The Daily O’Collegian

He got tired of taking his nice bicycle on campus. When his fixer-upper was finished, he fixed 35 more and now he’s known as:

You can see the fliers all around campus: “Bicycles for Sale, Cheaper than Wal-Mart.”

Although the flier states the type of bicycles, gives a cell phone number and an address, it lacks one detail: who sells the bikes.

His name is Steven Hassenplug, a biological science and pre-med student.

Hassenplug began repairing bikes as a student.

“It all got started from being irritated at having my nice bicycle torn up on campus,” he said.

He decided to fix up a “junker bicycle” his friends had given him so he wouldn’t have to worry about leaving it on campus.

“So, I got some bicycle repair books and parts from the bike store and fixed the bike up,” Hassenplug said.

“I found that it actually was quite enjoyable.”

After finishing his first project, he went to an OSU bicycle auction looking for a road bike and ended up buying 35 bicycles.

“[My] girlfriend asked what in the world I was going to do with 35 bicycles. So, I thought about it and decided I was going to fix them up and sell them,” Hassenplug said.

And that’s what he did.

Hassenplug has been rather successful at his new hobby.

“I am having a lot of success in selling the bicycles,” Hassenplug said.

He contributes his success to Stillwater being “bicycle friendly” because “many people think that bicycling isn’t a bad alternative to spending money on gas.”

While Hassenplug said he is experiencing success, he admits that most of the money he makes goes back into repairing other bicycles he purchases.

Hassenplug gets the bicycles from all over—some for repair and some just for the parts.

“Without the parts, it would not be possible to offer the bikes for the prices they are now.” He said.

With his new hobby turning into a self-started business, it might make a person wonder whether Steven Hassenplug is a first-time entrepreneur.

“I currently own and operate my own auto sales and detailing business that I started when I was 12 years old,” Hassenplug said.

Regardless of whether it’s his experience, the catchy fliers, his attention to detail or a consumer demand for bicycles that jump-started his hobby, Stillwater has been good to Hassenplug so far.