When he organized his first bike swap in 2017 in Colorado Springs, Gabe Alvarado admits “it was kind of a selfish thing.”

The local mountain biker didn’t want the annual event to go away — his chance to score deals on odds and ends for the riding season ahead. “And I knew that a lot of my friends really enjoyed it as well,” Alvarado said.

They’ll enjoy it again March 9, when a corral of used bikes and tables of parts, gear and apparel take over a field at SoccerHaus.

The bike swap will last from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. that Saturday. It’s yet again the chance for spring-cleaning cyclists to make some cash and others to buy their wants and needs at a friendly price.

“Friendly” has been the aim, Alvarado said. He called the swap’s “No. 1 priority” its benefit to nonprofit Kids on Bikes, which collects portions from entry fees ($5 this year).

The swaps have had a noticeable mountain bike presence, but road and gravel enthusiasts have found items as well. Alvarado said the swaps have seen close to 1,000 buyers through the door and between 60 and 80 vendors.

They can add a bike to the corral for $10, while booths start at $30. They are “anywhere from joe blows like you and me that might have a box full of parts or a couple of bikes to sell,” Alvarado said, to local shops and well-stocked sellers who have trailered inventory from as far as Kansas, Nebraska and California.

“It’s grassroots, but somehow our name has gotten out there,” Alvarado said.

He described the swap as proudly small. It started, he said, to be a much different from Denver’s big VeloSwap. After an absence since the COVID-19 pandemic, the expo is set to return in November under a new owner, nonprofit Bicycle Colorado.

Alvarado saw VeloSwap become “a bit too commercialized,” he said. “That’s something we didn’t want to do.”

There might still be “selfish aspects” for him still — it’s “cool” to see friends wheeling and dealing, he said. “But then you see some random stranger walking out with a smile on their face. That’s sweet, too.”