Main page | Yellow Bike program

the above picture was taken by Chris Ho. It's an almost 360degree view of the Bike Centre's interior. And it's kinda compressed (hence the Panavision effect) so it'll all fit on a page without scrolling over...

THE UW BIKE CENTRE

Hours of Operation

The Bike Centre is now open!

Our hours are Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 11:30am - 7pm.

We are closed all uWaterloo holidays and our last day of business for this term is July 25th.

We're always looking for new volunteers.  If you're intersted, send an email with your class schedule and we'll see what we can do. Please read the "volunteering" paragraph below for more details.  A shift is two hours/week - you don't need to be Joe Bike Mecahnic but hopefully know a bit about bikes and worked on your own.

In general, we begin operation around the 2nd week of classes and close during the last week of classes. We are not open during the final exam period, between terms, and closed all official UW holidays.

Bike Auction

The next auction will be mid-Sept(ish).

The general details are: the bikes will be out for preview at noon and the auction will get underway for 12:30pm, the good weather location is the SLC Courtyard (the semi-circle facing the MC building) and the crappy weather location is the SLC Atrium (downstairs, opposite the Pharmacy & Tech Worx).

Sales will be by cash or cheque only and, if asked, you must provide proof of UW affiliation (you can be a student, staff, faculty, alumni, etc.)

The bikes are all in good working condition, having been fixed up by Bike Centre volunteers.  It's mostly mountain bikes with the odd road or cruiser-type in the mix.  And no, I have no idea how much bikes will go for... ;-)

Where is the Bike Centre

The Bike Centre is in the NW corner of the Student Life Centre. You can get to us from the outside by our door in that corner of the building (on the Ring Road side of the SLC shipping/receiving docks) or from inside the SLC by walking down the hallway past the CIBC and the Apple II hairstylists in the basement. Our room number is SLC 101.

How to Contact the Bike Centre

Our extension is x35174. If you have any questions that aren't answered here, feel free to call or email us.

How the Bike Centre Works

We charge $1 hour for use of the tools and $1 if you use any of the fluids. Both charges are flat rate.

The tools we have available are those that can solve about 90% of what's wrong with the average bike. We have an assortment of wrenches, allen/hex keys, headset and cone wrenches and the tools required for brake and bottom bracket adjustment or overhaul. What we don't have are tools that are specific to disc brakes, suspension fork or shock, frame straightening, pressing in headset cups, or for weird/cutting-edge/high-end parts.

The fluids available are oil (suitable for your chain), lube (the thick gooey stuff to be used on bearings), and citrus-based solvent (for helping get rid of the old gooey stuff).

New and Used Parts for Sale

The Bike Centre has a variety of new and used parts for sale. The new parts and price for sale are as follows:

Schreader valved inner-tubes: 26x1.9-2.125, 27x1-1 ¼ (also suitable for 700/28 - 32c) - $3 each
Presta valved inner-tubes: 700cx23-25, 700cx28-32, 26x1.9-2.125 - $3 each
Brake and Shift housing - $2/foot
Housing ends - $0.25/each
Brake and Shift cables - $3
Cable end - $0.25/each
Regular patch kits - $4.00
Glue-less patch kits - $2.50
Ankle Strap - $4.50

Please keep in mind that we try to have all new parts on hand but that sometimes we may be temporarily out of stock of some items.

The used parts that we have, have come to us in a variety of ways - stripped off a bike, donated, etc. Because of this, the Bike Centre in no way, makes any promises, warranties, guarantees, or claims as to how much life is left in any used part; in other words: it's strictly "buyer beware". Taking this into consideration, we do let the used parts go for not much money. (The only used part we won't keep are chains - it's just to unsafe to ride a chain that you're not 100% sure about.) We don't track the used parts. You'll have to root through the bins to see what's on hand - you'll never know what you may find!

Volunteering

The Bike Centre is staffed by volunteers. Volunteers have a 2-hour shift once a week for as long as we are open that term. If you would like to volunteer, please attend the new/returning volunteer meeting that is held early each term. It's not really a meeting, per se; you basically just show up, tell the manager (currently Ted Harms) that you'd like to volunteer and leave him your course timetable. He'll do his best to give you a slot that's convenient to your schedule and, if you're a new volunteer, arrange a training session. The training provided is just on how the Bike Centre operates: opening and closing procedures, how to handle customers, etc.; the training is not a crash course on bike maintenance.

Buying a Used Bike

We host auctions (usually in early Sept. & early May).

How much a bike will go for or what kind of bikes we'll have in the auction is beyond our ability.

We get these bikes from the UW Police. And they, in turn get those bikes because they've been abandoned or dumped on campus and are tagged as such by the Grounds Crew. Any bike that gets turned over to the UW Police and they if it's been reported missing or stolen. We always hope that the owner comes in and claims it but if it isn't, the UW Police turn it over to us.

The ones that can be fixed up are the ones that get into the auction; the ones that can't, are stripped for parts and/or sold as scrap.

Other places to look for buying a used bike are any of the local bike shops (see links to local bike shops below) - they usually have some used bikes on hand. It's also worth checking the For Sale board in the SLC Great Hall or looking through the classified ads of the K/W Record (look under 'sporting equipment' or 'items under $100'), The Pennysaver, or The Chronicle (which doesn't have a webpage); on-line, there's Craigslist, Kijiji, etc... Also, there's a great place in Kitchener called Recycle Cycles.

If you'd like to read an article I wrote for the Imprint (the UW student newspaper) about buying a new or used bike, it's right here.

Bicycle Maintenance Courses

Maintenance course are occasionally offered through Campus Rec - here's the main Athletics page, then click on Campus Recreation on the left-hand menu; please contact them if you're interested in taking one.  The courses are taught in the Bike Centre.

History of the Bike Centre

The idea of the Bike Centre had it's origin with two Engineering Students, Mike Zuliani and Wayne Ho; around the same time, plans were afoot to expand the old Campus Centre to what is now the Student Life Centre. These two plans managed to find some symbiosis and arrangements were made through the Student Life Centre Management Board for a donation of space and the Bike Centre was adopted as a service of the Turnkeys. The Grand Opening was Oct. 18th, 1995

Waterloo Bike Shops

There are two bike shops close to UW: King St. Cycles and McPhails.  (King St. Cycles is run by a former Bike Centre volunteer and his wife!) Both are about 10min. from campus. For their locations and phone numbers, and a list of the other bike shops in the area, check their websites.

Other Local Links/Sites of Interest

Ziggy's - bike shop in Kitchener
Braun's - bike shop in Kitchener
Backpedlling - a very cool bike shop in Guelph that sells used bikes.
Recycling Cycles - another cool operation, with a nice volunteer base, that sells used bikes.
sheldonbrown.com - pretty much the biggest (and best) single-site source of bike info in the world.
Waterloo Cycling Club - The focus of the Waterloo Cycling Club is the development and support of competitive cyclists. The club provides programs for cyclists of all ages in pursuit of fitness, health, and skill development. The club strongly promotes safe and responsible cycling.

This page maintained by Bike Centre manager, T Harms; email here

Main page | Bike Centre | Yellow Bike program  |  UW Cycling Club