All, Slow visitor-wise, but busy otherwise. Moved almost all the bikes out of the round barn, and the very last of them I’ll get this week. Sounds like we’ll have less bikes from the round up than in years’ past, something I am happy for. Hopefully, it means more people are caring about and actually riding their bikes—a guy can dream!  Irrespective of the reason, less bikes means less grunt work, and that’s a huge plus in my book.

We are still up to our ears in kids’ bikes, as the ones we have are not coming together as I’d like. Lots of short-supply parts are needed. I’ll need to dedicate some off-hours time to this as these kinds of projects are not well-suited to student staff/volunteers, apparently.

The numbers:

Visitors: 25
Sales: $890.34
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $535
Memberships: 2 for $60
Tires/tubes: 5 for $50

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, Calm and slow week. All the abandoned bikes out front of the Bike Center were removed. We had a few people in wondering where their bikes had gone, so there’s some “educational” opportunities around the process still.

As the abandoned bike removal process is underway, we still have around 30 bikes to get out of the round barn, which we’ll tackle this week with the help of Bike Project volunteers.

I’ll be interviewing a potential hire this week who’s a PhD student from the Netherlands. I’m eager to get their perspective on ways we can improve our community—or ways we’re already doing well!

The numbers:

Visitors: 32
Sales: $569.45
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $325
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
Memberships: 2 for $60
Tires/tubes: 5 for $ 50

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

Attached are the first draft of the 2023 Bike Month Save the Date flyers based on the meeting from 7/12/2023

Please see attached the agenda and documents shared during this meeting. Watch the meeting recording here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18NOLyCMK4wt27dlns0KkYPm9wyg126KA/view?u...

All, Last week was the TBP member meeting, which I attended. A new bike fix-it station/pump was installed here at the Bike Center, as well. It is much more compact than the previous iteration and the pump is much more robust; hopefully, it’ll provide years of trouble-free service.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and Champaign County Bikes will be riding bikes in the parade, so I’ll mention that to folks today. Otherwise, looks to be a slow week.

The numbers:

Visitors: 23
Sales: $798.50
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $140
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $60
Memberships: 6 for $180
Tires/tubes: 6 for $54

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

The contract with Project 529 was renewed to continue our partnership in the FY24. This will allow our students, faculty, staff, and community members access to a national bicycle registration system.

The contract was signed by Project 529 on 6/27/2023 and it was submitted to Contracts+ for UIUC signatures.

All, Feast or famine over here last week. Beginning of the week we were slammed but slow n’ steady by Friday. TBP held their Members’ Meeting last Monday and I attended. Got a unicycle donated as well as a handful of bikes, including some kids bikes.

Spent 15 minutes on the phone with a gentleman from a rural town outside Bloomington, IL looking for a bike. Really speaks to the need that we’re getting interest from an hour plus drive away. Or maybe my hyper-local bike-only travel mindset makes that distance seem more unreasonable than it is…

I was a bit more diligent this past week about tracking non-university visits to better reflect how many folks we’re helping.

The numbers:

Visitors: 33
Sales: $1,285.17
Bikes: 3 for $540
Membership: 7 for $210
Tires/tubes: 16 for $166.00

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, Last week we started our Summer Hours of M/W/F 2 – 6p. No complaints so far and if visit numbers are any indication, it’s the correct move. A lot fewer folks through the doors this time of year.

On Wednesday, with the help of a TBP volunteer we moved 10 or so bikes over to the Urbana space. A good small step, but still more bikes to clear. That’ll continue this week as well.

We’ve been selling bikes at a marginal clip but can’t have enough bikes ready come August so we’ll wrench on a few more this week during the down times.

The numbers:

Visitors: 22
Sales: $834.25
Bikes (refurb): 4 for $672
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 1 for $8

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, The past work week was full of last shifts for a lot of the student staff, as well as a lot of talk of finals schedules. Ended on a bright note as a couple rented a tandem from us as practice as they didn’t want their “Just Married” post-nuptial ride on a tandem to be their absolute first one. Fun!

This is our last week of being open M – F. Next Monday we start M/W/F hours.

This week I’ve got a meeting to hash out some Tue/Thurs appointment hours to still help folks in need of bike repair.  I’ll also move some bikes out of the warehouse with the help of TBP folk.

The lobby is currently packed full with sale bikes, so we’ll have to rearrange in the back to accommodate moving some sale stock back there. A good problem to have.

The numbers:

Visitors: 33
Sales: $233*
Memberships: 3 for $90*
Tires/tubes: 8 for $73*

Thanks!

*Due to technical difficulties, these numbers may not be 100% accurate.

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator