Velo Swap

22 October 2011

The largest consumer cycling show: Buy, Sell, Re-Cycle
It is a fantastic celebration of everything in the world of bicycling. VeloSwap features new and used bicycles and equipment, cycling and sports clinics, family events, cycling celebrities, product sampling, an all-new EcoVillage, and much, much more.
Reaching over 10,000 people, VeloSwap tunes into energy consciousness and recycling for this year’s upcoming October event. Organizers will incorporate an EcoVillage into the show to capture and promote the underlying current of VeloSwap, recycling and bicycling energy efficiency!

Why Attend?

VeloSwap is the world’s largest consumer bicycle and sports expo. It is THE place to see, swap, buy, and sell every imaginable bike, part, and accessory.
This cultural cycling happening is a not-to-be-missed experience. It is the place to feel the pulse of the cycling community and rub elbows with like minded cyclists

VeloSwap is an important congregation of cyclists, not only for buying and selling, but for socializing” ~ quote from a 2009 attendee

By attending, you will:

See and touch the latest bicycling equipment and accessories
Test ride that bicycle you have been dreaming about
Attend interesting and informative seminars
Meet like minded individuals in the pursuit of cycling happiness
And More!

Subaru Denver VeloSwap Details:

Over 550 vendors
60,000 square feet of vendor space
Over 10,000 attendees
Tons of fun

Booth space is available to individuals, clubs, retailers, manufacturers and sales reps.

History

It’s an annual event that even armored car drivers now fear. It’s the emptying of the ATM machines at the National Western Complex in Denver for VeloSwap, the mammoth bicycle swap and expo. Now in its 22nd year, each year VeloSwap attendees drain some $175,000 cash from ATMs on-site because they’d run out of money snapping up deals from the hundreds of vendors selling every imaginable bike, parts, accessories, clothing. Need a vintage-condition still-in-the-box Campagnolo Gran Sport derailleur circa 1979? Or a new Litespeed? Or a barely used 6″ travel downhill bike? That’s what an estimated 10,000 attendees are in the hunt for.
VeloSwap was started in 1989 by VeloNews art director Dan Wildhirt because he and his friends had extra bike stuff at the end of the season to get rid of. That first edition was held outdoors at a Boulder cyclo-cross race. Over the next few years it became apparent that the swap had outgrown all possible venues in Boulder, so the event finally had to move to nearby Denver, where it found a home at the sprawling National Western Complex, famous for rodeo and stock shows. Filling some 140,000 square feet VeloSwap has developed into the world’s largest single-day consumer bike show and swap.
The show quickly became known as the place for killer deals and where you could buy from Tyler Hamilton himself that year’s race bike. Racers would blow out barely used $5000 race bikes for $600. Brand new Vittoria CX sew-ups went for the 1975 price of $12 each. And if you wanted to find a vintage De Rosa frameset VeloSwap was the hotspot for collectors. Bike shops used the season-ending VeloSwap to flush-out dead inventory that they didn’t want to carry over the winter.
Because the best deals were had by those first in line, lines would start forming before dawn, sometimes even backing up onto the nearby freeway. When the doors opened at 9am there was literally a wall of people running down the aisles scouting out the best deals. At 9:30am it was practically impossible to walk the aisles, prompting the fire marshal one year to threaten to stop new entrants from coming in because occupancy limits were in jeopardy.