Bike Co-op solicits grants for new town location

Hopes of servicing community spark proposal

The Oberlin Student Bike Co-op, which teaches and assists students and city residents with bike repair, hopes to expand into the community as a full-service, non-profit organization. Sadhu Johnston OC '98 is working with Oberlin Public Works Director Mike Sigg to apply for grants which would fund the larger, more sustainable co-op.

Other than the existing co-op, which has limited facilities, there are no nearby places to repair a bike. "Since the relocation of Dale's Bike Shop, Oberlin has become somewhat of a bicycle-unfriendly community," said Sigg. "We need facilities for people to be effective bicyclists."

The current co-op location is especially inaccessible to city residents. "It's on campus in a basement and that turns a lot of people away," said Johnston.

With more resources, the co-op hopes to salvage and repair the hundreds of broken bikes accumulated each year by the College and city. "The city usually has an auction that's pretty cheap," said Johnston, "but they're not doing it this year because 80 to 90 percent of the bikes need to be fixed up."

Last year most of Oberlin's bikes were melted down, according to Johnston. "This is an incredible waste of resources," he said. "We're trying to take advantage of this by using those bikes to teach people about bike repair."

A more extensive bike-maintenance center would also facilitate alternative transportation, which could prove a big help to both the College and the city. "We've got a major problem with parking," said Johnston. "The College has 1054 parking sites and about 1400 students with cars. Construction on the new Environmental Studies Center was held up because of parking issues."

The co-op's grant proposal reads, "The cost of using motorized transportation is an obstacle to a large number of people. Creating a bicycle-friendly atmosphere is essential, as low-income populations rely heavily upon non-motorized transportation." Sigg said that the bike path, which goes straight to downtown Elyria, makes bicycling especially practical.

Hiring a full-time staff member would be necessary for successful expansion. "The goal is to become sustainable," said College junior Elizabeth Schuster, the co-op's director. "College students don't have time to run a full-time bike shop. A long-term employee would be helpful because college students are so transient."

The co-op also intends to implement job training programs geared towards at-risk teens and other members of the community. "We want to teach job responsibility. We'd include training and apprenticeship programs for at-risk teens and low income people," said Johnston.

The co-op plans to give bikes to members of the training programs and allow them to repair them themselves. "At the end, they could either sell the bike or keep it for themselves," said Johnston. Those teens who graduate from the month-long program could work with the student volunteers as mechanics, retaining a portion of the profits.

Still, the general philosophy will be one of teaching rather than selling. "It's about empowerment," said Schuster. "The goal is to teach people to repair their own bikes. We provide a workshop to work in."

Rack 'em up: A new location will allow the Bike co-op to repair even more bicycles. (photo by Heidi Good)