Why walk your bike to downtown bike shops for a repair when you can receive affordable and quick service on campus?

Thanks to the technicians at the Associated Students Bike Cart, located between the Performing Arts Center and Bell Memorial Union, students can receive convenient services at great prices.

Depending on the weather, the cart is on campus every Monday through Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. The cart provides many services, including fast repairs, flat tire repairs, gear and brake adjustments, wheel straightening and tune-ups.

All mechanics at the A.S. Bike Cart are Chico State students who are passionate about biking and have plenty of advice to offer the bike-riding community.

Tanner Lyon, Junior, Communication Design

The Orion: What’s your advice for students that ride their bikes to campus and around Chico?
Lyon: Don’t ride your bike on campus, cops will catch you. They are really lurking out now. They keep telling us to tell people not to ride through campus because their getting like 40 people before 12 o’clock, it’s been crazy. I’d say just check your bike regularly to make sure it’s ridable and up to standards. If not, bring it by cause it’s pretty cheap. Like quick things you wouldn’t check for: air in the tires, make sure your chain’s not totally rusted, breaks, basic stuff like that and be safe.

The Orion: What’s your favorite part about this job?
Lyon: I’d say the ability to just communicate with people at all times. It’s in a great spot to always have people walking by. It’s an awesome job to be able to just work and hang out and talk to people and see a lot of friends and meet people.

Brian Bryson, Junior, Mechanical Engineer

The Orion: Most common repair you give?
Bryson: Flat tires. It’s a combination of things like thorns, random bits of debris in the road. Thorns are probably most popular.

The Orion: What’s your favorite thing about this job?
Bryson: I like working with my hands, being able to tinker with different bikes, just seeing all the different bikes people bring through because there’s a lot of generic cruisers and then people bring other really cool bikes, like one guy brought this custom bike that was super lifted.

Jonathan Hale, Junior, Mass Communication
The Orion: What’s your favorite thing about this job?
Hale: I love working on bikes in general so having this as a job is fun, period. But probably my favorite part, apart from working on bikes, cause that’s a given, is just being able to work for A.S. and have the perks of being able to have that.

The Orion: What part of bikes do you not like fixing?
Hale: Forks and Hydraulic brakes. Forks is basically the front of the bike, what holds the front wheel to the frame.

Sean Crossland, Junior, Construction Management
The Orion: What’s your favorite thing about this job?
Crossland: This is my second year working here and I like meeting everyone and talking with people about bikes and stuff. It’s fun cause we get to be outdoors all day and sit around and fix bikes and talk to people.

The Orion: What’s your advice for students that ride their bikes to campus and around Chico?
Crossland: Don’t get hit by a car and keep your tires inflated so it’s easier to ride. More importantly, be safe.

Nicole Santos can be reached at [email protected] or @Iam_NicoleS on Twitter.