I’m going tomorrow. I’ll make a point of asking how to build one of those fixie bikes.
way to bring a topic to a head, stevie.
i’ve never read anything bad about the bikeshed on these forums (well, except for all the responses you’ve just dragged out).
i’ve been a few times and have only had positive experiences. whatever dude it was, he was well chuffed to get my old bio-pace chainrings.
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
looking is free - and if you know more than zero about bikes you might get roped in to helping someone. kind of the point of the place.
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Ditto, JAMS.
From the sound of things, people who look like they can afford to source parts through bike shops are probably not their highest priority. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, if anyone has a negative experience there in future, why not send them some feedback or even put in a couple of shifts there? walk a mile in their shoes, because then you’re a mile away from them, and you have their shoes.
Agreed.
I thought the point of the place was to help people who need a cheap form of transport to do stuff like get to work and make a living; recent immigrants etc., people in need.
I’d happily donate stuff to ceres but I’d feel like a mooch if I went in there to scab bargains for my latest “pub beater” when those bikes/parts should be going to people who need a bike to get to work so they can feed their kids.
[quote=a.4 ]
walk a mile in their shoes, because then you’re a mile away from them, and you have their shoes sandles.
[quote="JimmyJ "]
Can we also turn this into a bio-pace hate thread?!
Horrible idea!!
yeh, i’ve been there a few times. one young bloke there, ollie, is really great. knows what he’s doing. the grumpy old dudes: just ignore them. I worked out that if you act like you belong there/know what you’re doing, you get left alone.
the volunteers work under some crazy stress there at times. heaps of hippies/students/deadshits hassling them for help to fix the POS beater they found in the hard rubbish, clearly with no mechanical aptitude or knowledge. then there’s the rabble of kids from the housing towers hanging around and nicking anything that has apparent value and isn’t bolted down. one night i was there they actually closed early cos the kids were just out of control.
I agree with whoever said that people who can afford to buy parts online or at bike shops really aren’t the intended audience. and yeh, i’d feel bad grabbing parts from there that could be used to help get some kid’s bike back on the road…
I have to agree that it isnt in the best position, my unchained bike was getting some jealous stares and I was getting a bit nervous when there was a mob of ‘indigenous’ interest in it. Not to mention the bloke who was ready to shank me because I couldn’t help him fix his POS beater, even though I tried for a little while.
I guess that’s why all the volunteers are shitty.
The fact is that he wouldn’t leave me alone to my own devices, pretty obvious I knew what i was doing, just needed the damn BB tool.
The young blokes there however are awesome. The houso kids… not so much.
“after leaving ceres for the 2nd time, i knew then and there… i fucking hate hippies”
haha…yehhhh
I’m not saying that everyone there is a dick, or that they don’t put up with every peanut and their dog asking dumb fucking questions, I’m just saying that that old hat wearing douche with the beard can eat a bag.
Ok, I am going to try to respond to people’s arguments as best as I can.
Firstly, I need to explain the bikeshed to people: we are a bunch of bike nerds and socially inadequate people from a range of different backgrounds… generally not trendy and generally with a strong aversion to cool.
Secondly, we’re all volunteers who contribute our time for free and just want to get people on bikes… if someone comes with a specific type of luxury bike in mind, that’s not what we’re there for… since the fixie/single speed revolution we’ve had a constant flow of kids wanting to come to ceres to build singlespeeds and the expressed view at the bikeshed is “we’ll get you on a bike, if you want a vanity bike (as John - the old guy everyone seems to despise calls them) are beyond our brief”.
So yeah, we’re happy to help you build a bike, but don’t expect luxury. The bikes and bits there have been donate to us for starters. So sorry Erle, I dont exactly know what you expected… we’ll get you a bike sure, but dont expect nice cranks dude…
Thirdly, in recent month/years, tons of hipsters have come to the bikeshed, demanding things for us, we have given people bargains only to find people put them on ebay and make a $200 profit on a fixie conversion… so some of us, feel used… some of the volunteers hence recent helping people who subsequently make a profit on our free labour… I know its a problem if volunteers feel that way, but yeah dont come to series with the expectation that we will give you stuff and help you… give a bit back to, show the people of the bike shed that you’re not just another hipster out to use the shed and its resources…
I know the shed has a bunch of hard ass volunteers to, with limited social skills or plain perverts… I dont condone them either, but yeah a bit of brief on our side of the story… I’ll keep reading your stuff and comment some more perhaps
easy solution, that guy only work fridays… it took me about six month of volunteering before he realised I wasn’t a hipster and another 4 month before he remembered my name.
don’t worry ceres bike shed volunteers also hate hippies, you should try calling us hippies just for a laugh…
one final comment - if a volunteer explains the use of a tool to you as though you’re an imbecile, it’s not necessarily because they believe you are, it is because they are so used to talking to imbeciles and vague hippies that they have learned to assume idiocy, if you correct them about the fact that hey, you’re not an idiot… they’ll forego the simplistic instructions.
I guess coming to the bike shed, you’re faced by a bunch of volunteers who have preconceptions that anyone who will come to the bike shed wearing tight jeans, a wifebeater and ray bans in bound to be a dickhead…
I’ve been trying to make the penny drop that people should be judged on face value rather than aesthetics… but that’s going to take a while.
i don’t see why anyone would want to go there if you seem to hate everyone.
because they’ll help you out, let you use tools (some of which are reasonably pricey) and won’t charge you $50 for a simple task :roll:
and yeah, i’d probly get sick of dickheads coming in and expecting to find vintage track bikes and parts for zip while simultaneously expecting to be treated like a god.
i can understand being shat off by people building up bikes to sell off or dumbshits rocking up every day asking “hai guyz, any vintage tarck frames for cheap?”
what i don’t get is that you don’t want hipsters there, don’t like vague hippies there either or students and seem to judge everyone who goes there as an idiot unless they prove otherwise - then just who are you wanting to go to CERES?
noone, then all the sweet old stuff is all theirs.
Steve, you have your position and your opinion, but that guy was a straight up prick from the moment I walked up, before I’d even had a chance to open my mouth. I wasn’t expecting C Record Pista, but something remotely serviceable would have been nice. Old Mate made up his mind and decided to be as unhelpful as possible the minute he saw me. I went to Ceres in that instance due to not having a job, not having transport, and not having much of an option. I wasn’t looking to get some super rare shit to sell on, I just needed to get rolling and was treated like a c.unt.
This grumpy old coot (John - old bearded guy with stoopid hat) at CERES does not show any signs of changing his behaviour!
I have used the great facilities at CERES for a couple of years now (I’m a paid up member of the bike shed) and most of the volunteers are great and have really helped me with my projects in the past.
This john guy is a real nasty piece of work.
I went there yesterday (27/03/2011) to see if I could find an old threaded 1 1/8 fork for a project I’m currently working on.I was looking for a fork with a particularly short steerer.
I asked him about a 1 1/8 threaded fork and he said they didn’t have any. I noticed one behind him and pointed this out and pointed out another similar fork.
He begrudgingly showed me the fork and after measuring it I decided it was still a bit too long.
I asked him how much the fork (used, scratched up) was and he said $15. As it was not what I was really looking for I asked him if he would accept $10.
He said that the fork was now $20 because I had the nerve to try to discuss the price!
I politely gave him back the fork and thanked him for his help. I will not enter into an argument with fools like this as their attitude and behaviour is the result of pent up anger. He is really quite aggressive and has a nasty streak.
I will not use the facilities at CERES anymore!
I don’t need to deal with someone who is obviously a retired teacher or similar who cannot deal with the fact that he’s no longer asserting his authority over school children anymore!
Perhaps I’ll wait a few years before I return in the hope that he has gone / retired / died.
It’s a shame because they do great work there but this one guy seems obsessed about pushing his weight around.
Sad, sad man.