Royal Oak bicycle swap meet

 

By Mike Eliasohn

Having moved in October 2023 from St. Joseph in the southwest corner of Michigan to just north of Port Huron, how could I not go for what would be my first time to the 8th annual Royal Oak Classic Bicycle Swap Meet on Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024?

So at 9 a.m. I was in my car and about an hour and 61 miles later, I was there. (For any non-Michiganians reading this, Port Huron and Royal Oak are in southeast Michigan, north of Detroit.)

One of the more interesting bikes to me was this 1970 Schwinn Sting-Ray Run-A-Bout, supposedly never ridden, and priced at $1,250. Price back in 1970 was $69.95. Three speeds, 16x1-3/4 tires and 31.5 inch wheelbase. Rather than engineer and then manufacture a complete new folding bike, better sized for adults, Schwinn apparently took a kid-sized bike and fitted it with an extra long seat post and handlebars / stem and adult saddle. (Mike E. photo) 

Owner Bob Ashton took it home unsold, so if interested, email the writer (mikethebike2325@comcast.net) and I'll give you his contact information.

      Vintage Schwinn catalogs can be found online, so here's the photo and description from the 1970 catalog:b

Schwinn Run-A-Bout

The novel compact-size bike that's an ideal fold-up bike for campers, sportsmen, pilots yachtsmen, and hunters.

.....It Packs!

Sets up fast without tools. Trigger 3-speed control. Lightweight mattress saddle, extra-long seat post. Fast and easy adjustments. Front and rear caliper brakes. Gripper Slik rear tire. 
Colors: Campus green, Sierra brown.

The Royal Oak event is organized by Paul and Anne Kleppert, who ran what was then the Ann Arbor-Saline Classic Bicycle Show and Swap Meet through 2019. It resumed under new management at the Monroe County fairgrounds in 2022.  (The newly renamed Monroe Classic Bicycle and Minibike Show, Swap Meet and Auction will be April 27, 2025).

The event took place at the Royal Oak Farmer's Market, mostly occupying the east half of the building and outside, on the east side. (Farmers sell their goods there on Fridays during the growing/harvest season and on Saturdays year-round.  On Sundays, the building becomes a flea market, with vendors selling such things as antiques and clothing, which continued on Sept. 15, in addition to bicycles.)

Paul posted numerous photos of his event on thecabe.com (Classic & Antique Bicycle Exchange).  Here's three of them, which give an overall view of the event: 

I only saw two recumbents for sale, this Vision (above) for $300 and this Giant Revive with 7-speed hub gear and rear suspension for $150. Advanced Transportation Products in Seattle made various Vision recumbents from 1991-2003. Giant is still very much in business, but the Revive is no longer part of the lineup. (Mike E. photos)

Two views of this Alex Moulton APB-7, with its take-apart frame, front and rear suspension and 7-speed hub gear. Gilbert Anderson, proprietor of North Road Bicycle (northroadbicycle.com) had it for sale for $1,800. ($2,000+ is a more typical price, according to what was written on the price tag.) Alex Moulton died in 2012, but the Moulton Bicycle Co. (moultonbicycles.co.uk) is still in business in the United Kingdom, though the APB-7 is no longer in the lineup.  After the swap meet was over, Anderson and his wife had a long drive home to Yanceyville, N.C. They and many vendors came to Royal Oak after participating in the Memory Lane Classics Antique and Classic Bicycle Swap Meet Sept. 12-14 in Bowling Green, Ohio. (Mike E. photos)

The swap meet started at 8 a.m. and I arrived about an hour later and took this photo before I got inside the Farmer's Market building.  So presumably this belonged to a vendor who still had lots of merchandise left to unload. The date of the 2025 event hasn't been announced yet. (Mike E. photo)