The University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) bike co-op has finally re-opened on Wednesday 31 July 2019, almost a year and a half after its scheduled relocation.

After the demolishment of its former home, the bike co-op will be located on the ground floor of Union House near the information desk. Not only will the co-op re- open in a new location, it will also re-open with a new name: ‘the bike collective’.

Environment Office Bearer (OB) Will Ross is excited to finally have the collective up and running. “We’re aiming for a very colourful, very welcoming space that says to people ‘the bike collective is for everyone, and it’s about working to together,’” he said. “This has involved ordering in furniture, vintage prints, and window vinyls for the Ground Floor space.”

“After three years of hard work, the Bike Collective are very proud to unveil our new Collective Space, available for all students on ground floor Union House. Today we welcome students with breakfast and bike advice, and our volunteers were able to help no less than five students with repairs on their bikes.”

The bike collective will offer a number of services including bike maintenance workshops, light repairs, spare parts and resources for cyclists. Ross is also hopeful that the collective will be able to expand in the future to offer bike rentals and more heavy-duty repairs.

“We want to demystify and de-gatekeep bike maintenance, bringing this important service back after the years of frustrating promises and waiting,” Ross said.

In May, Farrago investigated the delay in the bike collective’s reopening, which current and former Environment OBs blamed on UMSU bureaucracy.

More details about the bike collective’s re-opening can be found on their Facebook page ‘Melbourne Uni Bike Co-op’.

This is an updated article that previously appeared in print. It has been updated to reflect the opening of the co-op.