About

Mission: The [bike] Stable seeks to increase the use of non-motorized transportation in Southwest Michigan by improving access to bicycle education, goods, and maintenance for Kalamazoo area students.


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For some, bikes are a mode of transportation. For others, they're solely a form of recreation. And for a few, bikes are a way of life. If you are any of the above (or other), your bike is great and useful piece of machinery that helps you accomplish tasks, whatever they may be. Back in the day, folks referred to their work horses as steed. Good ones were trusty. In a sense, a bike works for it's rider to get them some place. Since a stable is a place where one tends to their steed, the WMU Bike Stable is a place where a cyclist can tend to their bike, or "trusty steed"!

Here at The Bike Stable, we're a bike shop equipped with the tools necessary to conduct most repairs and tune ups on almost any "steed". But it's more than that - at The Bike Stable, customers are involved in the repair process by cooperating with staff to learn how to fix their own bikes, saving us money on labor costs and, more importantly, saving YOU money on repairs.

Currently, The BIke Stable is in development stages and, while we have a temporary physical space, we're waiting for a renovation of a building closer to the heart of main campus to be completed before we open up to customer repairs. In the meantime, The Bike Stable will take abandon bikes that WMU Public Safety collects from bike racks on campus and fix them up for use as used bike rentals and sales.

The idea of a student-run bike shop at WMU isn't a new one; in 2007, three students (Matt Hollander, Ryan Seibert, and Magan Lippman) conducted campus research titles "Kalamazoo Bike Works: Evaluation of Strategies to Increase Western Michigan University's Bicycle Ridership". The study examined best practices of bicycle infrastructure, programs, and policy at universities and cities across the nation and made recommendations for which could best be implemented at WMU. A student led bike shop was their first recommendation.

A few years later, a new student at WMU, Zach Waas Smith, stumbled upon the Gibbs House for Sustainability Research and Education where students spearhead projects that benefit campus sustainability. Already a bicycle commuter, Zach found a campus bike shop a fitting project. Later, Zach and Matt met, they shared notes, met with others, and with the help of the newly established WMU Office for Sustainability, they started taking the idea of a student run bike shop to the next level.

Today, The Bike Stable has received over $11,000 in grant funding, refurbished the Gibbs House garage as a temporary shop space, and established a non-motorized transportation registered student organization. We're working with student artists, entrepreneurs, photographers, engineers, and others to help make it all happen. Soon, The Bike Stable hopes to offer modest retail (helmets, bike locks, lights, used bikes), host events and educational workshops, and become a hub for cycling culture in Kalamazoo. Watch out world, here we come!






If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to The [bike] Stable, please contact us at TheBikeStable@gmail.com or stop by during our open hours. All profits go directly back into making the shop a better, safer, place for both our mechanics and our visitors. We appreciate your support of your local, student run bike shop!

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