A timely biz idea: Storage and showers for cyclists

Catering to the growing population of bike commuters is paying off for Minneapolis' Freewheel Midtown Bike Center.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)

bicycle_storage.03.jpg
Park your bike and grab a shower at Freewheel.

(Fortune Small Business) -- Sweaty, hot, and gross after biking to work? Cyclists in Minneapolis now have a better option than sponge baths in the restroom: The Freewheel Midtown Bike Center, where riders can take a shower, access lockers, lock up their bikes, and enjoy discounts on tune-ups and rentals.

A shower costs $3 per day, or cyclists can shell out $110 to join the Commuter Club, which covers all costs and gives them priority access to lockers and showers, as well as 24-hour bike-storage benefits.

Freewheel, located right on the Midtown Greenway, was inspired by a city-run enterprise in Chicago. The Minneapolis effort was spearheaded by small-business owner Kevin Ishaug, who opened the center as the second outpost of his five-year-old Freewheel Bike Shop. His timing couldn't have been better: Traffic on the bike path spiked 30% in the first half of 2008.

"We are the first private company to provide these kinds of services for bikers," says Ishaug, who anticipates revenues of $400,000 for the center's first six months. "During the first week we opened, we had 67 people sign up in one day."

Even Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak regularly frequents the depot for his morning coffee and energy bar.

"We all love bikers, but we don't always love the way they smell," he says. "The new center has been extraordinarily successful, especially because it opened right as we came into the summer of soaring gas prices, causing the biking population to go off the charts."  To top of page

Bike vs. bike: Fed up with commuting on gas? Check out this year's new pedal power.

Electric motorcycles hit the road

Specialized Bikes' startup story
To write a note to the editor about this article, click here.




QMy dream is to launch my own business someday. Now that it's time to choose a major, I'm debating if I should major in entrepreneurial studies or major in engineering to acquire a set of skills first. Is majoring in entrepreneurship a good choice? More
Get Answer
- Spate, Orange, Calif.

Sponsors
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.