Calgary Bike Swap

08/04/2026

Donate a children's bike to Kiwanis Club of Calgary Chinook if you can, They work with social service agencies and rely on bike donations. We've been rebuilding bikes with them for years because they're wonderful people that genuinely care, but they've also been short bike donations and it's heartbreaking to see a social worker leave without a bike for their young client.

🚲 Keep the fun rolling all summer long! ☀️
School is out, the sun is shining, and we know our local kids are ready to ride! That’s why Kiwanis service doesn’t take a summer vacation. Our Bicycle Donation Program is always running to help every kid get outside and stay active!

A bicycle can mean everything to a child. It’s their ticket to:

Exploring the neighborhood

Meeting up with friends for a game

Riding to their first summer job

Cruising to local learning programs or camps

How can your family help?

We are always looking for donations of outgrown bicycles! If your garage is home to bikes that aren't being used, we will gladly give them a tune-up and get them to a child who needs one. It’s a great way for your children to make a big difference in another kid’s life!

To donate or learn more, contact us for more details.

07/31/2026

This is one of the best charities to to donate a bike. We volunteer with them and have had a few heartbreaking times when there aren't enough bikes to give out.

Let’s Get Calgary Rolling! 🚲 Help the Kiwanis Bike Program give the Gift of Independence!

We believe that every child in our community deserves the joy, confidence, and independence that comes from owning their own bicycle. The Kiwanis Bike Program is officially in full swing, but we need your help to reach our goal of 100 bikes this season!

How can you support?

🚲 Donate a Bike: Clear out your garage and give an outgrown, gently used bike a new life.

🛠️ Volunteer to Repair: Join our wrench workshops! No experience is necessary; we will train you to refurbish bikes for a child.

Every hour volunteered and every bike donated directly changes a local child's life.

👉 Send us a message to arrange a donation drop-off or for info on our next bike repair session!

07/30/2026

Why Cross-Verification Matters: Data-Driven Bike Security

Why does Alberta Bike Swap cross-reference both Bike Index and Project 529 databases?

Because municipal boundaries don't stop bike theft and cyclists come to our bike swaps from the north (Yukon and NWT), south (Montana and Idaho), East (SK and MB), and west (BC). Different law enforcement agencies, post-secondary campuses, and municipalities utilize different software platforms. A bicycle stolen in a jurisdiction using Project 529 might turn up in an area that primarily checks Bike Index. To ensure total coverage and chain-of-custody verification, we cross-reference every bicycle entering our systems against both major registries. We also copyrighted our processes after all the years of work and life savings we've put into our nonprofit.

Join us at RiverWalk Plaza, East Village on August 2nd from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM to get your ride registered on Bike Index!

A massive thank you to our hosts at East Village Calgary for providing the space and support, and to the Calgary Police Service and their Police Bike Recovery Unit for partnering with us to keep our community safe.

Engineering safe outcomes through data. 📊🚴‍♀️

07/24/2026

As Alberta Bike Swap continues its mission to serve our communities, we are preparing for a busy season of theft prevention. As official Ambassadors for Bike Index, we are planning bike registration events across the province in Lethbridge, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Calgary.

📢 Save the Date: On August 2nd, we will be working alongside Calgary Police Bike Recovery at RiverWalk Plza, East Village to help riders register their bikes and learn about theft prevention.

People often ask us why we are Ambassadors for Project 529 (529 Garage) as well. The answer is simple: total coverage. Many neighboring provinces, states, and municipalities rely on Project 529, while others use Bike Index. To make sure no stolen property passes through our doors, we verify every single bicycle at our events against both registries.

For 15.5 years, we built, tested, and refined this dual-verification safety process from the ground up—and secured a copyright on our proprietary system. While it comes as no surprise that another bike swap where they had volunteered with us have recently started copying the exact processes we spent over a decade perfecting, our goal remains the same: total accountability and ending bike theft in Alberta.

Together, we can end bike theft. See you in East Village on August 2nd!

Want to volunteer? Message us.

Stolen Bikes Calgary and Surrounding Area Bike to Work Day Calgary Calgary Evergreen Community Association Kiwanis Club of Calgary Chinook Bicycles for Humanity - Calgary Chapter

07/16/2026

"If we plan it, they will come." We put that to the test and nearly 40 people showed up for our potluck picnic! Thank you to everyone who came out to eat, laugh, and connect. Sorry if you missed it - let us know if you want to join us next time.

Our community thrives because of partnerships with groups like Kiwanis Chinook. We help them every chance we get because they are entirely legit—working directly with local social service agencies to get bikes to families who need them. Got a bike to donate? Send us a message, because they are the real thing.

Even the repair workflow is a win-win. The first "once over" of the bikes happens at the Remand Centre, where inmates determine if a bike is worth repairing. This gives them valuable, hands-on mechanical skills while saving our team precious repair time.

Meanwhile, we’re keeping busy working with cities, police services, and local bike groups across Alberta to set up bike registration events. (We gave up waiting to hear back from the City of Calgary, who won't respond, so we are working with another location already!). As proud ambassadors for both Bike Index and Project 529, we want to help secure your ride.

Want to know more or get involved? Let us know! 🚲🛡️

07/08/2026

Another week full of overwhelmingly good people! We’ve been bouncing around Stampede breakfasts and events lately—or as we like to call it, "Stampween" (a mix of Stampede and Halloween!). 🤠🎃

Growing up on a farm, I definitely know how to saddle a horse (it was done in rubber boots and overalls not what I see on the stampede grounds). But these days, our absolute favorite tradition is the annual Arcurve Stampede party.

We can’t say enough about the kindness, goodness, and welcoming atmosphere of every single Arcurve event. They are truly like family to us—everyone is brilliant, kind, and wonderful. We loved catching up with our friends at The Calgary Chamber of Commerce and seeing our friends at Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids, who are getting custom software built by Arcurve to help feed local kids.

Thank you, Arcurve, for always bringing the best people together and lifting up our community! ❤️

06/30/2026

At Alberta Bike Swap, we've always believed that trust is earned by doing what you say you'll do.

Every bicycle that comes through our events is connected to its owner, safety checked, and verified against stolen bike databases. That's been our commitment from the very beginning.

Now we're expanding that commitment.

We're launching a series of free Bike Index and Project 529 bicycle registration and awareness events throughout Calgary. Our goal is simple: help more cyclists register their bikes, prevent theft, and improve the chances of recovering stolen bicycles.

Over the years we've helped thousands of people register their new-to-them bikes, and we're grateful that the Calgary Police Service Bike Recovery Team recently recognized those efforts.

Working alongside the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Calgary Police Service, Calgary Bike Theft Recovery, volunteers, and community partners, we'll be bringing registration events to pathways, commuter routes, and cycling events across Calgary.

Watch for upcoming dates—we'd love to help you protect your bike.

Together, we're building a stronger, safer cycling community.

06/26/2026

Neighbour Day is all about community, connection, and neighbours helping neighbors. This past weekend, we did what we do best: showing up with the infrastructure to keep our communities moving forward! 🚴‍♂️🏡

We were honoured to deploy our community bike racks to several neighbourhood block parties across Calgary, as well as for the Wildrose Women's Events.

While we rarely discuss our personal family life on social media, we are incredibly proud to step up as grandparents whenever we can. It often requires a 2, 3, or even a 14-hour journey to get there, but it is an adventure that is always worth it to care, love, and help our family.

One of our grandchildren is very special, and they are the inspiration behind our deep commitment to adaptive cycling. It is the direct reason we partner so closely with CP Kids & Families and You Can Ride 2. These incredible groups are just one of the 104 strategic alliances we have meticulously built and sustained over the decades. We believe that active transportation must be accessible to every single person, regardless of physical ability. Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate community resilience this weekend! 🏙️❤️