“Used bikes are in high demand, and we unfortunately don’t have any used bikes,” sustainable transportation manager at the MSU Bikes Service Center Tim Potter said. “They’re all new bikes. Obviously students are on tight budgets and they’re looking for the best deals they can get. It’s just used bikes, we tend to sell out earlier in the year, and we don’t have any currently.”

Even when it comes to their new and rental bikes, the MSU Bikes Service Center is “getting close” to running out, Potter said.

“We have currently, at the MSU Bike Service Center, we have 55 new bikes for sale and around 50 rentals yet available,” Matt deSilva, head of marketing and sales at the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center, said.

The surplus store is expecting to get more used bikes toward the end of September.

“They’re basically abandoned bikes from campus,” deSilva said. “The Department of Public Safety picks them up at the end of the academic year. They have different clean-up times. They post notices. I know that DPS picks them up and then they hold them for a certain amount of time and then they become available to us.”

But the MSU Bikes Service Center doesn’t get used bikes from DPS. Instead, they’re relying on rentals and new bike sales during their busiest time of the year.

“We do a lot of repair services outside of the shop as fast as possible and as quick as possible,” Potter said. “We’re doing as much as we can with the staff that we have. We’re just cranking through a lot of bikes.”

Graduate student Leijie Wang takes his bike to the MSU Bikes Service Center for repairs, but he buys used bikes in good condition from the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center.

“Because it’s cheap,” Wang said. “Much, much cheaper than here.”

This time of year, repairs and new bike sales are two of the most popular services at the MSU Bikes Service Center.

“Basically what I often say is, if they have a bike, it’s broken,” Potter said. “If they don’t have a bike, they’re here to get one.”

When used bikes aren’t available, rental bikes are also a popular service for students looking to save some money.

“They’re popular,” deSilva said. “We sell out of rentals every year.”

Computer science sophomore Nia Keith usually walks on campus, but said she would come to the MSU Bikes Service Center if she ever changed her mind.

“I would come here probably just to rent it,” Keith said. “I wouldn’t buy a bike because I have one at home, so I’d just rent it.”

Despite the fact that the MSU Bikes Service Center and the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center have seen a rush of customers looking for good deals on bikes, it’s been business as usual at the MSU Bikes Service Center.

“It’s just kind of the nature of fall semester,” Potter said. “It’s our 10th year, so we’re kind of used to the pattern.”