Aggie Blue Bikes undergoes a remodel
Aggie Blue Bikes is currently experiencing an expansion to create more bike storage space, tool racks and room to aid students in repairing their bikes and fixing up rentals, said Stephanie Tomlin, program coordinator of ABB.
After waiting for the funding to be given through a grant for congestion mitigation air quality funds, which they applied for in 2013 to do a remodel, ABB is now seeing changes that will be finished before the fall semester begins, said Tomlin.
“We’re all really excited about it. It will be a huge benefit to people working there and for those coming in,” Tomlin said.
There is no extension of square footage, only the opening up of the area that is already available to make the shop’s office smaller, as well as putting a roof over the alleyway between ABB and the George Nelson Fieldhouse, to provide more storage space for bikes.
“The biggest issue we run into is winter storage space for the bikes,” said Sam Warrick, the shop manager. “All of our bikes are used and they have to have things replaced. With the remodel, it’s giving us a lot more usable space in the shop.”
Besides more room to help students in fixing their own bikes, the remodel will open up enough room to add more mechanic benches, an additional student tool board and two additional mechanic tool boards.
“We are always constantly expanding since we started serving students, but this is a lot faster and more efficient,” Warrick said.
It’s free service for students, though it’s funded through their fees.
One of ABB’s objectives is to focus heavily on education, so that people can learn a life skill to take with them when they need to repair their bike on their own.
“We’re usually putting tools into the hands of people who may not otherwise have them,” Warrick said. “Because we exist, we have mountain bikes they can go ride. If they can’t afford a bike, we can hook them up for three months. We’re really excited to be able to serve more people and serve them more effectively.”
ABB currently has 320 bikes, including three-month and 24-hour rentals, as well as mountain bikes, tandems, hybrid commuter bikes and unicycles, and they are hoping to continue obtaining more, Tomlin said. Bikes are usually donated, and fixed up for students to rent and ride.
For Tucker Cottrell, a senior majoring in communications, it was never about renting bikes to take on campus between classes. It was always the more unique rentals ABB offers that caught his attention.
“When I first came to Utah State, it was the best date I ever went on. We did a tandem bike ride around Logan and on Old Main,” Cottrell said. “I did a triathlon and they let me rent one of the nice racing bikes from them. Also, it’s a service to help you with your bikes. I’ve had to fix my bike every once and a while. It sets you up to know what you do if you ever have another issue.”
Competition bikes are the only ones that can be reserved ahead of time, otherwise all rentals are lent to students on a first come, first serve basis.
Though bikes can be found all over campus, some students — especially freshmen — don’t know that many bikes are rented for free as a student service, Cottrell said.
One more expansion that could be useful would be more bike racks around campus, specifically the covered ones, said Alyssa Pope, a junior majoring in Criminal Justice.
Pope often used 24-hour rentals from ABB during the summer when she worked on campus.
“When I didn’t want to walk home from campus, I would just go over to ABB and rent for a day. I’d ride it home and then take it back on the bus the next morning,” she said.
Expansion for the sake of opening up more room for students fixing bikes, and as well as opening up the space to get more bikes for students to rent are great ideas, Pope said.
“If more students rode on bikes … it would improve the social life in Logan, more so than it already is,” Pope said.
—mandy.m.morgan@aggiemail.usu.edu