¶¶Òõ̽̽

¶¶Òõ̽̽ Bikes! is a student run bicycle co-operative at ¶¶Òõ̽̽. Our mission is simple: make riding bikes an equitable and accessible activity for the entire ¶¶Òõ̽̽ community. We work to achieve this goal by offering free access to our shop space and tools, free repair services, low-cost parts, and low-cost rental bikes.

We are an education-focused co-operative, and our service approach reflects that. Our goal is to make fixing a bike as approachable as possible, so we work with community members, not for them, teaching them how to fix their bikes instead of simply doing it for them — when you come in for a repair, you won’t just leave with a bike that is fixed, but the knowledge of how that bike was fixed.

The heart of our organization is the dedicated team of student volunteer mechanics, who take time out of their busy days to give back to the community and increase the accessibility of bicycling at ¶¶Òõ̽̽. See our volunteer form for more details if you’re interested in signing up (no experience necessary).

Wait, is "!" really part of the name?

You betcha! Why settle for ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Bikes when you could have ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Bikes! We are unapologetically stoked about bikes, and we’re not afraid to show it!

What does a volunteer mechanic do?

The primary job of the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Bikes! mechanic is to help people fix their bikes, and hopefully teach them something about it in the process. Most people who come into the shop for repairs have simple, common problems — the brake pads are worn out, the chain is rusted, the cables need replacing, the headset is loose, etc — and the repairs don’t take all that long.

The secondary job mechanics have is to keep our rental fleet running smoothly. During the winter months, when renters aren’t riding as much or at all, we store our rental bikes in the co-op away from the punishing winter conditions and take the opportunity to tune them up for the spring.

And lastly, our mechanics help build up new rental bikes to add to the fleet, fixing up and restoring abandoned or donated bikes so they can be ridden and enjoyed by ¶¶Òõ̽̽ students. We get a smattering of these donated or abandoned bikes at the start of each semester, so there’s almost always something to wrench on.

What if I don’t have any experience? Can I still get involved?

Yes! Absolutely! 100%! One of the biggest goals of the co-op is to teach people how to work on bikes, and the best way to learn is to volunteer. There is a huge spectrum of experience levels on our volunteer team, and we use that to our advantage.