Duke Bikes and the student-run Duke Bike Station are working together to create a more efficient system for repairs of both student-owned and Outpost-rented bikes, said graduate student Chris Oishi, coordinator of the Duke Bike Station.
Currently, the Duke Bike Station is the only on-campus group that repairs both student bikes and Duke Bikes, Oishi said.
He added that the Duke Bike Station gives priority to student bike repairs over Duke Bike repairs, but because of the cold weather which led to a decrease in student bike use, the Duke Bike Station has also taken on Duke Bike repairs.
Watts Mangum, set-up coordinator for the Office of Student Activities and Facilities, said there are about 15-20 Duke Bikes that need repair but currently the Duke Bike Station repairs enough Duke Bikes to sustain student demand. The main issue in having broken bikes in the Duke Bikes Outpost is the large amount of space they take up, Mangum said.
"[Duke Bikes] has been in contact with us about maintaining the fleet," Oishi said. "Essentially we're aware that there are bikes that need repair but that maintaining enough bikes for check-out is the main concern."
The Duke Bike Station workers hope, however, to alleviate some of the repair work by training the Duke Bikes staff and students about bike repair, Oishi said.
He added that he has been in talks with Mangum to hold bike-repair workshops in the Spring for both students and Duke Bikes staff.
But as the only official Duke Bikes staff member, Mangum said he has little time to repair Duke bikes, and he hopes to eventually get a repairperson of his own to work on the Duke bikes several times a week.
Mangum added that an independent repairperson for Duke Bikes is not an urgent need as there has not been a waitlist for the Duke bikes since the first week of the program's operation. The addition of mountain bikes to the fleet this week has also decreased repair demands.
Oishi and Mangum said both the Duke Bike Station and Duke Bikes are still in the infancy stages and are trying figure out how to run smoothly and how to best work together.
"Part of the issue is that we're two independent programs trying to figure out what's the best way to serve our independent missions," Oishi said.
Senior Nick Downs, a student worker for the Duke Bike Station, said the addition of Duke Bike repairs to the student bike repairs has not been a problem for the Duke Bike Station workers.
"Ultimately I'm still getting a paycheck from the University for spending time repairing bikes," Downs said.
The Duke Bike Station will continue to repair the Duke bikes for now, and will hopefully expand its staff to meet the growing repair and training needs by the beginning of the Spring, Oishi said.
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