Hundreds of people gathered for the 13th Annual Alberta Bike Swap at Calgary’s Max Bell Center on Saturday hoping to trade in their current ride for a new one.
Calgarians who commute daily see it as a better option for transportation.
They say high gas and traffic, make cycling a better alternative – if the weather cooperates.
“This is how I’m going to work – unless it’s -20 C,” said one man at the Bike Swap. “So it’s much cheaper to go downtown on a bike than to park.”
Others say it is more pleasant and affordable.
“It’s definitely a great option. It’s definitely a great way to start your day,” explained another man at the event.
“I think it’s a pretty good city to ride a bike in, it’s got a lot of nice trail systems along the rivers and lakes and lots of parks to work in.”
A mother shared with CityNews that her goal is to travel with her child to day care “instead of driving the 6 miles.”
“It’s very invigorating, in some ways it saves time. It’s exercise, it connects you with the city,” he said.
Alberta Bike Swap co-director Laura Grant says Calgary’s 2024 bike swap is bigger.
“We started a pre-registration, we opened it for 48 hours and we had 250 bikes pre-registered,” Grant said.
“We didn’t expect so many bikes. My guess is that we will have more than 600 bikes.”
After having a bad experience buying bikes online, Grant and her husband decided to create Alberta Bike Swap, a non-profit organization to provide a safe place to buy, sell and donate bikes.
Shoppers at the event can purchase pre-verified bikes that are in optimal condition and have been scanned to ensure they have not been reported stolen. Sellers also have a safe space to offer their bikes.
“Nice bikes and everything is in really good condition because we do a very thorough job of checking,” Grant said.
Watch: The Alberta Bike Show kicks off its weekend event in Calgary
People say the event has a selection of good bikes at good prices, and makes it easy to buy new or upgrade.
“I think it would save a ton of hassle trying to sell on Facebook Marketplace or that kind of thing, we just have to drop it and they’ll take care of it,” said one resident.
Others shared how commuting by bike is a way to avoid high parking costs in the city, noting that Calgary has significantly improved routes for recreational cycling.
“I just like to ride my bike and I like to avoid the hassle of parking, so riding around is a good way to do it,” explained another person on Bike Swap.
“There are tons of bike paths here, it’s unbelievable how many bike paths we have. It’s endless.”
This year Alberta Bike Swap also saw an increase in bike donations. Donated bikes valued at nearly $60,000 in 2023.
