[CR]Larz Anderson show/swap ccordination comments

(Example: Events:Eroica)

From: "Eric Elman" <tr4play@cox.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <1a0.75c7677.2a9591e5@aol.com>
Subject: [CR]Larz Anderson show/swap ccordination comments
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 15:38:14 -0400


I attended Larz as a swap vendor and then went on my family vacation the next morning, returning home last night, so am just writing to the list now.

Being a vendor, I missed out on most of the "show" part of the show. Wess Gadd updated on that though. As an aside, by chance I stopped into the Bicycle Cellar in Simsbury CT a few days before the show and the shop owner had his personal bike on display - it was a custom "Wess Gadd." I understand Wess does not build bikes commercially but this list should see the level of detail, consistency and workmanship displayed on this frameset - totally outstanding - very, very fine work!

Back to the Larz show. Larry "hee bee gee bee" Osborn, his friend Bruce from the North country, Jan Pinkowish (sp?) and Brian Blum all spent a fair amount of time with me and my son Aaron. Larry and Bruce even did some selling for me so I could get a bathroom break and a couple of quick trips around to see what others had for sale. I missed many of the real good deals as I was busy setting up so that I could move my vehicle into a parking spot and not get ticketed. I did purchase a set of Barelli pedals for $15 and a NOS Campagnolo SR headset for $60 so was happy to leave with those items at the end of the day. Many CR list members stopped to introduce themselves and chat - that was the best aspect of the day. The swap and show seemed quite a bit smaller then two years ago when I was there last. I had a good time talking with folks and sold a lot of stuff, probably about half of what I brought. Most of the stuff I sold were goodies that were priced right - i.e. inexpensive. I was the guy that sold the Campgnolo Tipo/Fiamme wheelset for $15 and those where the kinds of things that were constant sellers all day long. Some of my stuff ended up for sale at other booths and one item is on ebay right now! I did sell my Sutter frameset (inexpensive) to a very appreciative young women and also sold my 1977 Raleigh Pro frameset (fair market price) to a young man. As a comment, there were a fair number of 20 something year olds buying vintage stuff. The larger number of young people plus the smaller size of the event were the two noticeable changes this time around. All in all, a fun day talking, laughing and enjoying the camaraderie of bike lovers on one very hot day.

Now a note regarding my thoughts on the swap event and how it was coordinated. I've been to about 350 swap meets in my life, mostly automotive, some large some small, some niche specific, some very general. I've been a vendor at about 50 swaps. This swaps coordination was disheartening to me. Vendors (prepaid) were made to line up and not allowed to check in and find out their spots until 7:30 by which time the place was becoming quite busy. People where actually reaching into the open windows of my truck and pulling out parts before I was allowed to set up. Our prepaid swap tables were left in a pile by the museum building and we were told "they are over there, go grab them if you paid for them." I've never been a swap vendor where the table were not delivered to my spot. The swap spaces were still being marked as we were checking in. They used black paint (on green grass) to mark the spots but placed the markers in the middle of the spot confusing many - the people on either side of me used half of my space until it was pointed out how this all worked. Once we started setting up the swap coordinator women was yelling for us to move our vehicles or be ticketed. Once unloaded, no parking spaces were reserved for the swap vendors - I got the second to last one and a few had to go find a place to park outside the museum grounds. In my experience it was all handled very amateurish and although I was happy to have sold a lot of stuff no longer needed, it is not something I would do again unless some significant changes were made. I appreciate setting up an event such as this is hard work and I won't suggest that much hard work did not go into this too. It certainly was not managed like any swap I've sold at and can't imagine how next year it will attract the same number of vendors based on the experience some of the vendors and I had.

My two cents.

Eric Elman
Somers, CT