You’ve seen the new furniture through the windows. You’ve admired the new tools on the wall. You’ve heard the rumours in the halls, the chatter in the clean room, the hopeful voices of a Makerspace yearning to wheel free…
Coming imminently to a South London Makerspace near you, a bespoke, fit-for-purpose Bike Area.
Watch this space for updates, tool pages, top tips, Bike Nights and more.
@directors would you please create a bikearea label, and a tech group?
In due course, the Bike Tech Team will post up the guidelines and rules for using the area and for keeping bikes in the Space. Safety, security, and happy coexistence with the rest of the community are our paramount concerns, and maintaining a well-organised, well-tooled and wel-coming Area for all of our members is our goal. Our efforts will only go so far, however: the Bike Area, like all other areas in the Space, will need the community’s continued engagement and support, and everyone’s understanding that some policies may be inconvenient for the individual but will ensure we all have a Bike Area we can admire and enjoy.
Bike owners currently storing their bikes in screen printing, please be aware that we will shortly be publishing the bike area storage rules. We haven’t spoken with @silkscreentechs but you should not assume that area will remain open for bikes. Please make plans to move and secure your property asap. (Full disclosure: I left two bikes today 08 July to work on and remove by 09 July. If my work isn’t finished I’ll lock them outside).
Are there any updates on the bike area @hernehillier ?
I’d like to change a headset and crown race as well as attempt my first bearing swap on a rear hub. I have all the headset tools myself but a solid workbench and work stand would make the job easier.
Thanks for the prompt, will update the title.
We have a functional bike area now. Ergonomic allen and torx keys, ratchet wrenches, cone and headset spanners, adjustable spanners, a press or two, etc. Come on down!
Public notice: the Bike Area is open for use, no induction needed. Area rules to be published soon, and we’ll have a small shop for discounted ancillaries and accessories soon. Meanwhile please come by and give your bike some TLC!
Important info:
No aerosols or noxious sprays in the clean room. No exceptions. Please take your project outside or to a dirty room with ventilation if you need to use aerosols or sprays that pose inhalation hazards.
Please take care of the tools and return them when finished. It took time and effort to find and/or build good and affordable things. They will be kept on pegboards when the boards are finished, and are currently stored in boxes on the workbench; this doesn’t mean they can be thrown and tossed about, or used for other than their designed applications (e.g…, screwdrivers are not chisels, wrenches are not hammers).
I have no compunctions about speaking to users who abuse the tools, but I’m a busy new dad so please help me avoid having to do that. 
Any questions or suggestions please reach out to me, @Louis_Parker, @charlesmein, or @EdwardE.
Great news, thanks for the update and to all the biketechs getting the area ready.
Is there also a work stand?
There’s a sturdy park tool home mechanic stand (the very heavy blue metal folding one), and a lighter weight but larger footprint purple one.
We haven’t published the rules, but please don’t hang bikes in excess of 36kg weight from the park stand.
Perfect, thanks
If the space is open on Friday I’ll try and come by and start working through the list of jobs I have to do on my bike.
I’ve got a hub bearing press you’re welcome to borrow if you need one for the overhaul.
Thanks for the offer, I actually sold the wheelset in question over the weekend (to a mechanic) so have no immediate need but I’ll keep it in mind for the future.
I can also offer headset removal and installation tools on short term loan to anyone who might need them.
Regarding final touches, I installed the Record vice to the bench on Friday night. There are preexisting holes in the bench that do not align with the mounts on the vice, so a metal bracket was made. I had fun with the plasma cutter and a bit of TIG welding to achieve this 
. It’s not the cleanest job in the world, I’ll probably add larger washers and sleeves to it or something later on.
Saw it yesterday: looks great, good job, thanks for doing that (on top of loaning your vice; the unused rotating base is mine and I’ll collect later this week) 
Cheers @hernehillier,
Just to add to this:
(An additon to point 2!) A tidy workshop is an accessible workshop. Please consider other makers and set aside time to carefully put items back once they have been used, this helps us all work efficiently and safely on our bikes and prevents tools going amiss. Please contact @BikeTechs if you notice a liquid/cleaning agent/supply is empty or a tool is worn out, broken or unsafe to use, tools do break and wear out over time and supplies get depleted, we appreciate you letting us know when this occurs.
The bike area is a working area (the area with black matting) and not a storage area. Please do not store bikes/components/projects in this area. Small items/components can be left in a donation/swap box however these components should be in good, safe and not-worn out condition.
Bike techs will attempt to contact individuals who leave unlabelled items in the working area via Discourse before donating/disposing of items left here. Exact timings before disposal tbc.
Any items to be stored should be labelled and placed (neatly) in the screen printing room out of the way of walkways/equipment. Maximum labelled storage should be 1 week, enquire with bike techs for longer storage needs.