I know this swap coverage is going to be overshadowed by Ann Arbor this weekend, but for anyone who wants to know what happened at the Arlington Heights swap, keep reading.
I knew ahead of time that it was going to be cold (40s) and windy with rain after noon. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. Attendance took a nose dive after noon with very few sales until close at 2pm.
New this year, all bikes must have been preregistered; previous swaps had allowed onsite registration. I had forgotten to register one of mine and it was not allowed into the swap.
Were there bargains? You betcha. To the best of my knowledge, this World Voyageur in Kool Lemon ($250) never sold, and it looked pretty original to my fairly untrained eye. Neither did the Schwinn Montague, although not as good of a buy at $195. I saw someone snag a Park heavy-duty repair stand, the one with the square metal base, for $80.
I would up selling one bike out of seven registered and buying one, a nice Specialized Allez, alu w/carbon fork & STI, for $175.