Dan Borden asked about the list of prize winners at Larz. I will try to relist them here. While I do take the responsibility for final decisions listed below, I did consult with a number of other particpants and the choices seemed to be close to unanimous: The non-lightweight were: Museum's choice (selected by museum curator with input from another few sets of eyes) Only unrestored bikes were in the running for this award: 1894 Columbia 36 Century (apart from new tires and tubes this lovely bike was all original.) Best antique unrestored: 1894 Columbia 36 Century. Best antique restored: early 20th century Hanover. This bike was standing next to Eric Elman's bikes and the three of them all competed for being the shiniest of all the bikes present. Best Baloon tire bike: a 1940's Hawthorne aluminum bike with leaf spring. This bike was incredible. Best Muscle bike: a dainty bright yellow Schwinn girl's bike with flowery banana seat. Best Custom: This category was open to a bit of imagination and in the end CR listmember and the leader of the morning ride, Jack Demarest's bike was selected, unfortunately he had already left when the award was announced. The ride attracted a much larger crowd of people than had been expected, and listening to comments was enjoyed by all. For the Vintage lightweights: Best French: Not awarded as there was not a single French bike to be seen!!!! Best British: CR listmember Eric Elman's 1970's Raleigh Team Pro. Going by memory this frame was #16 built in the Ilkeston works. You needed sunglasses to be able to look at this bike because of the high polish that Eric achieved on this bike. Best North America: CR listmember Eddie Albert's 1950's CCM Flyer. This bikehad super cool open stays (they were not capped or filled with brazing material) Best Italian: CR listmember Maurice Bresnahan late 1950's Masi Special. This bike had been expertly restored by Brian Baylis. Best post-1969 un-restored: former CR listmember Ken Denny's 1970's Colnago Pista. As already mentioned by Dan Borden, this bike had wicked pantographing. Unfortunately, Ken seemongly had other more important things to attend to as he left the show before the end. Best post-1969 restored: former CR listmember Ken Denny's 1980's Cinelli Laser track bike. Here too, Dan Borden has described the beautiful effect achieved in the restoration work by Cycleart
Best pre-1969 un-restored: CR listmember Maurice Bresnahan's 1936 Bianchi with Vittoria Margherita (I take a former Ken Denny bike!). Best pre-1969 restored: CR listmember Maurice Bresnahan 1959 Masi Special. Best Track bike: This was actually the biggest of the sub-categories this year which was quite a surprise for the organizers who had not expected as many track irons. This was won former CR listmember Ken Denny's 1970's Colango Pista. Chairman's award: This award was only open to restored bikes and was designed to be a counterbalance for the Museum's award. CR listmember Maurice Bresnahan's 1959 Masi Special was chosen. There was then one last 'People's choice' award which was awarded to the early 20th century Hanover. The voter turnout for this one award was somewhat disappointing and in the future Maurice has promised to ensure a higher voter turnout (without the ballot box stuffing that has supposedly occurred in the past.) Please also note that contrary to what has been mistakenly said in past posts, there was no single 'Best of Show' selection, all 85 bikes on display merited some type of award. A couple of specific award categories that I personally felt lacking (I have already suggested them to Maurice for next year) were one for most character and another for most enthusiastic owner. From what little I was able to glean from the various visitors, it seems like many of them were either completely or relatively new to vintage bikes and the intention of the museum to educate and attract more interest to the field was a resounding success. I would hope that the event would grow exponentially next year. -- Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ
PS: If I have forgotten any award, please do correct me.