The 2011 VBE Concours at LeMay

on August 27th, Featuring Columbia Bicycles 

Our Concours has been built around the celebration and recognition of Classic American Balloon bicycles with a focus each year on the products of a featured manufacturer. This year we will be directing the spotlight on the manufacturer(s) of Columbia bicycles. During the Balloon period, the firm was known as Westfield Manufacturing but under various names, the parent company’s extended history dates back to the first American built Ordinaries. 

In light of the breadth of the bicycles manufactured under the Columbia brand, will also have additional special classes this year to expand our display into the History of American bicycles before the adoption of the 26”x 2.125” clincher balloon tire as the industry standard.

Pre-Balloon Bicycles
We are welcoming all examples of American made bicycles predating the industry move to balloon tires in 1934 to the show field this year. We will subdivide those bicycles into three categories; pre-pneumatic tired bicycles, pneumatic tired safeties from 1894 through WW1, and single tube tired Moto-Bikes from 1914 through 1936.

Moto-Balloon Bicycles
Alongside the single tube tired Moto-bikes we will have a special category this year for all makes of Moto-Balloons; bicycles dating from 1933 to approximately 1937, with modern balloon tire wheels mounted in frames reminiscent or even identical to those of their single tube tired predecessors. These bikes, once treated like the girl’s middleweight of pre-war balloons, have come to life in collector circles in the past couple of years and our goal is to have at least one from each manufacturer on display at this year’s event.

Everything Else
Please remember that our featured make and our special categories are only part of the program, we are always looking to having a balanced field representing all bicycles, manufacturers, and brands of Antique and Classic American bicycle from the dawn of the industry through the muscle bikes of the late sixties and early seventies.


Future Concours Themes, 2012-2015
After holding our fifth Concours last year, we decided to choose the themes for the event’s second 5 years to give everyone a jump on featured makes they may want to see or bring to show at our event. 

Listed below are the themes for 2012 through our tenth anniversary event. 



2012 - The Future was Yesterday
Murray-Ohio and Victor Schreckengost; 
Pre-war Futurism and Postwar Dynamism. 

2013 - Hawthorne; the other Catalog Bike

2014 - The Golden Age of the American Bicycle 
1933-1941

2015 - This will be our 10 Year Schwinniversary