Buy/Sell/Trade/Repeat

Trailnet’s 2013 Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap meet is HUGE – 33,000 square feet of exhibition and vendor space. Bike shops, individuals, and nonprofits will be there manning well-stocked booths, ready to deal. Find the bikes, accessories, and parts you need, want, and desire. 

We will also be featuring the fantastic classic bike show. The classic bike show and vintage swap meet has grown in the last nine years to include antique and custom bikes from the 1890's to the 1980's. There is nothing like attending this event and seeing an antique bike or a custom bike that you had (or wish you had) when you were a kid. You will see some of the coolest, most stylish bikes that were built years ago and see the history and workmanship of bikes from the past to the present.

Trailnet's 2013 Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to pick up a deal, unload your unused parts, gear, and cycles, check out upcoming trends, and hang out with other people who just love bikes.

If you want to:

Buy… Just come. All vendors welcome cash and it will give you a leg up. Some vendors may not take credit cards.

Sell… Anyone can rent booth space and you may want to if you’ve got lots to sell. Click here to reserve booth space. 

The Bike Corral is right for you if you have just a few items to sell. The Corral is a special area where you can place your item/s and leave them to continue to shop throughout the exhibit. If the item is sold while you’re gone, Trailnet collects the money and holds it until the end of the show. There will be constant monitoring of the Corral and no item will leave without a sold tag. 

When the Swap Meet closes at 3:00 p.m., unclaimed item/s and cash collected for sold items become the property of Trailnet.

Trade… There is no formal process for this – go for it!

The Classic Bicycle Show and Vintage Swap Meet feature antique and costom bikes from the 1890's to the present. Be sure toattend our 9th Annual Classic Bicycle Show!

$5 entry fee per bike
Registration: 10 am to noon

• Muscle bike - original & restored
• Balloon tire - original & restored
• BMX - original & restored
• Middleweight & lightweight
• Custom & special interest

Questions? Call Steve at 314.436.1324 x 138 or email him at steve@trailnet.org

As recounted by Bob Foster and Carrie Zukoski

The Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap Meet has a long and storied past. It was conceived in 2001 by Don Humphreys, the president of The Touring Cyclist, who owned the largest chain of bike shops in the St. Louis area. He approached the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation (Bike Fed) and offered his warehouse space in Bridgeton for a swap meet to use as a fundraiser.

In the lull between the holidays and the start of warmer weather, Don said his warehouse was uncluttered by bikes and offered space to sell booths and offer information about local nonprofits, including the fledging Bike Fed. His generous offer meant the Bike Fed could set prices for booths or displays and keep all the proceeds. The Touring Cyclist had a small booth to show off new models and clear out older bikes and accessories, but otherwise the space belonged to the Bike Fed for the day.

That first day was cold. At the end of January, it was below freezing and the warehouse didn’t have much heat, or light, or “atmosphere.” But 300 people and a couple dozen booth vendors got together to score deals and get stoked about the upcoming ride season. And everybody agreed it should be repeated.

So for the 2002 event, the search began for a bigger space – one where competing bike shops felt “more welcome.” Again, another local business run by cycling enthusiasts, THF Realty, stepped up. THF had completed building a BIG warehouse in the Chesterfield Valley, but had no tenants in the space yet. Thanks to the persuasiveness of Bike Fed Swap manager Carrie Zukoski, and the obvious potential of the Bike Swap concept, THF made the cavernous space available for free.

The downside: there were exactly three feeble work lights in the whole space. There were no bathrooms, plumbing or heating and there were only a few electrical outlets. Carrie went to work renting lights, portapotties, a sound system, a generator, and the usual tables and chairs. For the first time, vendors were allowed to set up the day before the event. That necessitated overnight security for the bikes.

The first “night-before” bike watch set the standard for years to come. It’s January, sleeting, and there are a hundred bikes in a space the size of several football fields. For an avid cyclist, it’s the best conditions for riding in the Midwest.

Documentation is sketchy, but it’s believed the sport of cyclotubing was invented that night. With a road bike tube, a wheeled speaker dolly is lashed to the back frame of a mountain bike. One person is sprawled on top of the dolly and the other pedals like crazy. On smooth concrete with lots of room to build up speed, cornering was dicey and the stretching and tugging of the inner tube spun and skidded the screaming rider.

A second Swap Meet tradition began that year: limping, bruised volunteers.

Weather conditions were worse than the previous year. Overnight sleet had accumulated to a few inches of ice with several inches of snow atop that. There was not a snowplow in sight and many roads, including highways were nearly impassable. Chances were good that no one would show, yet several hundred people braved the conditions and had a great time, test riding bikes and planning for the warm weather to come.

For the Bike Fed, the Swap Meet fizzled financially. Attendance and booth sales were good – considering the weather, but expenses for generators, lighting, sound systems, and other items left no profit. It was chalked up to a good time and more visibility for the Bike Fed. For the 2003 Swap the hunt began for a better venue.

Just as with THF Realty, another local company run by avid cyclists who had space to spare stepped up. Summit Realty offered the use of a vacant big box store in Maplewood’s Deer Creek Center. The space was ideal in many ways: heating, lighting, parking, and the location were perfect. The building had been vacant for quite a few years though; the bathrooms were “unreliable” and parts of the floor had buckled underneath the leaking roof.

Volunteers spent most of the week prior cleaning and loading in gear. The night before the Swap, a large corps of buzzed volunteer security staff took liberties with the bikes. It’s possible an indoor speed record was set using a racing tricycle on the linoleum floor, slaloming around the columns. Shopping carts, it turns out, can haul passengers just fine behind a bike. The trail builders from GORC blazed new trails on loading docks and pallets.

When the doors opened the next morning, hung over and bruised volunteers welcomed more than 800 cyclists and 60 vendors. With nearly 1,000 people in the building, talking, cycling, test riding, scoping new gear, and bargaining, it was obvious the Swap Meet was a success and had momentum for years to come. This was also the debut of the Bike Corral and the Classic Bike Show, both of which are now standard features at the Swap.

For the next two years, Summit lent its space and the Swap Meet continued to grow. But the building deteriorated and volunteer availability to prep the building was scarce. In 2006 Carrie retired and a replacement could not be found in time to hold the event that year.

Due to the Swap’s overwhelming success, the Bike Fed board decided to go upscale and look at for convention space, where things like bathrooms, security, and heat would be available. The Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville was chosen. It is a great facility, worthy of expanding the event to include educational seminars and attracting bike manufacturers and regional distributors.

In 2010 Trailnet joined with Bike Fed to jointly sponsor the Swap. Since 2012 Trailnet has taken sole responsibility for administering the event. The 2013 event is not to be missed! If you are interested in anything or everything about cycling you will want to be there!

*All photos provided by Carrie Zukoski

To register for a booth, click here