ReDoing the Worksheets (Checklists?)

[Admin]

I believe we need to re-do the worksheets, particularly the yellow Tune Up sheet.

First, the sheets are not consistent. The yellow Tune Up sheet does not have a spot for initials and asks for a rating for 'good' or 'fair'. The problem with the former is that if a bike was cleared, but it subsequently turns out that there were problems (which just happened with a Schwinn CrissCross as per Shop Log) then there is no way to tell who approved it. The latter is useful IF it is clear how one determines what qualifies as 'good' vs 'fair' (and currently it's not clear what those designations really mean).

Second, neither sheet has a clear indication that we should record our Bike Code (eg A132) anywhere, although most people do), nor is there a spot where the person who signs off that the bike is ready for sale can initial.

Third, it is natural to proceed in the order that items appear on the sheet, particularly if one is relatively inexperienced. Unfortunately the order on the sheet does not always make sense.

For example, on the yellow Tune Up sheet adjusting the brakes appears before checking and truing the wheel. Obviously adjusting the brakes before truing the wheel is lot more difficult, not to mention a complete waste of time if the wheel needed truing since the brakes will have to be redone, but an inexperienced volunteer would not necessarily spot this problem.

If we are going to re-do the sheets this would also be a good juncture to re-examine just what it is we do for a bike that is a Tune Up vs Overhaul vs Rebuild. To that end I have made a separate post HERE that goes into much more detail as to why.

One possibility is that we have a single format that is like the white sheet, but which includes 3 options and initials, eg "Good - Fair - Not Needed ____." "Not Needed" (or 'Not Done', whichever) would be in the judgement of the mechanic, but it becomes explicit for the client that this work was not done, and it is possible, albeit not likely, that there are problems that the mechanic did not detect.

An Annotated Checklist

Associated with this would be the need for an annotated copy of the checklist. That is to say an expanded form for each checklist which  fully explains for each item exactly what it is that one should do prior to checking off that item.

For example, "Fork and Frame", means check for cracks or damage, but how much damage is "damage?" For the inexperienced person, how much rust is cosmetic and how much is a problem? how do they tell? It would also be good to explain that this is a good time to thoroughly clean the bike (which should be done at some point) since actively cleaning it gives a much more thorough inspection than simply looking it over tends to.

An annotated check list would also explain the difference between 'good' and 'fair', as well as any other things that are not clear.

These annotated sheets could be plasticized to protect them and would be a huge help to the more inexperienced volunteers.