The idea is bloody genius. Public bike workstations aren’t completely uncommon, but stations that are attended by a vending machine filled with bike parts, tubes, patch kits, energy bars, and drinks? There’s only one.
The Bike Fixtation is located at the Uptown Transit Station in Minneapolis, a major hub for transport and local to a rails to trails greenway that runs through the heart of the city. It’s the brainchild of Chad DeBaker and a friend, who developed the idea more than a year ago and installed and launched it barely a month ago.
“There’s a lot of people that have the need for emergency bike repairs but nobody’s filling that niche,” DeBaker said.
Since it opened, the vending machine has had hundreds of sales. “We’ve coupled bike parts with snacks and drinks and stuff like that. A big portion of our inventory is dedicated to tubes. There’s a lot of different sizes out there…but we also have patch kits, some lights, sunscreen, and then we have a multitool. We’re always playing around with inventory, but we’re seeing sales of pretty much everything.”
DeBaker has been flooded with calls from all over the country since word of Bike Fixtation got out, and it makes sense, not just for municipalities but schools and parks, especially when you learn the price: about $7,700. In a high traffic area, it’ll pay for itself in a year.





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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Genius is right. Perfect for here in Vegas. I need to make a call.
Holy crap, that’s fantastic! I love that there are areas that have enough bike traffic to warrant such a station being viable. Great going, Chad. I wish you massive success.
only one? there has been one of these in madison for awhile now.
http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=23162
While not quite as full service as the one featured my LBS – Aaron’s Bicycle repair in West Seattle has a vending machine of tubes, patches etc out front when they are closed.
http://www.rideyourbike.com/storefront.shtml scroll to the second picture (Feb 2005) for a shot of the vending machine
Brooklyn”s got their own vending machine too!
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/24-Hour-Vending-Machine-for-Brooklyn-Bicycle-Riders-89272877.html
That’s an awesome idea. I wish there were some of those nearby me.
This is great. I need to put a couple of these on the local river trails here in SoCal.