We are now accepting Councour entries. Last year the area filled up so don’t wait until the last moment. At the current time, we are asking that folks only bring two bikes for the Concour (we can flex if you have something really exceptional).
click here to sign up for the Concours
There is no fee to enter bike(s) in the Councours, your $8 admission to the show is all you need to pay. But, we do need folks to register for the Concours no later than 5 days before the event. A most important requirement is that each bicycle displayed at the Concour MUST have a solid stand to hold it upright – the show organizers will not have stand. Stands that allow bikes to tip over easily can’t be used. This is to prevent damage to the other bikes.
Note: If you have a vendor space and want to display a bike(s) in the Concours, you do not need to pay any additional fee but please fill out the form below with your bike’s information and email it to us.
The focus of the Concours d’Elegance is vintage high performance lightweight racing/touring/track bicycles as well as early mountain bikes. To add excitement, winners of their judging category will receive a certificate and a very modest merchandise gift. Do the math -there are a lot of categories. Don’t expect valuable prizes. But do expect fun. And please remember that there is always an arbitrary and subjective component to judging – so enter with the idea of having fun but please don’t take this too seriously….thanks!
We may have a special display area for “production” bikes that are original paint and really nice though not especially rare. Examples could include a really clean Raleigh International, a Motobecane Gran Jubilee, an, Austro Daimler Vent Noir, or an early Specialized Stumpjumper. If you have original sales tags or brochures those will be fun to display! We find these bikes to be very fun and provide a great flashback in time. If you have one of these bikes, we’ll let you know during set-up where it should be placed.
New for 2016 – after you pay your Concour entry, please complete the following build-a-sign powerpoint page(s) as best you can and email it to mikekone@comcast.net. Then we will have the sign made in advance of the show. If you have difficult with this let us know, and we’ll help you out. Worst case we’ll just email you a few questions about your bike and we’ll make the sign for you.
Judging Criteria and Philosophy:
This is called a Concours d’Elegance, but unlike car shows we don’t believe that compulsive cleanliness in tribute to a bike not being ridden is the objective. Instead, bikes are rated on a blend of historical significance, originality of parts, rarity, visual appeal, and for bikes that are restored on the accuracy of the paint restoration. All bikes in each category are evaluated by the same judge so that the awarding of points (or perhaps simply the judges ranking) is consistent.
Each judge of a category will have their own ranking of the relative importance of the judging criteria. You will correctly note that the judging therefore has a strong subjective element. That is true. From experience, we’ve found that no matter how objective such an event is structured, valid arguments for a different ranking can almost always be made. And for this reason many folks including the organizers are often scornful of Concour events. So as long as nobody takes this too seriously (for instance no appeals of judge’s decisions are allowed) and everyone comes to hang to enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded folks, this event will be a success.
Important – If there are sufficient entries, each category will be further divided into original finish and restored finish categories. Note that an original finish for the purposes of this show is any bicycle which has NOT had two or more frame tubes brought down to bare metal or primer and then refinished. So a bike with a repainted top tube for example we’ll still call original. And a bike with lots of touch-up and parts clean-up or replacement is still original.
These categories are tentative and will be finalized before the New Year – but the categories below should give an idea of what we’re thinking.
Pre-War and very early post-war European track bicycle
Pre-War and very early post-war American track bicycle
Pre-War and very early post-war racing bicycle
Pre-War and very early post-war randonneur or touring bicycle
*Pre-War and very early post-war “best frame workmanship” – any style bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s European track bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s European racing bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s British track bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s British racing bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s British touring bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s French racing or track bicycle
Later 1040’s through 1950’s French randonneur or touring bicycle
Later 1940’s through 1950’s lightweight American Bicycle (such as Drysdale or Schwinn Paramount)
Later 1940’s through 1950’s high quality mass produced bicycle of any nationality
*Later 1940’s through 1950’s “best frame workmanshiop” – any style bicycle
1960’s European track bicycle
1960’s European racing bicycle
1960’s European touring or high-end city bicycle
1960’s British track bicycle
1960’s British racing bicycle
1960’s British touring bicycle
1960’s French racing or track bicycle
1960’s French randonneur or touring bicycle
1960’s lightweight American Bicycle (such as Drysdale or Schwinn Paramount)
1960’s High quality mass produced bicycle of any nationality
*1960’s “best frame workmanship” – any style bicycle
1970’s Italian racing bicycle limited to Cinelli, Masi, DeRosa and Galmozzi (not because these are better, but rather to narrow the focus of judging)
1970’s Italian racing bicycle
1970’s Other European track bicycle
1970’s Other European racing bicycle
1970’s European touring or high-end city bicycle
1970’s British track bicycle
1970’s British racing bicycle
1970’s British touring bicycle
1970’s French racing or track bicycle
1970’s French randonneur or touring bicycle
1970’s US track bicycle
1970’s US racing bicycle
1970’s US touring bicycle
1970’s Japanese track bicycle
1970’s Japanese racing bicycle
1970’s Japanese touring bicycle
1970’s High quality mass produced bicycle of any nationality
*1970’s “best frame workmanship” – any style bicycle
1980’s Italian racing bicycle limited to Cinelli, Masi, and DeRosa (not because these are better, but rather to narrow the focus of judging)
1980’s Italian racing bicycle
1980’s Other European track bicycle
1980’s Other European racing bicycle
1980’s European touring or high-end city bicycle
1980’s British track bicycle
1980’s British racing bicycle
1980’s British touring bicycle
1980’s French racing or track bicycle
1980’s French randonneur or touring bicycle
1980’s US track bicycle
1980’s US racing bicycle
1980’s US touring bicycle
1980’s Japanese track bicycle
1980’s Japanese racing bicycle
1980’s Japanese touring bicycle
1980’s High quality mass produced bicycle of any nationality
*1980’s “best frame workmanship” – any style bicycle
1990-1995 Italian racing bicycle limited to Cinelli, Masi, and DeRosa (not because these are better, but rather to narrow the focus of judging)
1990-1995 Italian racing bicycle
1990-1995 Other European track bicycle
1990-1995 Other European racing bicycle
1990-1995 European touring or high-end city bicycle
1990-1995 British track bicycle
1990-1995 British racing bicycle
1990-1995 British touring bicycle
1990-1995 French racing or track bicycle
1990-1995 French randonneur or touring bicycle
1990-1995 US track bicycle
1990-1995 US racing bicycle
1990-1995 US touring bicycle
1990-1995 Japanese track bicycle
1990-1995 Japanese racing bicycle
1990-1995 Japanese touring bicycle
1990-1995 High quality mass produced bicycle of any nationality
*1990-1995 “best frame workmanship” – any style bicycle
Most historically significant early mountain bicycle
Early mountain bike with the most interesting specially machined components
Early mountain bike more mainstream – not judged in the previous two categories.
*Early mountain bike with the best frame workmanship
Notes:
As you can see, there are many categories. Some categories may have many entries, others may have few (or none). Each participant must choose the appropriate category to be judged in. You can only select one category to be judged in. As relatively rare or significant bicycles typically receive more points. So if you have a really nice mass produced French track bicycle for example, you might be a winner in the “mass produced” category for your time period, but you would not be winner in the French racing or track bicycle category for example. So choose wisely – this challenge is part of the fun.
The judges reserve the right to reassign categories if necessary. A
Do not sign-up for the “best frame workmanship” category as each bicycle is automatically eligible to be judged for this award and judges will evaluate accordingly.