The A-D Bikes Blog: A-D Bikes at the 2014 Bicycle Coalition of Maine Bike Swap

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine Portland Bike Swap is an annual event that brings buyers and sellers of bikes together for a mad three hours of commerce. Owners bring their old and not so old bikes to the University of Southern Maine Sullivan Complex and list a price that they would like to obtain. At the appointed hour, potential buyers surge into the building in search of a dream bike or a bike that they can fix up and use for the local commute. The event has been a tremendous success and each year it seems to get bigger.I am a business member of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and thus I get to set up a booth at the swap.

The booths were located at the edge of the parking lot in front of the hundred or so people lined up waiting to get into the complex. It was a fine place to be. I had a lot of help from by business school buddy Peter Tousigant: he helped me get the bikes and frames to the swap, set up the tent and the displays, and keep an eye on things once the questions began to fly. I spent two hours fielding questions about the bikes, the frames, the story: it was a Bike Talk Marathon. The weather was a bit damp and the wind picked up which blew the bikes and the frames over, despite our best efforts to keep them upright. That was stressful. Next year I will innovate the displays a bit.

I had all the steel frame sets that I have acquired for color match purposes and the three new Limited Series frame sets. My original steel Champagne Superleicht was on display (in the image below). I spent a lot time explaining how that frame set inspired this whole adventure. The Ubercross Carbon Disc Classic was there and attracted a lot of attention: the bike really turned out very well, so well I do not want to ride it! My tt Carbon was on display and attracted plenty of attention too, given its aero lines and disc wheel. I also had my Superleicht Carbon Classic Di2 in a stand: it was still pretty dirty having just returned from a week of riding in California. The voices of the three bikes had a wonderful harmony.

It was very satisfying to hear the excitement, hand out cards and hear about everyone's Bike World. Next time I have to get people to sign a sheet of paper or something so that I can follow up. Actually, a few people signed up for the newsletter through the site.

I was unable to take any pictures, talk to friends at the other booths or even go into the swap. Thankfully, David Van Chu was there with his camera and his professional eye: he took these great images. Tak and Nina turned up with sandwiches and rescued Peter and I who were really pretty tired and hungry by the end. The swap was a fine event and great practice for A-D Bikes eventual debut at Inter Bike.