All, Happy Earth Month! Weather is picking up in the next week or two, so we’ll see how that impacts visit numbers. Still working our way through the warehouse bikes and our for sale bikes are hovering around 20. Other than that, business as usual.
The numbers:
Visitors: 36
Sales: $612.75
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $360
Membership: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 6 for $35.75
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Pretty chill this last week. Weather was iffy but we were a little busier than expected considering that. I moved some bikes over from the warehouse as we have a volunteer who’s on a take-apart-a-bike-every-Friday schedule, so I’ll do my best to accommodate him going forward.
We have been piloting our No First Visit Free policy without too much push back. We’ve had a few people turn and leave, but that’s fine.
This week I’ll work on planning/R&D for some weekend programming and take stock of summer staffing.
The numbers:
Visitors: 41
Sales: $552
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
Memberships: 5 for $150
Tires/tubes: 4 for $36
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Bike Center is closed this week for Spring Break and I’ll be working an abbreviated week myself. We’ve got a dozen plus bikes for sale and I’ll safety check a few more before I bow out for the week.
On Friday, we got maybe the oddest donation yet: an iPod mini, complete with charging cord…
We reorganized and moved one of our storage racks from the backside of the space up front to the lobby so we can hold more bikes for sale up there. In the storage area, we’re pulling pedals/turning handlebars and so can fit more bikes without the rack.
In more sobering news, a patron who’d finished a Build-a-Bike a couple weeks ago was hit while riding the bike he’d fixed here and ended up in the ER needing stitches. He is fine, otherwise, and told me the news in person, so he is ok. The number of people I know who’ve been hit by a car is quickly approaching double digits.
The numbers:
Visitors: 37
Sales: $1,234.50
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $825
Membership: 2 for $60
Tires/tubes: 7 for $115
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Notable item of the week was running out entirely of used 700c tires—popular size, I guess! I was able to run over to the warehouse and grab enough wheels off junk bikes that we’re able to live another week. I used the long bike trailer on Wednesday morning and yet another person called out “nice bike!” as I pedaled by. I always get looks or comments when piloting that thing around.
This week we’ll be opening back up to 5 days a week, M – F 2 to 6p. We’ll see how our Tues/Thurs numbers look but I doubt we’ll be swamped yet as folks adjust to our new hours.
We’ll be closed next week for Spring Break and reopen Monday, March 20th.
The numbers:
Visitors: 18
Sales: $174.50
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 6 for $43
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Another abbreviated week for me, but the staff held down the fort. We’re working up bikes and our staff is peer-to-peer training during slow times to get the new folks up to speed.
This week I’ll schedule some off-hours staff trainings and a staff meeting to help bring folks along. We’re close to being able to open back up M – F, still have a few more things to iron out. I even found the same open hours poster we used to have for our M-F hours, so we don’t have to order a new sign. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
The numbers:
Visitors: 17
Sales: $299.30
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $160
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 3 for $45
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Abbreviated week for me as I took a half day on Thursday and all of Friday off. Staff handled things admirably and I’ll check in with them today for a full shift report.
Got a couple Build-a-Bikes completed and a bike sold last week. We’ve got a dozen or so bikes on the floor and working to bump that number. I’ll likely grab a few more bikes from the warehouse, too.
The numbers:
Visitors: 29
Sales: $429.25
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $90
Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $100
Memberships: 1 for $30
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Steady week. Had a few new staffers start, held a staff meeting—some good ideas batted around!—and got a couple bikes safety inspected and ready for the sales floor. Still about a dozen bikes that are student-level “finished”.
This week is another round of interviews as we bolster our team for expanding hours and programming this spring/summer. I’ll also move a few forgotten steeds over here from the land of the abandoned bikes.
The numbers:
Visitors: 24
Sales: $151
Memberships: 1 for $30
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Last week we had some ominous weather that didn’t turn out to be much. Our visits were down but only barely—I expected a bit of a nosedive that didn’t materialize. Champaign Cycle donated some kids bikes and box store bikes, which is always appreciated. We had another person start a B-a-B.
This week I’ve got another interview, some new hires starting, and a staff meeting on Thursday night. I’ll also draft a B-a-B/Membership flyer to better explain those programs as there’s been some consistent misunderstanding/miscommunication on that front.
The numbers:
Visitors: 34
Sales: $933.50
Bike (refurb): 2 for $375
Memberships: 6 for $180
Tires/tubes: 5 for $50
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Surprisingly busy start to the semester! On Friday afternoon we even had a wait on stand time, which is unheard of for January. Unfortunately, that was partially due to allowing First Visit Free repairs, which left a couple due-paying members waiting. They didn’t mind but still. For how busy we’ve been I’m already wondering if we should be open 5 days a week. However, it has been a mild winter thus far; the real test will be how many folks show up after the projected snow on Wednesday. We also had one person select and start a B-a-B.
This week I’ll schedule our staff meeting, some interviews, as well as receive a “vanload” of bikes from Champaign Cycle. They generally give us good quality stuff that we can put to use quickly, so fingers crossed. Additionally, we still have 100+ bikes to move out of the warehouse.
The numbers:
Visitors: 37
Sales: $961
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $565
Memberships: 7 or $210
Tires/tubes: 7 for $39
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Last two weeks we’ve been closed so no sales/visit numbers. TBP members and I moved bikes from the warehouse, and I’ve been checking over the 30 or so new bikes for damage. Sarthak and I tabled at the Law School’s orientation last Thursday.
This week we reopen. We’ll be open M/W/F 2 – 6p for the winter months and bump back to 5 days a week after spring break when the weather warms up.
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, The final week of last semester was, as expected, quiet. Very little traffic but Alex finally finished his Build-a-Bike. He’d been steadily and meticulously working on it all semester. We were able to fix up approximately 30 kids bikes here at CBC and totaled 50 for the event which happened on Saturday 12/17/22. We had 4 people bow out last minute to help for the event (thanks covid), so we had a skeleton crew but still gave away 50 bikes in about 20 minutes. The IMC staff were extremely helpful and stepped up to corral and organize folks when we were getting overwhelmed. Some folks left unhappy, I’m sure, but we still helped out a good number of kids. WCIA showed up just in time to get some footage of families departing with the last of the bikes and our story made the 10p news that night. I’ll reach out to WCIA and see if they can send me a digital copy of the broadcast so we can share that.
This week I’ll be moving bikes from the warehouse and taking stock of our inventory, sorting bikes for our various programs, and working up some classes for next semester. Next week I’ll be tabling at College of Law orientation/resource fair. Always exciting to meet new/different groups on campus!
The numbers:
Visitors: 13
Sales: $190
Build-a-Bike: $40
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Slow week again. A few more kids’ bikes trickled in, which was good. Our giveaway is this coming Saturday and we’re accepting bikes until Friday evening. A notice went out in E-week and the like so hopefully that’ll bump up our count. I haven’t taken inventory at Urbana for our total count but I’m guessing around 40 between both spaces.
Tony, former Bike Project staffer and integral member in the creation of the original bike center in 2010 was back in town last week. He came and volunteered a full 4 hours and helped train up some staff, too.
Our sales last week are at a record low. We had a few people in each day but looks like adjustments only, used innertubes, and no purchases. I’ll dig into the numbers this week to confirm it genuinely is that low and not an error.
The numbers:
Visitors: 18
Sales: $5.50
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, [Ed. note: Apologies for getting this in late.] We’ve finalized our Kid’s Bike Giveaway date/time with the Bike Project and have been working through our supply of donated bikes. Serendipitously we got nearly a half dozen kids bikes donated last week, even before we put the word out on the giveaway event.
This week we kept working through that supply. I was out on Tuesday/Wednesday but visits have been lower since the cooler weather hit.
While we’re working on the kids bikes we’ve also been able to fix up a few for-sale bikes, sitting at about 6 done and ready to go. Still have a large supply at the warehouse, which I’ll have more time to tackle after the 17th (date of the Kids Bike Event).
Next week I’ll move over the finished kids bike to Urbana as we’re running out of space for them here.
The numbers:
Visitors: 25
Sales: $185.50
Memberships: 2 for $60
Misc. parts: 19 for $95.50
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
[11.7.22] All, Last week we completed the bike donation event with Working Bikes. Thanks to some Bike Project volunteers we were able to pack their truck full of bikes in about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, they were unable to take all of the abandoned bikes as there are about 50 left. I’ll work with TBP to deal with the remaining junk bikes as well as the ~200 we’ll keep for refurbishment.
Last Thursday we were donated another pull-behind trailer, upping our count to 3 of them now. I will discuss with TBP ideas to make better use of these, as they take up a lot of space and we have zero demand for them.
This week we will reinstate the First Visit Free policy as the cooler weather sets in.
The numbers:
Visitors: 47
Sales: $508
Bike (refurbished): 1 for $225
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 12 for $61
[11.14.22]
All, I was out sick for a portion of the non-open hours, but we were still able to get a few bikes on the sales floor and strip some bikes. This week I’ll grab some more of the good bikes from the barn and we’ll get to fixing those. We reinstated First Visit Free and were able to help folks get rolling.
I had an interview last Friday with a potential new hire and we’ll be having a staff meeting this week to get some of our new staff up to speed as well as provide a refresher for the returning staffers.
Next week we will be closed for Thanksgiving break. We’ll reopen Monday, 11/28/22.
The numbers:
Visitors: 45
Sales: $434
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $100
Memberships: 4 for $120
Tires/tubes: 8 for $103
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, While my jury duty service was still in effect, we had reduced hours as needed last week but were able to open fully Wed – Fri. It was the first week of noticeably fewer folks through the doors. As such, we got a few bikes on the sales floor and a dozen or so moved over from storage.
Tomorrow we will host Working Bikes for our donation event. This is the first one since Nov 2019. We’ll have around 200 bikes to donate and hopefully will have a few folks available to help out and make it go quicker. They’ll be providing pizza for us, too. This event will halve the number of bikes left in storage. The Bike Project and I will sort through the remaining bikes in the coming weeks.
The numbers:
Visitors: 43
Sales: $475.50
Build-a-Bikes: 2 for $100
Memberships: 4 for $120
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Last week was a busy one. We had Strong Towns talk on Tuesday and the Illinois Bike Summit on Wednesday. Got in some good networking, heard some interesting talks/discussions, and got buzzed by two MTD buses on my bike commute there and then one car on my ride back to the Bike Center. Oh, the irony.
The cooler weather has curtailed our visitors, but we’ve had a few volunteers, too—always nice.
Grabbed some bikes from the warehouse last week and will continue to do so as I can this week. I have jury duty potentially all this week and next week, which majorly mucks up my plans for setting up with Working Bikes since I can’t plan past day-to-day. Likely will have to bump that to early November unless circumstances change.
The numbers:
Visitors: 42
Sales: $266
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 3 for $20
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Big week of events! On Tuesday, Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns is speaking at the Illinois Terminal and I’ll attend to see how our work as bike advocates and a non-profit can help bolster a strong and vibrant community. And Wednesday is the Illinois Bike Summit at the I-hotel. I’ll be there all day and reducing hours at the Bike Center to account for that. Accordingly, we’ll be open 4 – 6p on that day. I never fail to learn something at this yearly event and am happy to see it back here on campus.
I’ll be counting/organizing bikes for donation as well this week. Hope to have the Donation Day set by end of the week and so we can begin rallying for some support/help. WB has already agreed to pay for Manolo’s!
The numbers:
Visitors: 51
Sales: $1,214.50
Memberships: 17 for $510
Tire/tubes: 8 for $94
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Slower times here at the Bike Center (in terms of visitors). We’re almost slow enough that we can reinstate the First Visit Free policy. Not quite there, as we’ll have lulls but pick back up again.
It was discovered that the CBC Google Business hours were not updated when we moved to M – F, which explains why we we’ve been so slow on Tues/Thurs. That has since been corrected so we’ll see if that impacts visit numbers this week.
Last week I started sorting bikes at the warehouse for shipment/donation. We’ll be saving even more bikes than usual as we’re critically low on consumable parts like tires.
We managed to rehab a Huffy to an acceptable degree. The frame was in good shape and we piloted a new freewheel system that should hopefully help keep those types of bikes rideable for longer. That bike sold in about 20 minutes. Demand for cheap bikes is evergreen.
This week I’ll do more sorting at the warehouse and coordinating the donation, an interview or two, and otherwise business-as-usual.
The numbers:
Visitors: 78
Sales: $479.50
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $70
Memberships: 5 for $150
Tires/tubes: 9 for $58
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, With the onset of cooler weather, we have seen a decrease in visitor numbers. But that has also correlated with a decrease in available for sale bikes.
Last week I had an iSEE student come by to interview me and talk all things bikes, so I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that story. All publicity is good publicity!
This week I’ll start counting/sorting bikes for the Working Bikes donation—actual date TBD—including moving some of the keeper bikes to the Bike Center to replenish our stock of B-a-Bs and For Sales.
The numbers:
Visitors: 72
Sales: $958.25
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $135
Memberships: 14 for $420
Tires/tubes: 15 for $70
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Real busy times last week. Shop was manageably busy, but we had BTWD and LTN on consecutive days. Both events went well. I spent more time at the DRES stop than the Bike Center station, which was a new experience. Lots of folks on that route, and I was able to talk route-planning and commuting strategy with some people new to commuting. Weather cooperated swimmingly.
We had a deluge of completed B-a-Bs last week. Always good to see the smiling faces of rewarded effort. Marketing folks came by and updated some of our filing cabinets and bins with printed (legible) labels and photos of contents to better help people find and identify parts. We’re still slower on Tue/Thurs as we work to get the word out that we’re now open those days as well.
We’ll work this week on a couple shop builds we’ve been too busy to finish, prep for the abandoned bike giveaway, and clean shop as we’ve been too busy to do much of any of that in the last two weeks.
The numbers:
Visitors: 86
Sales: $1,084.30
Bikes (B-a-B): 3 for $150
Memberships: 17 for $510
Tires/tubes: 10 for $59
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
