Classic Bicycle Concours News: July 2007

Friday, July 27, 2007

INFORMATION ABOUT JUDGING

Display Classes

VBE developed a system of bicycle classes, condition classifications and judging criteria for entries in the 2006 VBE Concours at LeMay. The goal of this system is to provide distinctions for entering and judging bicycles that reflect the current practices and ideals of the collecting community. Minor changes have been made to the system for 2007 and special Sears classes have been added to reflect the featured make.

As before, bicycles will be entered by their Make, Model, and Year. These designations must match the bicycle frame. The key component of any bicycle is the frame it is built around. If these do not match, the bicycle will be reclassified to the correct make, model and year as defined by the frame used. An example of this is that a 1949 Phantom outfitted with 1938 Cantilever components will be judged as a 1949 Phantom with incorrect parts.

For the 2007 Concours at LeMay, the following bicycle classes have been defined for judging:

1A - Pre-Balloon

2A - Balloon 1933-1945

3A - Balloon 1946-1960

4A - Middleweights and Muscle

In addition to the above, Special judged classes for Sears bicycles will include:

1B - Pre-Balloon-Sears/Elgin

2B - Elgin Balloon

3B - J.C. Higgins Balloon

Non Balloon Sears bicycles produced after WWII and before 1975 will be judged inclusive with Class 4A .

All bicycles entered in the judged classes will also be listed in one of the following four condition categories:

Survivor

Original

Restored

Distresstoration

Additional text defining these conditions will be posted. The judging staff will help in assigning condition status in the case of bicycles that display aspects of more than one condition category. This year awards will be presented for first, second and third place across the judged field to the best originals and restorations.

There have been several requests to display bicycles that fall outside the specific range of our group focus on Classic American Bicycles. In addition to featuring a particular brand or manufacturer each year we plan to have special non-judged classes and displays to include other areas of the hobby. A special display class for Hot Rods and Customs will be open this year for up to 10 bicycles and we are planning a small display for Whizzers.

Judging

Judging will be again be based on a point system that assigns 100 points to each of the following areas:

Correctness

Condition

Finish

This means that, theoretically, a perfect bike in all three categories would have a 300 point score.

Within each judged class, total points will be tallied to declare the class winners. In the case of a points tie the judges will declare a winner.

As previously noted awards will be presented for first, second and third place to the three best restorations and the three best original bicycles amongst all the judged entries. Restoration awards will be declared by the judges based on the correctness and quality of the restoration. Awards for condition will be based on the judged point score with a factor for age filtered in.

A people’s choice ballot box will be provided. All entries in the judged classes will have an entry number and be eligible for the people’s choice award.

Awards

Awards will be presented as follows:

Best in Show Class 1A - Pre-Balloon
Best in Show Class 1B - Pre-Balloon Sears/Elgin
Best in Show Class 2A - Balloon 1933-1945
Best in Show Class 2B - Elgin Balloon
Best in Show Class 3A - Balloon 1946-1960
Best in Show Class 3B - J.C Higgins Balloon
Best in Show Class 4A - Middleweight and Muscle

Best Restoration – First Place
Best Restoration – Second Place
Best Restoration – Third Place

Best Original – First Place
Best Original – Second Place
Best Original – Third Place

Best in Show - People’s Choice

Best in Show awards will be presented to the top bicycle in each of the listed classes. If, for instance, the Best in Show Elgin Balloon is deemed to also be the Best in Show Balloon, 1933-1945; then it would receive both awards.

Best Restoration and Best Original awards will be awarded to the three best restorations and originals on the field independent of Class. Restorations will be judged for accuracy first with consideration given to the presumed difficulty of the restoration. Originals will be judged on condition, completeness and correctness with a premium allowed for age.

Best in Show – People’s Choice will be chosen by ballot.

After the judges have reached their conclusions for the above categories, an overall Best in Show bicycle will be selected by the judges from the winners of the seven categories noted in red.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Ticket Information, please read if you plan on displaying.

Event Tickets

While there is no charge to enter your bicycle in the Concourse , the LeMay Museum does require that, along with the general public, all exhibitors purchase tickets for entry to the site on Saturday. Tickets may be purchased in advance at: 253-779-8179.

Tickets and parking passes are not required for set up on Friday. If you are unable to set up on Friday, consider purchasing your ticket in advance to avoid standing with your bike in the ticket line the day of the event.

Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults = $10 Children 6+ = $5 Children under 6 = Free
Family of 4 (2 Adults, 2 Children or 1 Adult and 3 Children - these are the only combinations allowed) = $20

Tickets can be purchased by phone and received in the mail until 2 weeks before the event. After that, tickets purchased by phone must be picked up at Will Call at the main gate.

Tickets can be purchased the day of the event at the gate.

2011 Vintage Bicycle Concours at LeMay

Classic and Antique bicycles will be back on the lawn at Marymount on Saturday, August 27 for the sixth annual VBE Vintage Bicycle Concours. This year we are advertising the event on the CABE, Ratrodbikes, and through emails to all of the collectors on the long standing list built from our winter swap meets. If you have been to the LeMay Concours or have been to this site before you probably have a good idea of how our event is organized. If you are just finding out about the Concours for the first time you will find will find a wealth of information about the event on this site but you are welcome to contact us directly with any questions you have.

I have set up a new email address this year for both the Concours and for information about other Pacific NW activities relating to antique and classic bicycles. That email address is: vbeseattle@gmail.com . If you have questions that would be easier to answer by phone you can contact event Co-Honcho Ron Summer at (206) 364-0922

For those that have shown at the Concours before, other than this year’s featured categories there is little new to report. Over the past several events we have settled on bringing our bicycles in early Saturday morning and this has worked well for us.

Two things that I will note are the following; this year one of the special categories is for Moto-Balloon bicycles and we are hoping to have at least one example from each manufacturer present at the event. I have several Moto-Balloon frames that I am considering bringing to the event to display so that we can be sure to have full representation (anyone have an Iver Moto-Balloon, bike or frame to show?). If you are interested in bringing something for this part of the display please let us know so we can determine the best way to set up the display.

The other thing that has generally worked out well in the past is staking the bikes to keep them from falling on the lawn. It is always a challenge to get a bike to stand on grass either with a side or drop stand alone. We have brought kick stand shims and tent stakes for drop stands in the past but each year our supply has dwindled a bit. If you have a chance to bring supplies that you are comfortable with for your bike it will help assure we don’t go domino with any bikes during the event. Last year I brought some 30” lengths of rebar to wire-tie to the base of my drop stands and this seemed to be an ideal way to stabilize my bikes while leaving them easy to reposition.

Lastly, I have made good on my threat to set the themes through our tenth Concours. I have listed those at the end of the main body of text (at left) with the idea that the advance notice will aid in getting the best bikes out for display.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 27^th

Phil Marshall

LeMay 2010 Wrap-up

August feels like the shortest month of the year with the frantic last minute preparations to get everything ready for, and onto the grounds at LeMay. The remaining time after the Concours and before the Iron Ranch swap meet seem to slip by even more quickly for me as I try to pull together the results, organize and post photos, and try to unwind.

Last year most of the event promotion and follow-up was posted on the CABE. This year I am posting them here and providing links to this site from several others that have become active in the last year instead of putting the work into posting them individually on each site. I have also posted a complete list of the bicycles and their owners from this year’s event along with lists of the awards and which bikes they went to.

I have also posted information here and on the various sites for those who would like to purchase a 2010 Concours Poster. As with the poster art work for the last two years, I have printed numbered presentation prints and will limit the printing to a single edition of 30 prints. The last two editions for 2008 and 2009 were printed in editions of 25 and at this time there are three remaining print available from each of those runs. Click this link if you would like to order a poster.

Notes on 2010

Our fifth annual Concours is special to me as our third Concours which featured Colson was special to Ron. I have been a Cleveland Welding specialist for over 10 years and I am looking forward to the opportunity to bring out some of my CWC bicycles and see some of yours. In initial talks with some of you it looks like we should have a good representation of many of the different models of the two featured marques. In asking for bikes from some of the people I know I have tried to get both the best range possible but to have more than one of some of the halo models on the lawn this year.

At five years of age our event has matured to the point that many of the questions we had when we started the event have been answered in practice and we have been able to streamline parts of the process that were originally unnecessarily or unrealistically cumbersome. One of the realities that is apparent after five years is the general makeup of the collection field we are drawing from. Restoration is still viable for some collectors and for some bicycles but original patina wins out in most cases with collector sentiment. Judging restorations is one thing and judging original bikes is another. While a system was in place originally based on points and created to level the field for judging apples and oranges it proved too time consuming to use for our event. Dropping that system we have implemented several revisions each year and I think reached the best solution last year with awards for judges choices, new participants choice awards, and as always an award based on what the general public is most drawn too (polish your Hoppy bike, it’s the Rollfast year and the public loves small character bikes!)

As it should be, our judging system is now geared toward answering the question “given the choice, which bike would you take home?” more than checking the thread pitch on the fender screws.

Beyond judging much of the event has not needed any real adjustment from year one. The event hit a chord with people out of the box and we hope we can keep hitting high notes as the years continue. In the same light, some of the challenges involved are still annual challenges. For any outdoor event weather plays an important part and last year was the worst yet in that regard. It poured rain in the morning tempting me to turn back on the drive to the event. As it worked out the weather continually improved (see last year event photos taken at the end of the day) and while participant attendance and attendance for the general public was down the event was successful with some of the nicest bikes we have seen yet.

The other challenge is to continue to keep our numbers up on bikes present at the event. Our largest field the first year was over eighty bikes and this dropped to about half that number last year. While weather was undoubtedly a factor last year I think that the normal attrition that comes with a annual event has probably more to do with it.

Ron and I made a ten year commitment between ourselves to support this event so I invite every one to mark your calendars on the last Saturday in August annually for this event, and to set your alarm clocks for early on August 28th this year so you can get your bikes loaded up and onto the grounds at LeMay for our fifth Vintage Bicycle Concours.

Thanks

Phil