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Projects Updates for Campus Bike Center

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  1. Weekly Update: New staffer, Friday Rides

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Friday—warm weather and a Friday—meant a busy day. Rest of the week was slower. A new staffer started last week, which was a great help.

    This week looks warmer so we’ll be busier, likely. Will get some bikes finished and do some more onboarding with new staff. We have a weather radio and a regular radio here now to communicate with DCR staff as needed.

    Our Friday Ride events concluded last Friday with a decent showing and a ride to Meadowbrook and back. I’ll gauge staff interest in keeping them going this summer and we’ll definitely look to restart them in Aug/Sept when students are back full-time.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 53
    Sales: $866
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $340
    Memberships: 7 for $210
    Tubes/tires: 23 for $141

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  2. Weekly Update: Friday Ride, New staff

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Pretty quiet last week. Friday picked up along with the weather. And nicer weather meant our first successful Friday Ride of the season!

    This week a couple new staffers will be starting. As the weather has warmed, we’re seeing an uptick in volunteer interest as well, which is welcomed.

    Tonight is the Bike Project Member Meeting, which I’ll attend.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 39
    Sales: $862
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $550
    Memberships: $3 for $90
    Tire/tube: 3 for $6.25 (used/new)

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  3. Weekly Update: Bicycle Donations; Collaborations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Had some intense weather mid-week that kept folks away from visiting us. A new student staffer started this week and hit the ground running. We got two quality bikes donated last week that are in-progress and one very nice near-new bike that is already on the sales floor.

    TBP prices bumped up slightly last week to no Ill effect here at CBC. In fact, the first mention of the higher prices was met with “A used tire for $8? That’s a great deal!”

    On Thursday, I consulted with a student from University of Connecticut about starting a bicycle cooperative space at his school. He’d heard good things about our operations from a former TBP member. Small world, too, since I grew up 20 minutes from UConn.

    This week is the Campus Transportation Advisory Committee meeting and the last week for one of my student staffers.

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 26
    Sales: $912.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
    Tires/tubes: 2 for $21

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  4. Weekly Update: Bike donations; Buid-a-Bike

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Rainy and cold kept us slow last week. Made some headway on some builds and received some donations that were aside for our Build-a-Bike program. Interest in Build-a-Bikes seems high--or at least stands out when we don’t have any available.

    On Friday, we were able to coordinate with Lael Elementary to donate most of the leftover kids bikes from last winter—15 bikes—despite the rainy weather. They were super appreciative and are interested in future donations of more kids bikes, which is great.

    Most of my staff will be gone for the summer, so this week I’ll finalize availability and assess from there with an eye towards setting summer 1 hours.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 26
    Sales: $551.50

    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $120
    Memberships: 9 for $270
    Tires/tubes: 7 for $46

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  5. Weekly Update: New working hours; DIY maintenance event

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Apologies for the late Digest. Last Thursday we had our Gender Aware Shop Hours. It was not well attended but the weather always plays a factor. There is staff interest in making it a recurring event which could help boost attendance. We also collaborated with Urbana Parks District at a pop-up DIY maintenance event at the Phillips Recreation Center in Urbana on Saturday. Twelve or so folks signed up and I think we saw 8 or so people over the two hours. People seemed to enjoy it and we’ll look to do it again next year.

    This week is almost over but we did start our first week of M – F. Our Tues/Th shifts were less busy than M/W/F but as the weather warms and the word gets out, we’ll undoubtedly get busy on those days as well. The slow start is welcomed as we’re not fully staffed yet.

    Next week projects to be more in the 50s than the 40s so we’re getting towards some warmer weather.

    The numbers:

    Sales: $974.50
    Bikes (refurb): 4 for $660
    Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $60
    Memberships: 8 for $240
    Tires/tubes (used/new): 15 for $73

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  6. Weekly Update: Updated work hour M-F from next week; Extra-Curricular events; National Bike Summit

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We were closed last week for Spring Break. This week will be our last M/W/F of the semester as we’re reopening to 5 days a week. Today will be busy if the weather is any indication. Extra-curricular events for the week are our Gender Aware Shop Hours and our Urbana Parks District event on Saturday. Next week I’ll be virtually attending the National Bike Summit.

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 24

    Sales: $358.55
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $530
    Tire/tubes: 6 for $36

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  7. Weekly Update: Spring Break; M-F from 3/28

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Visitor numbers ticking upward in line with the thermometer—Friday’s snowfall notwithstanding.  

    We’re closed this week for Spring Break and hitting the ground running when we return. We’ve got Gender Aware Shop Hours on Thursday and our Urbana Parks District event on Saturday. From there it’s back open M-F. 

    I’ll only be working today and tomorrow before taking a few days for myself. I’ll finish up a few more shop builds during my abbreviated week in advance of warmer weather post-spring break.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 23
    Sales: $358.55

    Bike (refurb): 2 for $280
    Tire/tubes: 5 for $16

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  8. Weekly Update: Retraining Staff; Spring is coming!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Warm weather last week brought in a good number of folks. On Friday we even had a wait for repair stands.

    Of the seven shop build bikes I safety checked last week zero passed inspection. This’ll be a good opportunity to retrain staff up on what constitutes a safely functional bike.

    Elsewhere, it was our first week being mask-optional but elective compliance was near 100% and we had zero conflicts with folks about the change in policy.

    This week I’ll finish up the aforementioned seven bikes, interview some prospective employees, and game plan for post-spring break when things are really picking up. Spring is coming!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 24
    Sales: $567.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
    Memberships: 7 for $210

    Tire/tubes: 7 for $26

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  9. Weekly Update: New hires

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We’ve got a backlog of bikes in need of test rides/final tune-ups that I’ll happily attend to with the warmer weather this week. We’ve got a new batch of hires starting as well.

    This week I’ve got trainings with staff and I’ll start game-planning with my team for our ramped-up programming for March/April. Warm weather = more bikes.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 17
    Sales: $356.50

    Bike (refurb): 1 for $160
    Build-a-Bike: 1 for $30
    Memberships:  2 for $60

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  10. Weekly Update: Uni High Agora Days classes; Maintenance Class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week we held our Uni High Agora Days classes from Tues – Fri. It went very well with all the students engaged in learning and tinkering on the bikes. One student even said they’d return to volunteer, which was great. All 3 of the bikes were mostly done by week’s end. We also received some quality donations from a local bike shop and started overhauling those bikes for sale. I’ve also hired a new Program Assistant to help me out off-hours.

    This week I’ll be meeting with the Urbana Parks District to discuss our Maintenance class we’re collaborating on next month and getting more bikes ready for the sales floor. We’ll see how busy we are today with the very warm weather.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 11
    Sales: $91
    Memberships: 2 for $60

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  11. Weekly Update: Build-a-bike, Uni High Agora Days class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Support Youth Sustainability

    All, Picked up 4 – 5 bikes from Urbana last week which were promptly claimed as B-a-Bs or tagged for shop builds. This week we have our Uni High Agora Days class coming in Tues – Fri. This will reduce our open hours on Wed/Fri to 4 – 6p.

    I’ll be picking up 5 bikes from Champaign Cycle on Tuesday afternoon, too. That should get us towards a good number of bikes on hand.

    The numbers:

    visitors: 10
    Sales: $324
    Bike (refurb): 1 for $180
    Memberships: 3 for $90

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  12. Weekly Update: Restocking bikes and parts for sale

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, With the snowstorm last week, we were closed on Wednesday but were able to reopen on Friday. Visitor numbers took a hit with a foot of snow and whiteout conditions (no surprise there). This week I’ll get some bikes from Urbana (snow derailed that plan last week). We’re down to the dregs of steel-rimmed 3 speed schwinns—bikes I’m not exactly comfortable selling in the dead of winter considering their compromised braking/stopping. Our donations of late have all been Walmart-level, unfortunately. We’ve got about 8 bikes on the sales floor as of now.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 16
    Sales: $180
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tire/tubes: 4 for $30

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  13. Weekly Update: more Build-a-Bike available, Uni High Class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Surprisingly busy here last week! Sold a bike and if we had more Build-a-Bike frames available, we’d have a quarter dozen or so in-progress. Towards that end I’ll be grabbing some bikes from Urbana this week.

    Our Uni High class is in a couple weeks so we’ll do some internal planning for that event.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 27
    Sales: $357.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $80
    Memberships: 5 for $150
    Tires/tubes: 3 for $22

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  15. Weekly Update: Shop reopening this week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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:

    • Visitors: 6
    • Sale: $231.50
    • Bike: 1 for $200
    • Misc: $31.50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  16. Weekly Update: Kids' Bike Giveaway event; Outdoor bike pump; CBC closing for winter break

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  17. Weekly Update: Kids' Bike Giveaway update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  18. 2021 Annual Kids' and Teen Bike Giveaway

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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.)

  19. Weekly Update: Kids' Bike Giveaway event; Happy Thanksgiving!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  20. Weekly Update: Winter is coming; Kids' bikes donations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

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