Where Bicycles Get Fixed, and Celebrated

BU Bikes was created for — and by — people like Greg Hum.

Hum (CAS10) once spent three days biking from New York to Boston. Closer to campus, watching the Commonwealth Avenue Improvement Project progress, he hoped against hope for more bike racks. When Bostons first bike lane opened in August 2008 on none other than Comm Ave, he decided it was time to give bikers a voice.

The next month Hum, with help from Galen Mook (UNI09) and Jacqueline Gutbrod (CAS09), created a new student club, BU Bikes, to spread the biking Gospel and help get more riders on the road.

Many people do not see the difference between biking in the city and biking in a park, he says. And that is a mistake.

On Fridays, the BU Bikes Tool Shop, held in the Womens Resource Center, is crammed with people coming to fix their bikes, crash on couches (as opposed to asphalt), ask questions, or just mingle.

Whats the best way to get rust off a bike chain? How often should you fill your tires? What are the best bike routes in Boston? What about the cheapest place for bike helmets or used bikes? Answers to these questions can be heard ricocheting through the shop, provided by a handful of BU Bikes members.

One of them, Alex Boyd (CAS10), props a bike on a stand and spins the tires, looking for wobble. Most Fridays his fingers are tinged with grease from hanging out at the tool shop performing free tune-ups that would cost $50 at a commercial shop. Boyd, who works at REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) when hes not out riding, can construct a bike from parts, rebuilding Terminator-style. While experts like Boyd are available for consultation, BU Bikes preaches a do-it-yourself mantra, offering tools and tips to get two-wheelers back on the road.

BU bikers figure that one $60 monthly T pass can cover bike products like a pump, chain grease, and new brake cables that can last for years. Whats more, they argue, bikes save time; Hum figures a trip that might take 40 minutes by T can be cut down to 15 minutes by bike. Ive got to the point where I cant walk three blocks, Boyd says. Its too slow.

BU Bikes hosts group rides on the bikes they help maintain (and bikes they dont). This year members have visited the Museum of Science and the Arnold Arboretum. Boyd lugs speakers for accompanying music, and Mook leads with a beat on his custom drum bike. Riders of any level are welcome to join the pack.

For more Boston University news and videos, check out http://today.bu.edu

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• BU Today
• BU Bikes
• Bike Repair

[suzukygsx82]

the problem is to the clicket of wheel go shit:D

[drainedbycrx]

does it still SLIP OUT OF GEAR??!!