In early spring and late fall, many towns host a Velobörse (aka bike exchange/market) where you can buy secondhand bikes. This is a great place to get less expensive but still good quality kid bikes. Here’s what to expect at a bike exchange, how it works, and some place to ride those new-to-you bikes.
Where to find a Velobörse
Here is a calendar of all Velobörsen hosted by Pro Velo Schweiz. They are usually on Saturdays in spring starting mid-March through mid-May. They start again in fall, starting in August through September. Some bike shops host their own exchanges, so look for ads in your local village.
We’ve been to the Velobörse at Zurich Helvetiaplatz and one at a bike shop in Adliswil. All the bikes I saw there were in good to excellent condition. The Swiss tend to take good care of their things and bikes are no exception. The first time, I got a bike for myself, one for my husband and a tandem attachment for kids, which meant we could finally ride together as a family, even though our youngest was too little to ride far on his own.
Also, Zürich usually has a bike auction for bikes confiscated by the police. I can’t find any info about it now, but I’ll try to find the website for you. My husband bought a bike at one of these a few years ago and he said the auction was quite competitive, with bike shops bidding on the bikes as well as regular consumers. Plus you have to wait around for your bike to come up for auction. I think a Velobörse is better.
How it works
A Velobörse works like this. Anyone can bring a bike to sell. In the first couple hours of the Börse, you register your bike with the Velobörse staff and tell them how much you want for it. You pay a small fee to participate, sometimes a percentage of the asking price. Then you return at the end of the day to either collect your money or bike if it didn’t sell.
If you are buying, you simply wander around and try out a variety of bikes. It’s best to get there right at the start (and bring a friend to guard the other bikes you are considering), as the bikes go fast. Sometimes you have a leave an ID with the Velobörse staff before you take it for a ride.
How to pay
You usually pay cash for the bike. At the one in Adliswil, the kid bikes ranged from 50-150 CHF, the adult bikes 150-350. Usually you can leave the bike after purchasing it and come back at the end of the day to pick it up.
If you take your bike home on public transportation, remember that you need to buy a ticket for the bike (1/2 fare). If you have a SBB Junior card for your child, that covers both your child and their bike. For more info, see our Biking with Kids in Switzerland post.
Borrowing & Renting Bikes
Remember that you can borrow bikes for free (including kid bikes, bikes with kid seats, and scooters) from Zürirollt at various locations in the city. See here for details.
Ready to go on a bike ride?
After you get bikes, you too can ride along the Sihl river and have a magical afternoon like we did. Here are some suggested trails:
One Response
Thanks for the idea! I would like to buy the small bike for my 2.5 y old daugher, maybe I will find something at Velobörse in my town, which (as I have just found out) will happen next Saturday.
We also opened a bike season today afternoon with our brand new Römer Kinderfahrradsitz, but we were riding a bit more to the north, in Vorder and Hinter Längimoos and further towards Kilchberg along the bike rout #32. We are thinking of riding this rout to Kilchberg farm from time to time to buy fresh milk. 🙂 The road is quite flat, from Thalwil we only have to get up the hill towards Gattikon, but when we are on the rout there are no steep lifts and descents anymore.
Going to go grilling somewhere in Sihlwald tomorrow, if we find a free grilling place.
Hope to meet you and your family on some path in Sihlwald one day. 🙂