John; Good write up on Cronometro. I'd write more, but I'm a bit blitzed at this point, as I was up till 3:00AM packing the truck with goodies to sell, and headed off for Madison by 6:30AM. I got to the rear of the Alliant Center by 8:00AM to unpack the truck, walked the floor of the center between 9-9:30AM before the doors opened to the public and didn't see much vintage stuff, as it seemed like there was more last year. But all in all it was a very good turnout, pretty much a mob scene of folks. I't would be nice to see more support from the Vintage Community. I met few CR Members, as freinds David Cooper, Richard Cielic and Keith Helon all showed their faces early. John Barron, and Greg Parker were manning tables with lots of neat stuff. Also met up with Russel from Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee, as he had a table full of more modern componants set up from his shop. I believe Russel is a CR Member.
The mob started clearing out between 2-3:00PM, and the auditorium was empty by about 3:30.
After the swap, I went over to Mechanics Alley ( hope I'm getting the name right) and met with member Earle Young, and talked bikes and other stuff for an hour.
I'd hint at the cycle I bought, but it would be OT, but needless to say I got one great deal on a complete carbon bike. That's all I'll say without being further off topic. As for other purchases, I really didn't buy anything else except for a few Nuovo Record pieces for a vintage Ciocc I'm building for someone.
I'll be talking over the year with the folks at Cromometro, hoping to lobby for a small show area or concours for Vintage Bikes. I mentioned this last week to Arthur at the Cronometro Shop, and I'll pursue it further. If it takes place I'll offer to run that end of the show for them if they want the help.
Best regards, Peter Naiman Glendale, WI
P.S. Great work on the photo album of the day !!
John Thompson <JohnThompson@new.rr.com> wrote: A beautiful day in Madison for the Cronometro swap meet -- too nice to stay inside long. I envied the Madison residents who could ride to the event. I arrived around 9AM and there was already a line; the doors opened promptly at 9:30. This was my first time at this event; in the past I've always had to work on the weekends it's been scheduled so this year I jumped at the chance to finally attend.
It was a refreshing change from the swaps up in my area, where items tend to be a) Mountain bikes -- nothing wrong with that, just not my bag; or b) gas-pipe junk, or both. There was a fair amount of vintage stuff, and I managed to bag some nice bargains: a set of 165mm TA Cyclotourist crank arms with 43/36 rings, a bunch of my favorite Michelin Supercomp HD tires in 18mm width -- just right! A bunch of Campy and Stronglight chain rings for reasonable price; a shiny new 41T TA ring for 144mm BCD from Greg Parker -- he even threw in a free "Deputy Sheriff" badge! A NOS pair of cleated Vitoria shoes in my size; a nice messenger bag from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and a couple bottles from the show sponsor Cronometro.
A nice event, even though I spent far more than I intended, and I didn't even buy a frame, just bits and pieces here and there.
I took some pictures and have uploaded them to an album here:
http://www.os2.dhs.org/
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-John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org) Appleton WI USA _______________________________________________
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