End of donated fix-it stations in La Crosse discouraging for bicycle community

The possibility of fixing your bike while out and about in La Crosse has become a bit more difficult.

Four bike fix-it stations that were donated to the city and maintained by the Beer By Bike Brigade have been removed.

The charitable organization posted on social media that the stations had been repeatedly vandalized and the group preferred not to use taxpayer-funded monitoring to keep an eye on the stations in the future.

“It’s discouraging, especially because the local cycling community was so involved in getting those out on the streets,” Robbie Young, owner of Coulee Bicycle Company and a member of the city’s bike and ped committee, said.

Beer By Bike Brigade (BBB) had orchestrated donation and installation of the bike fix-it stations, valued at more than $1,000 each. The first one was put in place just three years ago and the group had hoped for more to be installed.

Young says that while fix-it stations might get vandalized less in more high density areas, they also might not be used as much.

“You want to put them where people are going to see them and be able to use them,” Young said. “The ones that are at trailheads or in high-traffic areas, that’s exactly where you want them to be.”

Young believes the vandalism is kind of a hit to the city’s bike-friendly status, but not the dismantling of that status altogether.

“A higher status for the city of La Crosse relies on, not just fix-it stations scattered around the town, but many other things,” he said.

A representative from the BBB did not comment for this story but, in a social media post, said the stations would be repaired and sold with proceeds going to a new project.