Bicycle auction 24th October *even cheaper at end of summer*

Some of you may not have been in Berlin long enough to hear about the bicycle auctions that happen on behalf of Polizei every two months. Those bikes that are not claimed by their owners after an allotted time are sold off to the highest bidder at these auctions.
Having attended many of these auctions, I recommend the Polizei auctions as they are more organised and have a larger number of bikes on offer.

The benefits of buying a bike in this manner are:

cheap bikes - cheaper than flohmarkts

proof of receipt - means you can sell off bike later more easily

not supporting bicycle theft

it's an exciting atmosphere and gives you a buzz when you're the highest bidder

It is best if you go there with someone who knows what to look out for in buying a second hand bike, as they are of varying quality and a little bit about how numbers sound in German is a plus.

If you contact us at BSB, we may be attending and be able to help you out in choosing a suitable ride.

The next Polizei auction --> see subject heading (viewing starts at 8am, auction from 10am)

• ~ 200 bikes on offer usually (also other items, sporting equipment, cameras, laptops, phones, etc.)
• no bidding slip required - bid using your upraised hand, pay for each item immediately after you have won it
• well organised
• cash only - no cards
• will be taking place from 8am (viewing of bikes) and then auction starts at 10am upstairs
• recommend you bring a picnic with you - eg snacks and tea
  

Where? AssetOrb GmbH
Werdauer Weg 23, 10829 Berlin (near S-Bahnhof Schöneberg)
Polizei auction website - click here

The details of all future Polizei auctions will be posted on this blog and on our Facebook page.

Happy bidding!

Lollapalooza 2017

BikeSurfBerlin represented at Lollapalooza last weekend. Even though it was rainy, we got the chance to showcase our sharing ways by getting people to upcycle jewellery from old bike parts and print some fashionable BSB bags by hand.

Bicycle repair workshop on Saturday 12th August

Facebook event and details - click here

Volunteers required for BikeSurfBerlin

We need more volunteers to help out and make bikesurf grow. We need fresh ideas and faces on the team to help out.

Specifically, we need people who can help out with the new website or are an aspiring bicycle mechanic.

Contact us today if you want to find out more: bikesurfberlin@gmail.com

Jewellery and bags of fun - Lollapolooza Sept 2016

Visit BikeSurf at Lollapalooza Berlin

... and upcycle some bike parts!

When? August 10-11
Where? Lollapalooza festival in Treptower Park
What? Eco projects in Berlin and upcycling workshops (Saturday at 18:00, Sunday at 13:30)



The BikeSurf team will be representing our project in the eco neighborhood "Der Grüne Kiez" at Berlin's Lollapalooza festival next weekend. We have a small stand for meet and greeting with some information and materials (and STICKERS!) and some of our project's favorite mascots.

We also will be leading some workshops on creative upcycling featuring bicycle materials, which, facilities depending, will likely also be a part of our permanent station in the Grüne Kiez sector. Come visit if you're there and make yourself some jewelry, stenciled tote bags, or one of our famous cog-and-chain keyrings!

Bike repair workshop at KOPI 12th August

Time to learn how to fix your own bike.
KOPI 137 squat has allowed us to host a bike repair workshop at their location this Friday.
Kopiniker strasse 137 from 16:00 until 19:00.
BikeSurf will bring some tools and spare parts (cables, tubes, etc.) and larger spare parts will be salvaged from the bike workshop.
Welding facilities and angle grinders available.
Whatever you can afford would be great to cover the cost of the parts used.

Signatures needed for bike safety in Berlin

If you are a German citizen, or registered to vote in Berlin, Volksentscheid Fahrrad asks for your support! You can sign their petition to help bring better bike safety and bicycling traffic laws to the Berlin streets. They are seeking 20,000 signatures by the 10th of June - help out if you are able!



Liebe fahrradfreundlichen Medien,

wie ihr sicherlich schon mitbekommen habt, sammeln wir derzeit für den Volksentscheid Fahrrad in Berlin. Der Sammel-Endspurt hat begonnen, denn bis zum 10. Juni möchten wir die benötigten 20.000 Unterschriften von wahlberechtigten Berliner gesammelt haben.

Daher würden wir uns sehr freuen wenn ihr uns bei der Unterschriften-Sammlung unterstützen könntet – in dem ihr einerseits medial darüber berichtet, Pressemitteilungen könnt ihr hier einsehen und in eurem Netzwerk (z. B. facebook) / Newsletter zum Sammeln / Unterschreiben aufruft.

Nutzt dafür gerne folgenden Text und das angehängte Bild.

Fahrrad Volksentscheid – JETZT unterschreiben!

Der Volksentscheid Fahrrad sammelt Unterschriften damit Radfahren in unserer Stadt Berlin sicherer und attraktiver wird. Dafür wurde ein Radverkehrsgesetz geschrieben welches hier einsehbar ist. Unterschriftenlisten und weitere Informationen können über die Webseite abgerufen werden: https://volksentscheid-fahrrad.de/ .

Bitte beteiligt euch zahlreich damit Berlin lebenswerter für alle wird!

BikeSurf and VELOBerlin 2016 - Ride together!

The VELOBerlin bicycle trade fair sets up shop on Saturday, April 16th and Sunday, April 17th this year at Berlin Messe Nord. It's one of the largest public exhibitions for bicycles in Germany. We were there last year, proudly representing the bike share community. Exhibitors present their products, concepts, and events related to transport, navigation, future mobility, and urban cycling to get consumer feedback. It's definitely a cool space to check out, and, bonus, you can find us staffing a table.

A few other community bike reps from Berlin are also involved. We'll be teaming up with Mitradgelegenheit, ADFC Berlin, and bike clubs Cycling without age and BIKEYGEES to organize a community-style tour through the city to the Berlin Messe Nord location on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

MitRADgelegenheit zur VELOBerlin Messe



Riders who participate receive discounted entrance tickets. Kick off the tour at one of the start points in the Northeast or Southeast, or link up with us along the way to the West. The tour arrives at Messe Berlin at 12:30. No registration necessary!

Northeast Leg
11:15 S-Schönhauser Allee, in front of Balzac Coffee
11:40 Hackescher Markt, under the S-Bahn bridge on Str. Neue Promenade

Southeast Leg
11:00 Tempelhofer Feld, at the field entrance on Oderstr/Herrfurthstr.
11:35 Hallesches Tor, at the Landwher Canal and Wilhelmstr. intersection

Final leg
12:00 Brandenburger Tor


More information on the MitRADgelegenheit event page

We'll post reminders on our facebook page as well. Hope to see some familiar faces on the tour, and come visit us at our table!

Needing cash to start your own BikeSurf project ?

For those of you wanting to start your very own BikeSurf but are lacking funds... contact us now for starting capital (for locks or other essential things to get your bikes on the road).

BikeSurfWarsaw has received 200E from the BSB coffers (aka "The Bank of Abundance") to get started.

Festivus greetings

Happy Holiday Season to everyone and some impressive year-end statistics from BikeSurfBerlin!

PS: don't forget to like one more designy beauty from Raelina and appreciate the efforts of our in-house statisticians

Foodsaving: social, ethical, green, free

(An average daily Foodsharing pick from one of our members)

As part of our mission to save the world by reducing gas emissions and consuming less, we've come accross an amazing German platform that does many of the things we love: Foodsharing. It is a combination of two networks, one for users to share online their leftovers or products nearing the expiration date and another to organize the collection of food from supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants that agreed to redistribute their "waste". So far more than a thousand savers volunteer in Berlin alone, rescuing tons of perfectly edible food and either consuming it themselves or sharing it with other users or homeless centers. In order to participate, just fill the questionnaire on their website, wait for the local ambassador to contact you and give you three trials to test your reliability. After that you'll receive a card that'll allow you to go on your own to save food all over the city. Or you can just register and go pick/leave food at several open fridges around the cities or at neighboring savers' places.

BikeSurfBerlin Expenses Breakdown

Bike Stations in Berlin

Elena and Eva go shooting

Max and Elena working on B-Live bicycle (photo by Eva)

Elena on B-Live bicycle (photo by Eva)

Elena on B-Live bicycle (photo by Eva)

BikeSurfer photos

Kelly-Ann bike has a new friend Lisboa - now an new addition to the bike fleet (they make a cute couple).
Here seen posing by the Reichstag and I think Treptower park or some lake.
Thanks for sending the photos, Carlos and Ines.

World naked bike ride 14.06.14

You've done a Critical mass and Sternfahrt. What's next? Time to get some Vitamin D and rid yourself of some tan lines on this World naked bike ride.

THE BERLIN AUTHORITIES HAVE FORBIDDEN THE WORLD NAKED BIKE RIDE ON THE 14th OF JUNE!

Annual expenses breakdown

Donations required

We have been running the project for nearly two years and not yet received as enough cash donations to cover our running costs. We estimate that only 20% of our users donate any amount.
While it is true that we promote ourselves as a "free" alternative, we also need cash donations to cover the minimal bike costs ie 0.50€/bike/day. As a result of this, we cannot maintain all the bikes in a road-worthy condition.
We have decided to significantly reduce the number of bikes we have in the fleet, so that the standard of our bikes does not decrease. It is not a decision we have lightly taken and hope that our users/ supporters understand our difficult situation.
With fewer bikes will mean that the availability of bikes for our users will be reduced.
We will revisit this decision when this financial situation is reversed and we have enough funds to invest in bike parts.

VELOBerlin Bike Cruisaid this Saturday 29th March

Poster of the VELOBerlin Bike Tour (organised by BikeSurfBerlin) in German. Please share so that we can get maximum people to come on the tour this Saturday (a special thanks to Rae for creating yet another masterpiece).

BSB bike repair party

Ridley, Tom, Solange and Daniel (photo by Graham) last Wednesday.

Thanks to those who came out and helped fix and improve the standard of our BSB bikes. We welcome all people to come help out, regardless of bike skills. Hope that we get to hold 2-3 of these per week, now that the sun has come out to play. Contact us if interested in being informed of future repair parties or if you would like to get involved in another way.

We are not alone - Berlin really does like to share.