Passion through Education: An Inside Scoop on UVM Bikes! Co-op
The UVM bike co-op, courtesy of UVM Bikes!
Editor’s Note: STVT sat down with the current president of the UVM Bikes! co-op, Luke Fredrickson, to discuss how the co-op works to connect with the community, engaging students and their bikes. Luke is a junior studying computer science, statistics, and geospatial technologies. His passion for fixing bikes and using cycling as transport led him to his work at this on-campus co-op, located in the basement of the Hills building-- across from Rowell Hall. UVM Bikes! is a student run organization that provides repair and educational services for students with bikes on campus. Students can rent bikes for the semester and learn how to fix their own bike, giving them a more personal relationship with their mode of transport.
STVT: What is the main goal that UVM Bikes! seeks to accomplish?
Luke: The mission is basically to make riding bikes as accessible and equitable as it possibly can be for everyone at UVM. Cycling is such a good way to get around from the sustainable transportation perspective, and one of the best things about riding a bike is that it's not that hard to maintain (it’s way simpler than a car).
STVT: How did the co-op start?
Luke: Yeah, that's good timing, I was actually just talking to the president from four years ago. So, I just got to hear some good history of the club. Originally, we were the Bicycle Users Group. And back then, it wasn't really like a bike shop, community service oriented type thing. It was a group of people who all liked riding bikes, and they had a space on campus. In 2013, it changed to UVM Bikes!, and with that change came a change in focus on becoming more of a community service led organization: focused less on just getting people together who like to hang out and ride bikes. It became a bicycle education co-op instead.
STVT: Are there any potential difficulties that come with working on a bike?
Luke: Even though it's easier than working on a car, there are still a lot of barriers to entry for people to learn how to work on their bikes. The biggest one is cost, definitely, because if you want to work on your bike, you have to have [tools] as well as the know-how to use them. You'll start working on something and go: ‘oh, man, I need this specific tool…’ and get stuck. You start realizing that you need a lot more knowledge than you think.
STVT: Taking into account the large cost that can sometimes come with even simple bike repairs, this may leave students trapped without a way to repair their mode of transport. This could even discourage students from using a bike on campus, due to lack of knowledge in how to repair it as well as the potentially high cost. Luke described how UVM Bikes! works to solve this issue.
STVT: What service do you provide for student bikers at the shop to solve this issue?
Luke: The co-op shop space gets rid of almost all of those barriers to entry because you can come into the shop and all the tools are free for you to use. We have pretty much anything that you could need for all repairs, except for the most complicated bike repair things. But we pretty much have any tool that you need. And if you need spare parts, we sell spare parts at just a little bit over dealership cost-- we sell used parts for really cheap as well. It's so convenient, especially when kids don't have cars and they are biking on campus, it's hard to get places and go to dealerships and do all those things. So it's nice to have this access. We try to eliminate the barriers by teaching people how to work on your bike. And then we have volunteer mechanics in there to [help you along the way], unlike a normal bike shop where you bring your bike in without knowing really what’s going on, then having it fixed for you.
STVT: When it comes to spreading awareness of the benefits of biking, STVT looks for ways to encourage more people to switch to this mode of transport. How do you think teaching students to engage with repairing their own bike can encourage more cycling on campus?
Luke: It demystifies [the process of the upkeep on your bike]. When you come into the shop without really knowing why your bike isn't working, [having the opportunity] to figure out why it wasn't working and how to fix it makes the bike a lot less intimidating. And then next time something goes wrong, if it's a problem, you learn how to fix it. And then now you have at least a better idea of how to fix it. Our deal is just to make cycling as accessible as possible for people and and try to teach them as much as we can in the process.
STVT: The UVM Bikes! co-op’s work to help students form a more personal relationship with their bike in the way Luke described not only boosts people with a sense of confidence, but can lead to more cyclers on campus. When students are proud of the work they have done on their bike, it can encourage them to want to ride more often-- as well as spread awareness to others about how fun and rewarding owning and understanding your own bike can be. To learn more about UVM Bikes!, or to find out how to get involved, check out the links below to the co-op’s personal website and Facebook.
