Service Center Hours
Additional morning hours by appointment for
dept./ faculty/ staff business for bike services
(not canoes).
![]() ![]() Yes, we accept Spartan Cash, Visa and MC! |
![]() Tim works with a student and parents on fitting a bike; read the article. Photograph © Dave Trumpie |
![]() Sign up for future Women’s Bike Nights. |
![]() Go to the new Fixed Gear Fever page for more info.... |
![]() Easy Access Around Farm Lane Construction Click here (JPG) to see a rough map of where this pathway is located. Click here to see a larger map of campus (PDF). |
![]() The Minneapolis Greenway Bike Bridge over Hiawatha Avenue; a gorgeous example of engineering. |
One of the newest indoor/ covered parking options at the Kellogg Center Parking Ramp; access the bike rack via this entrance/ exit or via the pedestrian entrance/exit facing the north towards the Center. |
![]() "Signs of MSU spring" - bikes floating downriver... |
![]() The new Michigan Trails Finder |
![]() Here's some of the MSU Bikes' staff wearing the new t-shirts. Click to enlarge. |
![]() Sheldon "CaptBike" Brown 1944 - 2008 |
![]() One of our green bikes towing a unique trailer with the "Be Spartan Green" campaign poster in the Homecoming 2007 parade. Click photo for small B&W PDF. |
![]() MSU's Final Bike Master Plan. Click image to view low-res PDF (2.5 mb); click here for high-res. file (9 mb). |
Our new head mechanic, Jon-Marc Eyer, posing with his awesome K2 MTB outside the Center. Jon-Marc joined us from working approx. 20 yrs. in the bike industry, most of them in Florida. Yes, he's enjoying the snow! More staff photos here... |
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![]() On his way to work: John Lindenmayer, Assoc. Director of the League of Michigan Bicyclists, a grassroots organization that advocates for road cyclists throughout the state. |
![]() Our new bike trailer & banners debuted in the MSU Homecoming Parade. Click photo for more pics. |
![]() The new MSU Bikes trailer with brand new banners. Click the pic for more pics of the trailer in action! |
View a "Friday Night Tailgate" segment by the Big Ten Network about our canoe services on the Red Cedar River (10/4/07). View more photos from the session here. |
![]() Former (& 1st!) MSU Bikes head mechanic, Matt, with wife Glas and son Beau in front of the Center. Click to read the farewell to Matt in the PPlant summer '07 newsletter article. |
![]() Google & Specialized team up to save the planet, one pedal stroke at a time. |
Christine Carter with her favorite green bike posing with Sparty. A few more photos while riding (1, 2, 3). Yes, she definitely knows how to enjoy her ride! |
![]() The first ever bike resource map of the MSU campus & brochure of MSU Bikes services. Cover, page 2, back/ map. ![]() New official MSU mapping resource that is searchable and very interactive |
Exterior view of the parking ramp (Ramp #5) just south of the Communication Arts & Sciences College; indoor bike parking is in the lobby of this ramp. Click photo for more views of this facility other new bike parking racks on campus. |
![]() Click here to learn more about renting canoes from MSU Bikes. |
![]() (L to R) Hsu Li Rou (Lillian), Chuang, Hsueh Fang (Tiffeny), Hsu Li Ying (Joseph), and Hsu Wen Chung (James). (back) Tim Potter – MSU Bikes Service Center, William Eubank, Instructor, VIPP. |
![]() Photos from the 3rd Annual Lucinda Means Advocacy Day Ride & Parade |
![]() MSU Bikes Hosts Area Police Bike Patrol Officers |
MSU Farm Daze Tour ![]() Pat Flinn, volunteer for Back Alley Bikes of Detroit, stopped for a tour of the MSU Bike Project workshop with his wife Maggie Flinn and their tandem after the Farm Daze Tour '05. |
![]() May is Bike Month - Get involved & Join the local Smart Commute events. |
![]() MSU's 2007 Campus Sustainability Report |
Volunteer coordinator Chris Homeister with one of many bikes pulled out of the river on 4/21/07 along with a host of other stuff. |
![]() Interview on Impact 89 FM Exposure |
Gus & Tim out front of the UC Davis Bike Barn with Manager Robert St.Cyr and David Takemoto-Weerts, UCD Bike Program Director. Click for more photos. |
![]() Construction blues? Bikes are the answer! |
Bicycling DVD Library ![]() One of the classics now available for check-out from our DVD library. |
Bike Lockers on Campus? ![]() Click the photo to get on the list for a locker! |
A reporter with a local webzine called Capital Gains interviewed Tim Potter recently; check out the article here. Then, a local talk radio host, Walt Sorg, with WILS 1320 am, happened to catch that article and did a phone interview with Tim; if you missed it on the air, you can listen to it here (6 mb MP3).
Bike Mechanic:
We’re looking for another bike mechanic immediately who has bike shop experience and is ready to hit the ground running.
Front Desk / Register:
Do you love bikes, helping bicyclists find what they need to keep their bike on the road and have retail/ register experience? Then we need you ASAP.
For both positions, must be an MSU student enrolled for fall semester. Flexible hours, excellent pay, great view on the Red Cedar River. Commute to work by bike or canoe, take your pick. Contact us with questions and to submit your resume.
Our friends at the League of Michigan Bicyclists, a state-wide advocacy group to promote and protect bicyclists' rights to the roadways, have been working with Representatives Andy Coulouris (D-Saginaw) and David Palsrok (R-Manistee) on House Bills 6299 and 6300, which enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users. They were introduced on June 29 and need your support. Details & sample letter are here....
Senator Tom George (R-Kalamazoo) has committed to introduce Senate companion bills with the same language. (Bookmark this page for future information, including Senate bill numbers and co-sponsors.)
A teen on a bike deserves the same protection as one driving a tractor. These bills will make Michigan roadways safer for bicyclists and all vulnerable users of our taxpayer-funded road system.
These FREE events will be a combination ride and workshop led by Melissa Stewart, Asst. Coordinator for MSU Bikes. We just finished our first on May 6th and are in the process of scheduling others. If you'd like to be on our list for future events please R.S.V.P. to Melissa Stewart, Asst. Coordinator for MSU Bikes and let us know the longest distance you’ve ridden comfortably; this will allow us to tailor the route to experience levels.
By the growing numbers of fixed-gear bikes around MSU you'd think there's a revolution going on! Well, we might actually be behind the trend and are just catching up with the big city culture of fixed gear mania. Here's a new page of some links to sites we've collected that might interest those of you into this or exploring getting into it.
Nate Kerr, a staffer for the Midtown Greenway Coalition in the City of Minneapolis, visited our Center the weekend of Feb. 23rd to observe one of our classes & our operations. He then gave a great presentation (PDF, 6.5 mb) to a group of interested cyclists and MSU staffers. The Greenway Coalition is in the process of converting an old warehouse alongside the Greenway (a converted rail bed, which traverses thru the southside of the city some 6 miles) to a bike center which, in partnership with a local bike shop, will provide bike repairs, rentals, accessories and also serve as the new home for the offices of the Coalition. Their new bike center is scheduled to open mid-May.
With the assistance of Jim Rogers from the U of WI - Madison (who's working on plans for a new bike center in a new building on their campus) a new email-based listserv for university and community bike programs in N. America was launched on Feb. 26th. A group of contacts collected by us over the past few years as we prepared to launch MSU Bikes was the basis for the first subscribers; the list is now over 60 strong (late Mar. '08). Those contacts with info. on the various programs they represent can be seen here (small Excel file). If you'd like to subscribe, send a blank email (no subject line required) to: join-campus-biking@lists.wisc.edu
Mar. 26, 2008 - The newest covered/ indoor bike parking racks have been installed in the Kellogg Center Parking Ramp and the Wharton Center Parking Ramp. See the photos to the right for more information on locations. Click here for more info. & pics...
You know springtime is just around the corner on the MSU campus when... bikes are floating down the river, of course! (see pic to the right) Took this of a bike floating by the Center the other day when the ice was breaking up. Click here to view more spring-time bike photos. Send us your photos or phrases via email with "Signs of MSU spring" in the subject line!
Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance announces the new Michigan Trails Finder. This is a new online resource for planning your next trail adventure. It is a digital map of trails, bothsingle and shared-use, linked with information you need to know . . . before you go! You will find the following features: Length and Surface, Allowed Trail Uses, Interactive Links to Individual Trail Websites, GPS Coordinates (where available), and contact info. etc. The database runs as an interface with the convenience of Google navigation to help you get there. Check it out! (It is a product of the Connecting Michigan Project, part and parcel of the GIS Trails Database and Website Task Force, one of the ten Connecting Michigan task forces, and Michigan State University RS and GIS Remote Sensing carried out the work of setting it all up. It was paid for by a grant from the People and Land Program of Kellogg Foundation. )
You too can wear one of the MSU Bikes' staff t-shirts and spread the bike love at MSU! Check out this staff photo of the different colors and styles available only in our Center. The shirt features a graphic by the awesome NYC cycling artist Taliah Lempert (her website: www.bicyclepaintings.com) and our logo on the sleeve.
On Feb. 3rd, Sheldon "CaptBike" Brown, aka "The Bike Mechanic's Mechanic", passed away after suffering a massive heart attack. On more than one occasion Sheldon helped us with various technical
challenges we've encountered here at MSU Bikes for which we've been very
grateful. He was extremely generous with his knowledge of bicycle mechanics
and also mixed a very clever/ creative sense of mechanical humor within his
site. More Sheldon tribute info here....
We're excited to be supporting the campus-wide campaign, "Be Spartan Green" that kicked off last fall. The latest issue of the Phys. Plant newsletter features a photo of one of our green bikes towing a unique trailer with the "Be Spartan Green" campaign poster in the Homecoming 2007 parade. Click here for the article (small B&W file, PDF) or here (large, color PDF) or the photo to the right. More photos of our green bikes pulling the trailers around campus can be viewed here....
This just in from our Campus Planner, Steve Troost: a PDF of the final bicycle master plan for the MSU campus. It's meant to be a solid framework from which detailed design can occur in the future. Keep in mind though, planning never stops, so this isn't set in stone. Steve is always happy to receive input or questions. Click here to view low-res PDF (2.5 mb); click here for high-res. file (9 mb).
MSU Wants Your Bike Loop Parking Requests
The folks in charge of removing the old bike racks and installing the new style bike parking loops are seeking your requests for suggested locations for new or additional parking loops. FYI: The new loops being installed have cross-sections to prevent the bikes from falling down to the ground. Pls. send your requests/ comments to us and we'll forward them on to the right folks.
Big North E. Lansing Road Construction Has Begun
Another huge project affecting many MSU students has just begun this week up in the northern frontier of E. Lansing. From the City of EL’s web site:
"A long-awaited road widening project will begin Jan. 7 (2008) along Abbot and Chandler Road, from Lake Lansing Road to Coleman Road. To complete the project, the northbound lane of Abbot and Chandler Road will be closed from Lake Lansing Road to Coleman Road from Jan. 7 to mid-October 2008. View detour map. "
We’re not sure why they haven’t identified their great Northern Tier Trail system for bicyclists to bypass the mess, but that’s our suggested detour for those of you living up that way. Here’s a page of info. on that trail system if you’re not familiar with it. Here’s a direct link to a PDF map of the Northern Tier Trail system.
Nov. 26, 2007 - We're happy to have a new head mechanic, Jon-Marc Eyer. Jon-Marc was raised in the Lansing area, so he's enjoying the fresh snow we're getting now. He's spent approx. 20 yrs. in the bike industry, mostly in Florida, so the change of temperate zones is no small thing! On top of his years in the business, he's an experienced bike racer (in most every form), former bike race team owner and extensively trained at Barnett Bicycle Institute and United Bicycle Institute as well as a certified mechanic from the Campagnolo School of Mechanics in northern Italy.
Nov. 13, 2007 - Updated news on the non-motorized/bike/ ped. pathway front in the area:
• The Inter-Urban pathway (between Park Lk. Rd./ Burcham Rd./ Water Authority area east about 3/4 mi. to Okemos Rd., which some of you might remember arguing for about 3-4 yrs. ago) is finally constructed! You may not know that this pathway was first conceived by a township engineer back in the early 70's who tragically died before he could get it constructed. John Veenstra, Meridian Twp. resident and now Twp. trustee, was on the Ingh. Co. Road Commission at the time and was (is) an avid bicyclist and had heard about the proposed pathway and has since worked tirelessly over the decades to see it finally constructed. He's delighted to see it finally going in and current/ future generations of Inter-urban pathway users owe him a huge thank-you. Way to go John!
I stopped by on my way home on 11/12 and found that they have completed paving the rest of the path! I stopped by over the weekend to get some photos; check them out here. If you have the time pls. drop a note of thanks to the Meridian Twp. Board/ engineering dept. and gently encourage them to continue this pathway eastward on along the old inter-urban rail bed to Marsh Rd. which would make a wonderful connection up to very close to Lake Lansing and be a nice off-road alternative & connector to get back and forth from EL/ MSU/ Lansing via nice, calm Burcham Rd. with bike lanes to Haslett and further east. Click here for enlarged map of the pathway.
• The City of E. Lansing held a press conference Nov. 7 to announce the plan to construct a new 1.84-mile stretch of pathway parallel to Saginaw Hwy. bordered by Coolidge Road, Patriarche Park on East State Road, Stonegate Lane and Alton Road. Details can be read in this article that appeared in the LSJ. The MDOT spokesman said that the intent is to connect the new pathway with the N. Tier Trail that heads up past fast-growing housing areas to the north of EL.
Oct. 17, 2007
A new web-zine, Capital Gains, has recently launched in the Lansing market and did a nice write-up on a few local cyclists who are commuting and or helping folks commute in the area which is where MSU Bikes comes into the picture. Check out the article here.
Last Fri. (10/12) the MSU Bikes crew and a number of other bicyclists & tandems including one "boneshaker/ highwheeler" (Eric Phreed) proudly rolled along in the MSU Homecoming Parade. Our theme was pro-bicycling / non-moto for fun, better health (yourself and the environment), save $$, etc. Click here for pics from the parade. Click here for pics from the 2005 parade ( we won the Best Org. award).
The new MSU Bikes trailer (made by Bikes at Work) with brand new banners made its debut in the MSU Homecoming Parade (10/12/07). We're considering offering a new mobile advertising trailer service and will also use the trailer (minus the signs and Mel [the person hiding in between the signs]) to create a mobile instructional unit which we'll haul around campus to offer free bike maintenance/ safety seminars. See the photo to the right of MSU Bikes' staff Mariame and Mel all set for its maiden voyage around campus. Here's some more pics of our trailer in action both as a mobile bill-board and as a mobile repair/ instructional vehicle.
The Big Ten Network crew stopped by last week before the big football game to film their host Andy on one of our canoes on the Red Cedar River. Ben, our lucky mechanic who happened to be working that morning, was interviewed and also got his big national debut singing our fight song! Watch the segment here; view more photos of the session here. Our Asst. Coordinator Mel Stewart and student Kristen Pennington can also be seen paddling along with one of our student mechanics, Jared Dorvinen (who jumped in with the photographer).
The MSU Physical Plant newsletter has been featuring a column on MSU Bikes' news and information for the past couple issues. The latest issue, Summer 2007, features a column about our former head mechanic, Matt Jaglowski, moving on to bigger & better things in Iowa plus a few other bits of news from the summer months. Take a look at that page here (PDF format). The rest of the summer issue can be seen here (PDF, 30 mb).
Google is at it again, this time helping to promote bicycling as the key to human survival. Read all about the "Innovate or Die" campaign that Google, Specialized and Goodby Silverstein & Partners have launched just yesterday (Sept. 24th) on the GoogleBlog in a blog titled "Pour on the pedal power" , or click the image over on the right to view the YouTube movies about it. Pretty interesting; some MSU folks should definitely get into the contest!
Do you ever run errands around campus and have trouble finding parking at your destination or when you get back to the office? Read on...
"Leasing GREEN bikes for our office has been a great investment. We initially leased them as a healthy and environmental alternative to driving vehicles around campus. We have since found that the staff and students ride them because of the time factor and convenience. I found myself utilizing the bike in lieu of walking this summer because it was much easier to maneuver around the construction and detours on the bike. The bike has become a happy medium to walking several blocks or driving around in circles trying to find a parking spot. Whether I’m wearing heels or a suit, it doesn’t matter - I absolutely love it!"
Christine S. Carter,
Office of the Vice President for Finance and Operations (Fall 2007)
Sept. 04, 2007 - The first ever bike resource map of the MSU campus & brochure of MSU Bikes services is out and available for your reference and viewing pleasure! Stop by the Center and get a copy. Click the following links to view the brochure & map online: cover, page 2, back/ map. Another exciting new official MSU mapping resource that is searchable and very interactive using Google Map technology is here; check it out! Tip: as you type in the search box you'll see a list of matches; use "bike" to locate our Center. Finally, in other mapping news, the main detailed MSU campus map has been recently updated and expanded to include our Center and the entire MSU campus (ALL of the MSU property). Check that out here.
Yes, we are a pedal and paddle operation here. Three visiting Korean teachers (Wui-Jun Yu, Jong-Yun Kim, and Sang-Mok Han from the Korean National Univ. of Edu) recently (July 2007) enjoyed a peaceful canoe ride down the Red Cedar River this summer (see photo at right). The English Language Center has been doing the teacher training for KNUE for the past five summers. Click here to learn more about renting canoes from MSU Bikes.
Hsu Wen Chung of Taipei, Taiwan arrived at MSU on June 20, 2007 and enrolled in a summer visiting scholar program through MSU's Visiting International Professional Program (VIPP). Within 24 hours his family was set up for local transportation by Tim Potter and his staff of the MSU Bikes Service Center. "I was so surprised and pleased that I was able to get bicycles for my whole family right away. We ride bicycles everyday in Taiwan and it is great that we can do so here at MSU. Thanks Tim and thank you Bill for helping us with this rental." said Hsu Wen. Chung is a doctoral candidate at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Human Resource Management. Featured here in the MSU News Bulletin (Vol. 38, No. 21 - July 12, 2007 issue).
The League of Michigan Bicyclists held the 3rd annual Lucinda Means Advocacy Day Ride on May 30th with the MSU Bikes Service Center hosting the event. Participants enjoyed a 20-mile ride through the countryside south of the MSU campus and then a police-escourted bicycle parade from the MSU Bikes Service Center to the State Capitol Building. After lunch a bunch of us helped deliver bicycling information to Michigan Legislators around the capitol district. Click here for a full and official LMB report. Click here (or the photo to the right) for photos from the day.
May 24th: The MSU Bikes Service Center was host to a group of approx. 20 bike patrol officers from Michigan State University Police Department, Lansing PD, Meridian Twp. PD, Lansing Comm. College PD and the Michigan State Police. They were here for a "refresher class" (they've all completed a 40-hr. course) where they:
".... work on curbs, tactual slides, dismounts, up/down stairs, officer safety with bikes and how to use the bike as protection, crowd control techniques with bikes. Then we go on a "long" ride this year it was about 20 miles and it ends at the firing range. ...we do an obstacle course that use all of your skills and gets your heart pumping. ... (we) fire rounds and have to hit 3 targets with your heart rate up from the biking. ... we also do a balance box where officers ride into the box and once in it have to balance with out leaving the box or falling for time. "
After a brief tour of the Center the staff gave a demonostration on basic bike maintenance, some field repair tips and wrapped up with our head mechanic, Matt Jaglowski, giving an urban riding show to help officers better know how to overcome obstacles out on their beats around the area. Click here for photos.
May is "National Bike Month" and it's right around the corner. Time to get the bikes out and get ready to ride! There's a host of pro bike and other non-motorized transportation activities going on in the area many of them fall under the local "Smart Commute" events which are all listed on this page. The MSU Bikes Service Center is one of the sponsors of the Smart Commute events and is providing 3 of our Green bikes as prizes for the Smart Commute '07 Challenge as we did last year. Consider challenging your office/ department to participate in the Challenge and see how many miles you can accumulate by bicycling or a host of other modes of "Smart Commuting". We'll also be offering a class on Bike Commuting on May 12th in addition to the other events noted below (Ride of Silence, May 16th, 4th Annual Farm Daze Tour 2007, May 19th, 3rd Annual Lucinda Means Advocacy Day Ride, May 30th).
April 26, 2007 - The Michigan State University Committee for a Sustainable Campus has released its second Campus Sustainability Report, a report that finds MSU is making improvements in areas such as traffic safety, employee injuries and crime. The report shows improvements not only in those areas, but also in new efforts to reduce the university's environmental footprint through the expansion of recycling efforts; receiving ISO 14001 certification for National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, which recognizes the facility's efforts to be more environmentally friendly; joining the Chicago Climate Exchange to reduce greenhouse gases; and switching to biodiesel fuel for all diesel vehicles and equipment. Read the full report here...
The MSU Fisheries & Wildlife Club has been organizing the volunteer manpower behind a twice-a-year river clean-up (fall and spring) based out of the Canoe Rental Shelter for the past 9 years. Last fall the MSU Bikes Service Center helped continue the tradition and again this spring on April 21st. A record 114 volunteers helped out this year. A list of the "treasures" pulled out this time are here (Word file). Photos of the spring cleanup are here.... The State News ran an article on 4/23/07 about the clean-up. An article about the fall clean-up appeared in the MSU Physical Plant Winter 2007 issue here (PDF).
While most of campus was celebrating the MSU Hockey team for their national championship, MSU Bike's Tim Potter and Rich Moeller, Exec. Director of the League of Mich. Bicyclists, were being interviewed on MSU's student radio station, Impact 89 FM's Exposure show. They covered a bunch of bike topics. check out the podcast in their archives here.
With the construction of a new storage facility in south campus the MSU Bikes Service Center is able to offer summer storage services for those who need a safe indoor place to store their bikes til they return in the fall. $20 will store your bike all summer indoors away from rain and thieves.
Three universities in California (UC Davis, Stanford and UC Santa Cruz) were visited recently by Gus Gosselin (co-founder of the MSU Bike Project & Director of MSU Building Services) and Tim Potter (MSU Bikes Service Ctr. Coordinator) to gather information on best practices and get more ideas on how to improve MSU for bicycling. Check out our photos here. Read some highlights of what was observed here (Word file).
There was an informational meeting about the Collingwood Entrance and Vicinity Reconstruction on Thursday, March 15. The purpose of the project is to 1) improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists; 2) improve traffic circulation in the Collingwood Entrance area of campus; and 3) enhance the campus landscape at this prominent campus entrance. Click here for the full press release (Word file) and here for the project map (PDF, 1 mb).
RHA TV has a regular 30 min. news feature called "Focal Point" produced by MSU students that covers newsworthy topics around campus. Their first show of 2007 features a short segment on the MSU Bikes Service Center (at about 14:50 minutes) produced by Sharisse Thompson. Click here to check it out.
One of the bits of information that was shared during the AUTTC public forums in early March is that one of the busiest road construction seasons in our campus history is upon us starting with the Hagadorn Rd. bridge replacement, which has already begun. For those of you fair-weather bike commuters you might want to consider getting your bike commuting equipment ready sooner than later (we've got a lot of commuter accessories in stock now by the way). East & west-bound Grand River Ave. (not to mention Hagardorn Rd. itself) near the Hagadorn Rd. intersection is going to be an absolute mess. Fortunately the pedestrian bridge will remain open next to the Hagadorn Rd. bridge allowing bikes/ peds to continue using the same route.
Here’s a helpful web page w/ campus-area construction alerts for your reference.
Related to that is a separate page for detours around the messes.
Happy cycling past all those idling cars!
Need something more exciting than the morning news for your indoor training session? how about a bike racing classic documentary like "Sunday in Hell"? Or the classic battle between Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault in the 1986 Tour de France? Our DVD library is growing day to day; check this Excel file for what we currently have on the shelf. They're free for 1-week!
Come air up your bike anytime at the MSU Bikes Service Center. Two new hoses on the outside of the Center are available anytime. Just press the big green button to activate the air for 3 minutes. The hose on the left is for tires up to 60 psi for the average mountain bike/ cruiser, etc. and the one on the right is up to 125 psi for road bikes. Click the photo for more photos of this new air option; click here for other air pump options on campus.
(For 3 season cyclists) Just learned that the MSU Family Resource Center has created a very handy car pool database to help connect folks on campus. Check it out and sign-up!