campus bike project hours

Today, the Campus Bike Project begins its regularly scheduled hours.  The hours are:

Sunday:        5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Monday:        8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Tuesday:       6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday:          12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.

 Stop by sometime and check it out!  More info here.

the u.s. transportation department's new bike-friendly road policies:

(Via the drudgereport, ergo the siren!)  The New York Times' Green Inc. blog reported Friday that the U.S. Transportation Department's encouraging state and local transport agencies to include consideration for non-motorized transportation (e.g. bikes!) in the planning and design of new roadways:

The new policy, which was introduced a few days after Mr. LaHood gave a well-received speech from atop a table at the National Bike Summit, is said to reflect the Transportation Department’s support for the development of fully integrated transportation networks.

It calls on state and local governments to go beyond minimum planning and maintenance requirements to provide convenient and safe amenities for bikers and walkers. “Walking and biking should not be an afterthought in roadway design,” the policy states.
Transportation agencies are urged to take action on a number of fronts, including the creation of pathways for bike riders and pedestrians on bridges, and providing children with safe biking and walking routes to schools.

They are also encouraged to find ways to make such improvements in concert with road maintenance projects and to protect sidewalks and bike lanes in the same manner as roads (by clearing them of snow, for example).

c-u community used bike sale

On Saturday, 24 April and Sunday, 25 April, Champaign Cycle will be hosting the first annual Community Used Bike Sale in part to benefit Habitat for Humanity.  It looks like a fun sale and it's for a good cause, so check it out!  From an email from Champaign Cycle, here's the details:

COMMUNITY USED BIKE SALE
Hosted by Champaign Cycle
Sat. April 24, 10-5      Sun. April 25, Noon-4
506 S Country Fair Dr., Champaign, IL 61821

Sell your old bike.  Help Habitat for Humanity

Do you have an old bike in your garage that you no longer want?  Bring it to Champaign Cycle to be included in the 1st Annual Community Used Bike Sale.  If the bike sells you receive the sale price minus a 10% consignment fee.  If the bike doesn't sell you can either pick it up or you can donate the bike to Habitat for Humanity .  If you donate the bike you will receive a receipt for a tax deductible contribution, you will have more room in your garage, and you'll have the satisfaction of helping a local charity.  In addition, the profit from the consignment fee will go to Habitat for Humanity.  Champaign Cycle will receive no money from the sale.

Do you want to buy a good used bike?  Come to Champaign Cycle during the sale for a good used bike.  We will inspect all the bikes and they will be in good operating condition.  We will have a checklist detailing the condition of the bike hanging from the handlebars.  Since the owner, not Champaign Cycle, will be selling the bike there is no warranty from Champaign Cycle.  However, we will do our best to honestly represent the condition of the bike and answer questions about the bike.  So please stop by during the 2 day sale to inspect the bikes.

PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THIS USED BIKE SALE.
 _______________________________________________________

Attention used bike owners who want to sell their bike:

 1.  Your bike must be in safe operating condition to be included in the sale.  We will inspect all bikes when you bring them in.  The tires must hold air, and brakes and gears must work.  If you wash the bike and inflate the tires before bringing it you will have a better chance of selling it.  We will fill out a checklist which will be on the bike during the sale listing the condition of major elements of the bike.  If the bike needs repair to be in safe operating condition you can repair the bike or we will repair the bike for you at our normal repair rates.  If the bike sells we will deduct the repair cost from your sale price.  If your bike does not sell and you donate it to Habitat we will remove the labor portion of your repair bill, which will be a further donation to Habitat from Champaign Cycle.  For the sale to be a success for both the seller and the buyer we must present the bikes in good condition.

We will respectfully decline any bikes for the sale which are not in safe operating condition.

2.  You will set the price you want to receive for your bicycle.  We will give you our opinion on what is a reasonable price for your bike but it's your bike and you set the price.  We will suggest prices which are fair for both you and the buyer and which will make it likely that the bike will sell.

3.  We will accept used bikes for the sale Wed. April 14 through Wed. April 21
during normal business hours.  Click on the link for hours and location.

4.  Please email us if you want to sell your bike at the Community Used Bike Sale.  Since this is a new idea for us it would be a great help if you would email us before you bring in your bike so that we can plan better for this event.  We will reply to you to confirm and will inform you of any changes or additional information. 

Email us at usedbikesale@champaigncycle.com to reserve space at the used bike sale.

bike sharing... via text message

A few weeks back, Smile Politely reported on a new bike sharing program in C-U: Grab-A-Bike.  Grab-A-Bike's still in the works, but other cities (and small towns) already have similar bike sharing programs up and running.  Smile Politely's article notes the logistical difficulties involved in dealing with maintenance and theft issues in bike sharing programs.

A bike sharing program at Emory University in Atlanta has come up with one solution: using text messages as a virtual key to unlock the bikes.  From The Chronicle of Higher Ed:

Students in Emory University's bike-sharing program will soon be able to unlock the bikes they want to use by sending a text message. The university will replace its current system, which requires manually checking out a key, with the automatic one, developed by students at the nearby Georgia Institute of Technology.

Each bike in the new "viaCycle" fleet will be equipped with a GPS and locking system. When students or employees want to use a bike, they will send a text message with the bike's identification number to a server. The server will forward the request to the bike and unlock it automatically. After using the bike, the rider will use an attached cable to secure it anywhere and send another text message to lock it.

More at the Chronicle's Wired Campus blog.

campus bike project officially open!

Yesterday, we officially opened a new shop on-campus at UIUC.  Located at 608 East Pennsylvania Avenue, the Campus Bike Project shop aims to serve students, faculty, and staff who are loking for inexpensive, low maintenance, and environmentally friendly transportation and don't mind getting their hands dirty in the process.  The new shop's a collaboration between The Bike Project and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Here's our press release.  Stop by and see us sometime!

(PS: Here's where we are on a map.)

old ten speed gallery (dot com)

Just discovered, while trying to find out about the original bottom bracket on my Nishiki: oldtenspeedgallery.com.  It's like fixed gear gallery or velospace, but for bikes retrieved from the dumpster.

Bike legislation

Did you know that 76,000 Americans have been hit by cars while walking or biking in their communities in the last 15 years?

Most of America's roads are designed for cars -- and for cars only. That doesn’t make any sense in a country where one in three people doesn’t have access to a car, and where half of all trips could be accomplished with a 20-minute bike ride.

A new bill was just introduced in Congress would jumpstart the process of transforming our transportation infrastructure to make it friendlier to bikers and walkers -- the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R. 4722). It would create a federal grant program to fund local projects aimed at improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists.

It just takes a second---send an email to Congress here

Build-A-Bike video by Jim

A nice video of a rapid build:

Done in our very own workshop! Nice work!

(pilfered from stoked facebook status updates:)

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"vive le tour" et cetera

Someone put one of my favorite cycling movies on youtube: Louis Malle's Vive Le Tour.  Part 1 is here; part 2 here.  It's only about 20 minutes long and every minute is great, so watch it.

While you're at it, watch this scene from Quicksilver, too.  And this, from Rad.  In fact, head over to That's Rentertainment and rent one of those movies ASAP.

want to volunteer at the bike project?

March will be the coolest month: spring equinox looms and The Bike Project will open a new shop on campus soon.* 

This means more open hours -- in both shops -- during which members of The Bike Project can come use the shop's tools to repair or build a bike.  Open hours are a great way to learn about bikes and bike repair, from little things like fixing flats to bigger projects like bottom brackets.  We've got great volunteers eager to help you learn how to work on bikes.

We'd love to have more volunteers... and you can help!  Are you a member of The Bike Project interested in volunteering?  Or not-yet-a-member who'd like to get involved with our co-op as you learn a lot about bikes?  Then email us at thebikeproject@gmail.com and let us know.  Or stop by the shop during open hours and talk to us! 

(No prior experience working on bikes necessary, just a willingness to get your hands dirty, an eagerness to learn, and a desire to help others learn about bikes.  Our current volunteers will help you get accustomed and in no time you'll be teaching others about bikes.)

* Official announcement coming very soon!

Bikes + local food =

These guys seem like real good guys, doing real good work. Riding Surlys across our great nation to learn and share in the local food movement. Check them out. Help them out.

Women's Night, Yeah!

Tuesday March 2nd, 6-9pm! Ladies and Transgender only! Women helping women fix bicycles. Childcare will be provided.