Classic Bicycle Concours News

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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