All, Last week was busy, per usual this time of year. TBP and I met with Circle Cycle to discuss their Earn-a-Bike program using abandoned bikes on campus. I interviewed two applicants and will be hiring them. The light sets for the LTN event arrived on Wednesday and were expeditiously moved to the Urbana shop, saving some space over here. Two bike donations were on the rack when I pulled in this morning.
All, Still busy! I went over to the warehouse last week and picked up some of the nicer, minimally-broken bikes over there. One only needed air in the tires and a few minor tweaks to be roadworthy. It’s already on the sales floor. Will hopefully have a few more of those to churn out this week. I also returned 3 Chambana Bikes to Neutral Cycle.
All, Last week was crazy busy. A couple of my staffers were sick or injured, leaving me well understaffed. We had a waiting list 2 – 3 deep every day. On Friday there were six or so people on the waiting list and I think most just abandoned the idea of being able to get any fixing time. Our model of first come, first served is a little problematic in that way—especially when stands are occupied with B-a-Bs that last the entirety of open hours.
CRCE, the Campus Bike Center, and Complex Fields are closed for Labor Day.
All, Busy week, per this time of year. We’re down to two bikes for sale. We’ll be suspending the First Visit Free policy this week as we’re getting too busy to accommodate free repairs. We’ve got a few of the “You don’t have a bike, I guess I’ll build one!” B-a-Bs going. Fortunately the current crop of available bikes are in good shape and don’t need anything too intense and intensive done to get them road worthy.
All, Welcome Week technically might be this week but last week really felt like it here at the Bike Center. Our visitor numbers were higher, a lot of people in for registrations and lots of bike sales.
If our refurb bike sales hold steady from last week, we’ll be out of bikes before the semester even starts. While not great, it’s also not our mission to just sell bikes. Where’s the education in that?
All, Monday and Friday of last week I was out of the shop. Student staff covered for me with minimal issues. We’ve been selling bikes pretty steadily now, and that number will likely only rise the closer we get to the school year starting.
Big thanks to Todd for clearing out the huge pile of scrap bikes. More room is always good!
All, I was out of town on Friday and Monday so this is a little belated.
All, Things were slow-to-comfortably-busy last week. A new employee started. On Tuesday I picked up 30+ bikes from JSM. Only about 1/3 of the bikes were of any quality. The rest we have been steadily scrapping. Consequently we’re pretty maxed out on our scrap bins. One of the good bikes was built up in record time on Friday. A Structural Engineering PhD student rolled in around 2:30 – 3 and finished building the bike a little after 5:30. Most of the bike was in good condition.
All,
This past week was abbreviated due to the sweltering and oppressive heat. We closed Thursday and Friday. The rest of the week wasn’t too busy, either.
I had a training with a new hire, purged some old parts, and worked on shop builds.
All,
The one day last week that it wasn’t blazing hot was the one day we were really busy. But we’re always at the whim of the weather. Other than the one busy day, it was business as usual.
All,
All, Last week was comfortably busy. We had all-stands-full for a few days but no waiting patrons. A few build-a-bikes have been started, which is welcome. Shop builds are humming along, more or less. A new sign-in computer should be arriving this week. Donations are still coming in fairly regularly. We’ve got a stockpile of 10 or so kids bikes that I’ll aim to take to Salt & Light this week.
All, Not a lot to report from last week. I interviewed another potential student employee. Had some iPad troubles but Omid was here and able to help. Thanks, Omid! There was a bike waiting for me on the outside rack when I pulled up this morning, so that’s continuing to be of service to us. Over the weekend, Todd grabbed the extremely large pile of scrap we had accumulated. Thanks, Todd!
All, Definitely getting busier! Got a sale in just as we were closing up on Friday. Two more bikes were waiting on the outside rack when I got in this morning. I passed the manager of Champaign Cycle on my ride in and he said they’ve got a couple bikes for us as well. We’re pretty close to capacity on bikes here at the shop. But I guess it’s a good problem to have considering the business model.
All, Last week was slow. Still in a lull before Summer II begins. We got three donations over the weekend here. Mostly junk but better than being abandoned somewhere. On Thursday I collected 5 bikes from the Parking warehouse.
All, Last week was on the slow side. We got busy in fits and starts. This week will likely be the same. I was out of the shop for most of Tuesday afternoon, so the students covered for me. No troubles there.
All, Shortened week for myself as I was out of town Thursday and Friday. The student staff operated hours in my absence. No incidents or troubles. Their chief issues were related to the Shop Builds, so that’s a win-win.
All, What a week! Last week (and weekend) was a TBP meeting, Bike To Work Day, the Bike Rodeo, and picking up donations from the Community Bike Sale. Lots of extracurricular activity! All of the events went well but not amazingly well. Attendance was on the low side for BTWD and BR but the weather is a major culprit there.
All, Big but also kind of micro news is that there’s been a noticeable uptick in donations here at the Bike Center. While I’d love to attribute that to our awesome Bike Abandonment Prevention program, it’s really just been local community members who’re cleaning out their garages--most prominently two white bearded men, not the graduating seniors that we’re hoping to attract.
