Mechanarchy Community Services:
If you've ever been down on your luck and short of a quid, you'll know that one of the toughest things is not being able to get out and about. During those tough times, it's often important to make sure that you keep in touch with your friends and other people in your local community and that you work to keep your spirits up.
When we ride Bicycles, we get an amazing boost! They give us a feeling of absolute freedom, the ride out in the open providing us with a sense of liberation that can often be exhilarating. When we ride around our local communities, we'll frequently meet other riders and a quick chat and some special comradery is usually the result.
Unfortunately, when you're short of a quid, a good bicycle can be difficult to afford. The bikes that are for sale in the second hand shops are usually way overpriced and nearly always have something wrong with them.
Mechanarchy scours the Second Hand Stores, Junk Yards and Tips for used Bicycles as well as asking people to donate any old Bicycles they don't want, in any condition, so that we can use them to make trailers, re-use the components in bike repairs and re-furbish bikes for kids or others, down on their luck and in need of transport.
Some bicycles we get are in very good condition, all they need are some minor repairs to get them back to a rideable state, and it is these bikes, once fixed, that we offer free to those people who are in need.
1) We strip them down completely
2) We find the best second hand tyres and tubes we can, off other donated bikes, and fit them.
3) We clean and re-grease all the bearings in the front hub, steering headset, bottom bracket crank and rear hub.
4) We take apart all the brake cables, clean and lubricate them. If the bike has gears, we do the gear cables too.
4a) Bikes with gears also get front and rear derailleur clean and oil as well as gear set de-gunking.
5) We clean and degrease the frame and forks. If the paint work is good enough, we polish it.
6) We de-rust and polish all the chrome, including rims.
7) We find the best seat and pedals from our second-hand collection and fit them.
8) We ensure that all bikes are fitted with front (white) and rear (red) reflectors and a bell.
9) We make sure that the brakes are adjusted and working well.
10) We donate our time, workshop equipment and materials.
Helping Others Help Themselves
At Mechanarchy, we believe that 'Charity', as it is practised in todays World, does very little in solving the inequities that exist in that World. In fact, in many cases, all it achieves is a re-inforcing of those inequities and the very structures that created them in the first place. Most 'Charitable' organizations spend their time and resources in doing little more than putting patches on symptoms. That's why, in everything we do, we continuously work towards the changing of those structures, a never ending breaking down of the true causes of inequity.
It's why we don't own cars and it's why we ride and encourage others to ride bikes.
"While (some) people have begun to accept ecological limits on maximum per capita energy use as a condition for physical survival, they (and the vast majority of people) do not yet think about the use of minimum feasible power as the foundation of any of various social orders that would be both modern and desirable. Yet only a ceiling on energy use can lead to social relations that are characterized by high levels of equity. The one option that is at present neglected is the only choice within the reach of all nations." (Excerpt from - The Energy Crisis, Ivan Illich. Words in brackets are Editors.)
Simple idea really. Minimise your energy use and eliminate poverty and inequity. Where's Bono & Bob Geldoff?
Another simple idea is to engage people in the process. At Mechanarchy, we encourage those in need of a free bike for transport, to get involved in the re-furbishing process of their free bike. Our workshop and expertise is available to anyone who wants to learn new skills and understand more about Energy and Equity whilst they help to work on the bike they take home. Through this, they learn not only how to help themselves, but critically, learn how to help others too.
Mechanarchy recently worked with some team members from the Otesha Project (Australia), to construct a bicycle trailer from re-cycled materials, for use on their 2010 Tour. Mechanarchy donated the materials and time, and the team members, who travelled from Melbourne some 150 Km's by bike and train, helped to construct it in our workshop. This was an amazing weekend, an incredible example of what can happen when Humans work together to achieve a better World.
If you would like to know more about either donating bicycles or helping to re-furbish a bike for yourself, give us a call on 0437 068 970 or e-mail us at info@mechanarchy.com.au
When you donate a bike or bikes, we'll post your name (no surnames, unless you request it) and a photo of the donated bikes on our Community Spirit page in recognition of your generosity. If you help work on your free bike, we'd also love to recognise your Community Spirit by posting a photo of you and your bike on the same page.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Mechanarchy is a Trading Name of : The Anarchist Savants ABN 37 950 534 427