4 Bike-tastic things at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire

Vancouver Mini Maker Faire is coming soon: June 6-7 the PNE Forum will be filled with weird & wonderful DIY projects, the people who made them, plus tons of opportunities for you to do it yourself. VMMF always has lots of bike-related projects & things to do, naturally, since bikes are such an easy vehicle to customize or use for parts, not to mention the awesome green power generation possibilities. Here are four bike-tastic things you need to check out at VMMF this year:

The Vancouver Tool Library (VTL) is a cooperative tool lending library located at 3448 Commercial Street, Vancouver BC. We loan a wide variety of tools for home repair, gardening, and bicycle maintenance. We also offer affordable workshops on tool related skills and projects.  We are motivated by a vision of our community empowered by the tools and skills needed to transform their homes and communities into vibrant spaces that reflect a commitment to sustainability. To get there, we are creating a community resource that will reduce the costs of improving greening the places in which we live, work, and play.

gBikes is a group in association with eatART located in Vancouver, BC. We create pedal-powered machines and installations that are capable of generating/storing electricity which we use to provide clean energy to events in and around the Greater Vancouver Area. The Black Ghost is our latest project which allows riders to travel great distances using pedal power with optional electric-assist generated by hub motors mounted in the rear wheels. Furthermore, BG doubles as a portable power generation and energy storage station which can be used on its own or in conjunction with the rest of our projects. The goal is ultra-portable, zero-emissions, human-powered energy!

PHRESHA // ON THE PROWL: Phresha's main trade is as a visual artist, and ON THE PROWL is a side project that she's begun as an experiment into sustainability through combining her love for bicycle culture, recycled materials and jewellery design.  Phresha started off with making earrings out of bicycle inner tubes a few years ago, and now she has expanded to making belts and bracelets out of bike tires.

Phresha is a member of Hackspace (VHS) where she frequently utilizes their laser cutter to design jewellery out wood, rubber and upcycled leather. Spin Art Bike T-Shirt Making & Interactive Fun with Make Make is a one of a kind retail store on Granville Island where creativity reigns supreme. Create custom items with their in house printing, engraving, and embroidery technologies, or shop their fun and funky collection of curated items from close and near and far and wide. Make is bringing their one-of-a-kind Human-Powered Bicycle Spin Art Machine to the Faire, and you will be able to create your own spin art t-shirt for just $10. They will also be hosting interactive fun with Sands Alive sculpting and giant block-stacking games, and a Mighty Prints station!

Repair Matters is an initiative created to empower and grow the repair community in Vancouver. They invite people to participate in repair workshops in various locations of the city and create a space where beginners and experts can come together to troubleshoot repairs.   In addition to using traditional tools, Repair Matters question how repairs can be done and what tools can be used to perform repairs, encouraging participants to think about how seemingly everyday objects, like a paper clip or a chewing gum, can be used to fix something. Their exhibit will be a collaborative workspace where participants will have the opportunity to bring a broken object, that they can carry, and learn how to fix it. The object can be anything from a toaster to a sock or maybe even a bike! The repair of broken objects will be facilitated by repair experts who will teach participants how to bring their products back to life. Even if participants don’t bring an object with them, they can be part of the collaborative workspace by engaging with the fixers, chatting with the Repair Matters team and learn something new from the other repairers present. They hope to start a conversation about repair in Vancouver and engage people in the act of fixing a broken object.

These awesome people are a tiny sampling of the many many makers who'll be at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this year. Visit the 2015 VMMF Makers page to see more information about all the other awesome stuff you'll see at the event.

Tickets are available at the front gate June 6 & 7. Kids under five are free, then tickets range from $12-$17, a whole Family for $47. Save a few bucks by getting your tickets in advance on the VMMF website.

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