Hello Flint Bike Share,

We have found the bicycle maintenance costs fit into two inversely proportional
categories:
labor and parts. For the community-based social marketing benefits, we have
chosen to
invest more in the labor side of the equation, hiring a "mobile mechanic" who
works on
personal bikes for the campus and on a weekly basis goes through our bicycle
fleet to
keep them maintained.

Originally, in 2003–when we were setting up our bicycle rental program–we
selected
bicycles designed for maximum durability and easy repairs using standard tools.
They are
the Worksman bicycles, extreme industrial bicycles out of New York. They use
almost all
standard tools (most repairs are completed with a crescent wrench), and the
parts are
almost indestructible. In those years, we spent not more than $500 per year for
30
bicycles in parts replacement. We also only spent about 5 hours per week on
bicycle
maintenance labor.

However, four years later, those bicycles are completely falling apart (there's
some
structural issues I'm working with the manufacturer on): the frames have rusted
out–the
bottom bracket is literally falling off, the rims are warping, and the
coaster-brake hubs
are warping so that they no longer stay tight.

I'm going through the debate again of whether I buy relatively cheap (Atlas
Industrial)
cruiser bicycles, and turn them over each year, selling the used bicycles to
students (UC
Davis model), or replacing all bicycles with equally durable bicycles. If we did
so, then
we'd be looking at a four-year replacement cycle of approximately $9,000. The
only
downside of the shorter rental life cycle is the administrative burden of
selling and
replacing the bicycles each year, but this comes with the benefit of providing
students
with low-cost bicycles. I'd like to learn more from David before committing to
this system.

So, I don't have many hard-costs for you, but I'm happy to provide lots of
details about
these Worksman bicycles, which I've come to know quite well if that's the route
you're
considering.

Cheers!

Peter

--- In campus_bikes@yahoogroups.com, "flintbikeshare" <derekwi@...> wrote:
>
> I am attempting to get a bike share in Flint MI off of the ground. One
> of the obstacles I am running into is in attempting to form a budget.
> The place I am having the most trouble is in numbers. If anyone has
> estimates on cost associated with maintenance and supplies for a
> shared bicycle program I would be very grateful. I am looking for
> information such as parts consumed and average cost of repairs needed
> to make a bike ride-able that has been donated. I can estimate some
> figures but some good real world data would be excellent. Please
> contact me at derekwi@... if you can assist. Thank you.
>