Research

Research Topic: Biking On Campus

For this assignment, I went about researching the subtopic "biking on campus"

To learn more about this topic, I tried to use three different techniques:

1. Ask
2. Observe
3. Experience

Ask

The "ask" portion of my research involved doing interviews with people who gave an appropriate representation of campus bikers.  I interviewed 4 people described below.  I am using representative names for convenience, but their real names are not used in this blog.

1. Jim - A Mechanic/Salesman at Varsity Bike & Transit
2. Ben - A guy riding one of the Nice Ride rental bicycles
3. Juli - A student who rarely rides bikes (laggard)
4. Mike - An avid student bicycle rider (early adapter)

Interview 1 - Jim

Jim was able to provide a wealth of information.  Rather than ask him about his own personal commuting needs, my questioning was mostly about what his customers are looking for when they come into the shop.  Since Varsity Bike is located right in the heart of Dinkeytown, I figured that this would give an accurate representation of the needs of bikers on campus.  We started by talking about what a consumer is looking for in a bike itself.  The primary drivers tend to be:

1. Price
2. Appearance/personal aesthetic appeal
3. Functionality

In that order.  Jim highlighted that price is often the overriding factor by far.  His discussion about the appearance & the functionality got into somewhat  of a distinction between geared bikes vs. single speed bikes.  A big part of the functionality discussion involved the trade off between ease of biking vs minimal parts & ease of maintenance.  Your standard derailleur is prone to damage, and it can be very challenging to keep clean in the winter.  An interesting compromise that Jim showed me was an internal gear hub that was on multiple models.  The bike initially looked like a single speed, and it offered many of the same benefits such as ease of maintenance, but it also afforded riders a range of three gears to help tackle inclines.  Jim went on to state that that outside of the bike purchase, the main accessories that riders are looking for are a high quality lock, a helmet, and a light system for riding when it is dark.  He informed me that it is actually the law that riders need to have a front light and a rear reflector at a minimum.  Somewhat less common but still purchased are rain/mud guards, helmets, and pack/rack systems.

Conclusion - Consumer Needs:

1. A bike that is cheap - this means initial cost, upkeep, and protection from loss (theft)
2. Minimal maintenance - Most students do not have the ability or the means to do mechanical maintenance on bikes
3. Safety - The fact that students are buying both helmets and lights systems indicates that they are motivated to stay safe
4. Aesthetics - Cost and functionality are (according to Joe) primary motivators for a bike purchase, and aesthetics tend to be secondary

Interview 2 - Ben

Over the last couple of years I have noticed that there has been a significant increase in the number of the green Nice Ride bikes all over the Twin Cities, including on the U's campus.  As I was walking through, I noticed a guy riding leisurely through and asked him if had the time to answer a couple of questions.  I was curious about what Ben's motivation was for using the Nice Ride bikes.  Ben had a couple of specific reason's for using these.  It is interesting to note that Ben ownes his own bike and still chooses to pay the rental fee to use the Nice Rides.  The reasons that Ben brought up for using the Nice rides include the following:

1. They are maintenance free.  Ben is able to count on having a functional bike on hand and does not need to worry about lubing chains or pumping up bike tires.
2. He does not need to worry about theft.  He does not ever lock up a Nice Ride, he uses it for point to point destinations, and then checks it back into the nearest Nice Ride Corral.
3. Ben does not need to worry about extra storage.  He mentioned that the bike that he owns is a challenge to store.  He has limited indoor space, and he often resorts to just leaving his bike locked up outside to make room.  With the Nice Rides, he never has to use his personal (and limited) space, because the bike just gets checked back in when he is done.

We delved a bit deeper into the maintenance part, and Ben made an interesting point.  He said that an annual subscription to Nice Ride is about $60, and that much money could be spent on maintenance alone. for a personal bike.  He did mention that there were some downsides to the Nice Rides.  They are very heavy, and it would be very taxing to try and complete a long ride or a ride with multiple hills.

Conclusion - Ben's Needs

1. Ben wants a transportation solution that involves minimum maintenance
2. Ben does not want to worry about having his property stolen
3. Ben has very limited space to store things

Interview 3 - Juli

Juli was a girl sitting on campus in the quad who was willing to answer some questions in between some of the homework that she was getting done.  She was not riding a bike that day, but she said that she does occasionally ride a bike when the weather is nice.  It was clear after talking to Juli that she does not ride often, and when she does, there are some issues that she has.  Her specific concerns included the following:

1. It is challenging to carry her accessories on the bike
2. Communication while biking is much more challenging than while walking or riding the bus (texting, talking on her cellphone, browsing Facebook)
3. Bike seats are uncomfortable when riding for extended periods of time
4. Biking is not easy to do when the weather is not optimal.  Specifically, snow and rain conditions that compromise traction can be very scary.
5. Juli was concerned about theft, and she was worried about the idea of leaving her bike on campus
6. Juli mentioned that it is challenging (particularly as a girl) to deal with the affects that biking has on her appearance.

We delved a little deeper into two issues, carrying accessories, and the negative affects on personal appearance.

The story that Juli told about carrying accessories was interesting to me.  She told a story about how she was trying to ride on her bike and transport a cup of coffee at the same time.  The coffee cup was a thermos with a cover, but it was not the right size to fit into a standard water bottle cage.  She started off by trying to hold it, but that did not work, because she could not adequately reach both the brakes.  Then she tried to jam it into the cage, but as she was riding it fell out, broke on the ground and spilled her coffee all over the place.  We talked about how often we see students carrying beverages in containers that would not be easy to transport on a bike, such as coffee, Gatorade bottles, and Nalgene bottles.

Juli also had a lot to say about how it was not easy to "beauty up" after taking a bike ride.  If she chose to wear a helmet, it would mess up her hair, and once she was done with the ride, she would usually need to wipe down her face and re-apply all her makeup.  She also usually needed to be able to carry a lot of stuff with her that she didn't want to be wearing while biking such as:

1. A nice outfit, such as maybe a dress
2. Jewelry accessories such as earrings or a necklace
3. A purse
4. High heels
5. All of the above mentioned makeup

Conclusion - Juli's needs

1. A robust way to carry beverages
2. A means to maintain her appearance throughout a ride, or improve her appearance after a bike ride
3. A way to either easily carry all of her extra accessories, or have a drop location to pick them up from

Interview 4 - Mike

My discussion with Mike made it clear that he was an avid bike rider.  He was riding a single speed  bike, but he had clip-less pedals, and had a waterproof roll top bag.  It was clear that he had spent a little bit more money on his equipment than some of my previous interviewees, or many of the other people that I had seen riding.  Although Mike did not share many of the same concerns that Juli did, there were some issues that he touched on.  The first was that Mike use cycling as a means to get to class, and also to his job which was an engineering internship.  he noted that it was sometimes very challenging to get to work looking professional after biking.  If he wore his work clothes while biking, there was a good chance that he would get them wet, muddy, sweaty or get grease on his pants.  He could protect the clothes in his bag, but then the odds were that they would end up getting pretty wrinkled.  This had been an ongoing problem for him.  His temporary solution was to trade off the days that he biked to work with a drive.  On the driving days, he dropped off clothes for his biking days, but this solution was not optimal.

Mike also noted that theft was a concern of his.  He cared about his equipment, and it was apparent that it probably cost him some money.  He noted some of the precautions that he took, such as bolted on wheels rather than quick release, and a hex nut seat clamp rather than a quick release clamp.  He showed me the U-lock that he used, and although it looked very secure, it was also pretty heavy which was a concern of Mike's.

Conclusion - Mike's needs

1. A robust theft protection system that is not overly heavy
2. A means to either protect his work clothes or transport his work clothes without wrinkling them

Observe

I spent a day this weekend walking through campus doing nothing but watch bikers.  It was interesting to notice things that I had never really seen before.  I noticed several things that I had not really seen before.  One was that there are a lot of signs of theft and or damage to bikes at many of the bike parking areas.  Many places I looked I saw locks that had been cut, bikes missing wheels (or in the case shown on the left wheels missing bikes), and bikes missing seats.  It is pretty clear why people push to have more serious locks on their bikes, and take measures to try to prevent theft.

Something else I noticed was that it is hard for many people to deal with the environmental challenges that come with biking.  I saw a couple of examples similar to what is shown here on the right.  Someone had taken a plastic shopping bag and tied it off over their seat in an effort to keep the seat dry if it rained during the day, probably hoping that they could take it off after the storm and have a dry seat to sit on.

I also got to see a couple of people trying to use their cellphone while biking.  I did not manage to get any shots of this, but both examples did not look very safe.  One young woman I saw riding through an intersection with her phone up to her ear with one hand in an attempt to hold a phone conversation.  She ended up running through a red light.  Although no on got hurt, it looked like it had the potential for a serious incident.

Experience

I have had a significant amount of experience biking on campus.  I used a bike exclusively for transportation throughout my time as an undergrad, and I have used a combination of biking and driving now during my time as a graduate student.  My biggest challenges are similar to Mike's in that it is hard to transition from biking into a professional setting.  I have found mediocre ways around these issues with the right gear such as hard shell pants & jackets as well as waterproof bags (such as the one shown to the left) to protect myself from weather challenges, but it continues to be a challenge.

I also had a challenge with how to come up with space for my bike when I was an undergrad living on campus.  There is inevitably not enough space inside the kind of apartment that a college student can afford, so it was always a challenge to figure out what to do with my bike.  I have also found that in the summer months when there is a lot of bike traffic, it is often hard to find a space to park a bike legally.  I noticed as I was riding to study over the weekend that the U has put in some interesting new racks over by Coffman in an attempt to maximize the amount of space available.  The way these bikes are mounted vertically will probably allow enough space for an extra row to be put in.  Although this picture was taken over the weekend, this bike corral is completely filled up during the week when the weather is nice, and it is very challenging to figure out where to put a bike.

Major Insights

1. Maintaining a "dressier appearance" through a bike commute is challenging.  This was a problem for many people that I talked to, but it was a particular issue for females and people commuting to a professional setting.  This point was supported by my interviews with Mike and with Juli, as well as through my own experiences.
2. It is challenging for bikers to decide to compromise on weight/bulk vs security when deciding what kind of lock to use for their bike.  Mike explicitly pointed this out in his interview.
3. People have a hard time carrying non-standard items like coffee thermoses on a bike.  This was an interesting point that came up in Juli's interview.  After she stated it, I realized that I had also had similar challenges.  Although I don't drink coffee, I have had times where I have grabbed a quick meal in between classes, and wanted to bring my fountain soft drink with me on my bike only to realize I had no way of carrying it.
4. Communication is a challenge on a bike.  It is easy for people to talk on the phone or text while walking or riding on the bus, but it is much more challenging to do when riding a bike.  Julie brought this up during her interview, and I saw this firsthand during my observations.

Problem Statements

1. Juli the commuting student needs a way to securely carry her various beverage containers on a bicycle because popular containers such as Nalgene or Starbucks thermos do not fit in standard bike bottle cages
2. Mike the commuting student and intern needs a way to get to work with professional attire because biking tends to compromise dress clothes due to environmental effects such as water and mud or due to packaging effects such as wrinkled clothes.

Both of these problem statements are clearly supported by the interviews described above.