guy with the beard’s attitude is really off putting.
i havent been down there, but its a good concept
i havent heard any bad things
i trust you used the ol’ search function
Maybe head back to whoever you heard it from and ask them for more info. Or search vs. their userids if they post here for extra surveillance points. 
YES!! last time i was there i was nervous and anxious and was asking him if i could buy some parts, i explained what i needed, but he was being really evasive about prices, when i kept asking for a price, he kept saying “we cater for those who need specific items we are not a bike shop”, yes but are they for sale? then he said “im finding this conversation grating” really passive agressively and just walked off.
i have never ever been so offended by someone who i was trying to give money to in my entire life! that said an awesome dude hooked me up with some quality items… but i would still feel quite anxious about going back there again.
i haven’t seen anything on the forum about it, but from my personal experiences i havent liked it.
ive been twice and have been treated rudely both times. this terrible attitude that theyre not subtle about, as if im doing them such a huge inconvenience by coming in and trying to offer them money. spoken to like im not worthy because i shower and dont have dreads or wear thai fisherman pants. cant see myself goin back to be honest. and everyone i know whos been there has said the same, that was over a year ago though…
background http://www.thebikeshed.org.au/
history http://www.thebikeshed.org.au/BikeShedHistory.aspx
the nuggety stuff http://www.thebikeshed.org.au/BUGAmalgamations.aspx
possible reasons why you might be having a sub-retail experience http://www.thebikeshed.org.au/AimsOfTheBikeShed.aspx
Maybe they’re giving a lot of fair-to-good frames and parts a second or third life - to people who don’t have the money to hit their LBS. It’s not the place to go if you want a particular part in a hurry/yesterday. They don’t charge a labour fee because they’re volunteers and don’t get paid - they’ll tell you how to do it and let you use their tools too. Not many LBS will do that either. Stevie.T if you can see anything here you think they need to know, by all means forward it along, or solicit a response?
i got a fair bit of negativity when i first went about a year ago.
in hindsight i realise i was probably much like some of the newbies on this forum. i pretty much walked in and said “how do i build a single speed?” in a roundabout kinda way.
the guy did look at me like i’d just taken a huge shit at his feet however, so that pissed me off immensely. redirecting my query elsewhere may have been a more appropriate response. but hey, i work in a cafe and if it’s busy and someone asks me for a ‘normal coffee’ i can occasionally get frustrated and fire back “what exactly is a normal coffee?” which is hardly polite. :evil:
i ended up with an ok bennett frame for $10 that my mate eventually pinched from me after i realised i had no idea what i was doing and bought off the shelf.
A few years back I had been doored and my frame was fucked. I was having hassles with the driver’s insurance company(RACV may they rot in hell) and a friend had lent me a frame/wheels/everything except cranks. So I head down to Ceres to get a temporary set to keep me rolling(I’m without transport at this stage) and old mate looks at me and says Oh we don’t have anything for THAT sort of bike. I explained my situation to him in a way that let him know he was being a fucking prick, and he gives me a fucked up old set of super maxy(or whatever) cranks/53t chain ring(the type that have the big ring attached and the smaller one is removable).
I vowed I’d only ever go back to ask him stupid questions and waste his time.
Fuck that guy and his stupid beard.
I don’t know about the guy with the beard (Terry? He’s really great), but the older guy with a mullet acts like a prick, simple as that (Maybe it’s the same guy everyone is referring to). I’ve watched him heaps of times working with people and he talks to people like “I’m the head honcho, I know everything and you don’t”.
If he learnt some basic people skills the Ceres bike shed would be ace…
I like the concept, in saying that i remember hearing the old guy there say that they’re not like “you’re local fucking bike shop who judge you for the shiny bits on your bike” and i thought this was funny because they are quite judgemental too, but in the opposite way, they see somehting a little flash ie clean and free of rust and they think you’re a bit of a toss, i even overheard one of the guys see my bike and say fucking fixies.
I felt awkward asking for help, and i didn’t want to interrupt them helping someone else.
IMHO it’s not hard to incorporate some order to the way people are served, it’s so chaotic there. It’s a great service to people who don’t know what they’re doing and who are tight on cash, and good on the guys volunteering there
I know all the guys who volunteer there aren’t all the same, but my experience has only been crappy in terms of customer service-i still walked out of there with some 26" wheels so i got what i needed.
end rant
Based on this thread, I’ll never go there. What a bunch of dickheads.
heading down to ceres on saturday morning to help out with a stall and thought it would be a good chance to pop into the bike joint and look around but after reading all of this i really dont want to bother getting put into a bad mood on a saturday morning by some old guy
Stevie T, did you find what you were looking for because it seems to have happened again here
Self-fulfilling thread
The majority of guys there are great, and you can see they’re working volunteering to the best of their abilities. One bad apple makes it unpleasant…
This is interesting actually, there’s a similar community bike project in Sydney at Waterloo where I’ve experienced similar shit moods/service by an old bloke.
I’m not expecting a volunteer to be all sunshine and lolly pops but maybe a little indication that it is a source of joy to you, not a painful enema up the ghanges would be nice.
Also arguing with me about whether I bought the right part is rather futile, I wouldn’t argue if I wasn’t certain it was the perfect part. Went there to use a BB tool. Have since decided to buy my own and enjoy the comfort of my living room, and not the grating moans of an old man.
yeh unfortunately mine werent from that same guy, my 2 times were both different guys. after leaving ceres for the 2nd time, i knew then and there… i fucking hate hippies
i haven’t had rudeness when i’ve been - just super vague hippies.
a few years back was building up a beater and every time i asked about part prices they changed - i think the frame got given 3 or 4 different prices depending on who i spoke to.
in the end i just went and found the dude who gave me the lowest price and got him to serve me.