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Bike at Illinois has produced a video on how to lock your bicycle properly to U-loop and ladder racks. Credit: Joanna Raimo (Campus Recreation)
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cENTu-nKes
All, Last week we were open by appointment only. We logged 6 appointments and sold 1 bike.
This week we will reopen to our usual M/W/F hours. Staff are eager to get back to work. We’ll have to run some refreshers for folks as I’m sure they’ve forgotten some stuff. We’ll do some inventory and build some bikes while we’re at it. We’ve got a couple other events coming up that we’ll have to prep for this week as well.
The numbers:
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Pranjali Shah, first year Master in Urban Planning student, presented a data-driven approach to determine the best location for a new bicycle shelter for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. She developed a model based on bike rack capacity, bike theft data, and bicycle census count data. This model can be used by any university or campus.
See attached her presentation here. Also, view the meeting recording here: https://uofi.box.com/s/g15pzg7a6a4znuc9pm8lkskk1obcrvfi.
Please see attached the ridership information for December 2021.
Please see attached the ridership information for November 2021.
All, The Kid’s Bike Giveaway event was held on Saturday afternoon. We gave away 60 bikes and still have 20 left. Ideally, we would’ve given them all away, but no one left disappointed, which is very much worth the extra time and effort of moving 20 bikes back into the shop. We had 7 people volunteering, so it was quick work. We’ll put the word out this week that anyone who didn’t get a bike is welcome to stop by the Urbana Bike Project during open hours (Wed/Thurs 6:30 – 9; Sat/Sun by appointment) to pick out a bike from our leftovers. Depending on volunteer availability off-hours pick-ups might be doable, too.
Thanks to everyone who helped with the event and helped spread the word! We were able to give away 15 more bikes than we did last year.
Last week I was finally able to fully rebuild the outdoor bike pump with new and heavier duty parts that should last the winter. So far no one’s tried to drive their car up to the pump and air their car tires like they did when the station was by the curb on Pennsylvania.
This week I’ll turn our attentions to refurbishing. We should have a half dozen bikes on the sales floor by Friday. We’ve worked through the easy fixes and are left with the fun stuff: dusty, old 3 speeds, 10 speed Schwinns and the like. Now we can start in earnest building up our stock for the spring rush—although, with the unseasonably warm temps this week, we may be too busy to make much headway. A good problem to have.
We’re closing for Winter Break after Friday. Reopening date is TBD.
The numbers:
Visitors:
Sales: $71*
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 3 for $13
*We’ve reinstated the First Visit Free policy which deflates our sales numbers compared to our mandated memberships for the summer/fall.
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Finished last week strong as the relative warmth of Friday resulted in a busy afternoon for early December.
We’re in the home stretch for the KBG. That’ll be this upcoming Saturday. At last count we’ve got ~60 bikes between both CBC and Urbana TBP so we’re on pace to do better than last year, assuming we get as many folks showing up.
We’re also in the home stretch of the semester with only two weeks to go.
The numbers:
Visitors: 26
Sales: $285.80
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
Memberships: 2 for $60
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
The Campus Bike Center, in collaboration with the Urbana Bike Project, is hosting a free Kids’ and Teen Bike Giveaway this holiday season. Bikes are first come, first served; one bike per kid, and they must be present to pick out their bike. Be sure to get to the event early, as bikes will go quickly! Email contact@thebikeproject.org or call (217) 469-5126 to arrange a donation for the event.
The event will be held on December 11th, 2021 from 1:00-3:00 PM. In addition, the event will take place at Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana.)
15 metal signs to promote bicycle registration have been installed. These locations are:
All, Things are definitely slowing down and our visitor numbers/sales reflect that. We’re closed this week for Thanksgiving Break but I’ll be working a couple days to catch up on the Kids Bike donations. Over the weekend, we got mention in one of the campus email newsletters, so that’s good. I’ve also arranged for the event to be mentioned in some other newsletters/email blasts going out in the interim between now and the day of the event. I’ll also be getting in touch with some local news stations, since I think that boosted last year’s donation/turn out.
The official details for the Kids Bike event are:
The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with the U of I Campus Bike Center, is hosting a Kids’ Bike Giveaway this holiday season.
We are currently accepting donations of all kids’ and teen bikes, regardless of condition, and then refurbishing them to give back to young folks in the community!
Donations can be made at the Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana) or at the Campus Bike Center (51 E. Gregory Dr., Champaign). Please call (217) 469-5126 or email contact@thebikeproject.org to arrange a donation.
*Giveaway Event*
Date: Saturday, December 11th, 2021
Time: 1 pm – 3pm or until we run out of bikes
Location: Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana)
Details: first come, first served; one bike per kid, and they must be present to pick out their bike.
This week I’m only here Mon/Tues but will wrench on the kids bikes we have—we got three more donated on Friday—then it’s off for the holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
The numbers:
Visitors: 20
Sales: $179.50
Memberships: 4 for $120
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Slowing down a little now that it’s getting legit colder. Visitor numbers held a little longer than expected—maybe hinting at a tectonic shift in our community’s biking habits? I hope so!
Last week I got a count on all the Kids’ Bikes we have at both spaces and started my staff (and volunteers) in on rehabbing the ones we have here at CBC. Once we’re done with those, I’ll move what’s at Urbana over here. We already have around 40 bikes and we haven’t done an honest push for donations yet. I’ll meet with Campus Rec marketing this week to work up a plan for how best to publicize the event.
We’ve got a couple staffers moving on at the end of this week but have 3 new staffers in the hiring process. Coupled with less demand, we’ll be able to train up and onboard our new hires nicely. Winter is always my preferred season for onboarding.
The numbers:
Visitors: 31
Sales: $845.50
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $600
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 4 for $22
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Please see attached the ridership information for October 2021.
Bike at Illinois has produced a video for 6 Basic Things to Know About Biking on Campus. Credit: Joanna Raimo (Campus Recreation)
Watch the video here: Bike at Illinois Video: 6 Basic Things to Know About Biking on Campus
All, We were, again, uncommonly busy for this time of year. Beginning of this week looks bike-friendly, too (as in: warm). A couple people finished up their B-a-Bs last week. I picked up parts from Urbana so we’re well-stocked on 26” wheels, which we’d run out of, mostly—surprisingly.
We’re still ironing out dates for our Kids Bike Giveaway event and the specifics therein. Will work more on this in the coming week.
Last week I was visited by the Executive Director of Ride Illinois, the statewide bike advocacy group. It was a brief chat but a good one and nice to have our operation on their radar. Relatedly, our new space continues to impress.
The numbers:
Visitors: 39
Sales: $967
Memberships: 9 for $270
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $380
Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $90
Tires/tubes: 10 for $56
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, I jinxed it. I said we’d be slower last week sine it rained a lot but then people kept showing up. Finished up a bike for Wednesday or Friday and it didn’t sell immediately, so looks like demand is waning a little.
This week I’ll work on doing preliminary checks/sorting of Kids’ Bikes for our giveaway. I also ordered a rebuild kit for each of our truing stands, which’ll help get those back in good working order. I’ll get those installed this week as well.
I’ll also poke around on the LGL database as to why it is not registering new membership forms.
The numbers:
Visitors: 31
Sales: $281
Tires/tubes: 6 for $35
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Slower week as per usual with the coming of fall. We’re still mostly sold out of bikes as the ones we have been getting in are finicky and in need of uncommon parts.
Last week, I tentatively set up an outside event for the spring with the Urbana Parks District. More details as that event develops.
This week we’ll also get to planning for our participation/role in this winter’s Kid’s Bike Giveaway. We’ve certainly got the bikes for it!
The numbers:
Visitors: 32
Sales: $366
Memberships: 6 for $180
Tires/tubes: 8 for $35
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Last Tuesday we had our Green Quad Day event. We had a few people stop by later in the week after talking with them and one potential student application for employment. We were also generously resupplied with clothes for making into rags. (Thanks, Morgan!) The beautiful weather was certainly an added perk.
On Thursday I picked up the remaining bikes from the warehouse that are worth our time. We’ll get to rehabbing those bikes this week. There are a good 20 – 30 bikes left there that are destined for the scrap heap. Unfortunately, 3 of the 10 bikes didn’t pass even a basic inspection so they’ll be fodder for parts.
We’re currently very low on used 26” tires. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.
This week I’ll also get the ball moving on fixing the outdoor pump, which is broken again.
The numbers:
Visitors: 40
Sales: $586.50
Bike (refurb): 1 for $190
Memberships: 7 for $210
Tires/tubes: 8 for $32
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Please see attached the ridership information for September 2021.
All, Slower week, which was welcome. Sold a couple bikes and were able to get a handle on the influx of drop off repairs. The Green Quad Day event that was supposed to happen on Thursday was rescheduled to Tuesday, so we’ll staff for that event and hobnob with the larger sustainability community.
I’ll make a run out to the abandoned bike emporium this week, too, and see if there’s anything worth our time. Was planning that for last week but it didn’t happen.
We’ve got a couple bikes in the shop build queue, but I’ll grab a few from Urbana unless we get more donations this week.
The numbers:
Visitors: 35
Sales: $850.50
Bike (refurb): 3 for $490
Memberships: 5 for $150
Tires/tubes: 5 for $20
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
All, Starting to slow down a bit. This week’ll be absolutely perfect riding weather: cool but not cold. Still get folks asking for bikes every day—yet to get any 4’ 11” folks or 6’ 3” racing folks for the tall and small bikes we have, though. We’ve got 3 more that should be for sale this week sometime. Soon, we’ll be having the “it’s too cold to ride” conversation with people. No bad weather, just bad gear and so on.
Had a class come by on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to tour the Bike Center and I talked about our operations, history of CBC, and the like. Always nice to get people into our space who might not otherwise have reason to visit.
Last week I talked with Parking about the remainder of the bikes at the warehouse. I’ll make a trip out there this week to see if there’s anything worth our trouble.
A gentleman came in looking for a small pin for his vintage brake levers and was able to find a workable solution in our used parts bins. He generously donated $10 for his 10 minutes of digging while bemoaning that regular bike shops could only offer to replace the brake levers outright. A happy customer who understands and appreciates our value and services—always a good interaction!
This Thursday is the Green Quad Day event, from 10 - 4p. Will be good to get our name out there with other environmental/sustainability efforts on campus.
The numbers:
Visitors: 64
Sales: $1,052.60
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $440
Memberships: 8 for $240
Tires/tubes: 10 for $76
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
