The Bike Hub at Portland State University is the go-to shop on campus for students, staff and faculty who have the opportunity to learn how to repair their own bikes, learn the basic maintenance skills and drop off their bike for professional repairs for a discount.
Joey Binhammer, has been working at the Bike Hub for two years and when asked what he likes most about the Bike Hub he said, “[I like that we] teach people and inspire self-efficiency. We have a focus on people doing their own prepares as opposed to us being just a service shop.”
Portland is known to being one the most an eco-friendly and bike-friendly cities in the nation. When asked if he thinks the “bike friendliness” in Portland will spread to more cities he said, “Yeah, I think it will spread. It basically starts with people starting to ride their bikes and usually when cities see that there are a lot of people cycling then they start to put more money into [it].”
The Bike Hub offers clinics and classes throughout the year for students to attend, “we often don’t have a huge turnout because we teach people how to do repairs on their own.” This Saturday there is a ‘Prospective Student Fair’ that will be an active demonstration and information stand that gives prospective students the opportunity to learn more about the PSU Bike Hub and the benefits of bike riding.
The Bike Hub is located at the corner of SW 6th & Harrison (in the ASRC).
Another popular bike service in Portland is “River City Bicycles” which handles bike repairs, regular maintenance and upgrades. According to their website, they are “committed to the local cycling community, sponsoring local teams and clubs, giving to rides races and events (we’re the title sponsor of the Cross Crusade race series), and donating to organizations like Bikes to Rwanda and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.”
Alex Eriss is the Event Promotions Director at River City Bicycles and when asked how he would encourage a new rider to transition into bike riding he said, “[I would] tell people or better than that show people some of the safe routes and bike features Portland has with the bike crossings, some of the safety features on bikes for safety gear you can buy, ultimately people think it is not safe to go out riding in the streets, they don’t know the rules, so it is good to educate them a little bit more on what Portland has to offer for cyclists.”
He adds, “I think most people think that [cycling] is either unsafe or weather contingent. But we have great gear for riding in the rainy weather [and] if you ride your bike enough you will get more aware of your surroundings.”
Although there is not a discount for students on the services offered at River City Bicycles, people have the opportunity to receive a discount if they have a membership to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. For a single-person membership it is $40 for a year.
Every Wednesday at 5:30pm there is a free basic maintenance clinic being taught at River City Bicycles and anyone is encouraged to attend.
For more information log onto rivercitybicycles.com or visit, it is located at 706 SE MLK Blvd. Portland, OR.
