For what it's worth to those discussing show bikes, I was fortunate to win two awards at the Cirque 2008 show:
- Best Original Road 1960-67 for my Bianchi Specialissima
http://www.wooljersey.com/
- Best Restoration Track 1960-67 for my Condor
http://www.wooljersey.com/
My personal philosophy about owning/collecting these vintage machines is th at they should be ridden, and those attending Cirque and actually riding pr obably saw me out on both of these bikes. Wall hangers just don't make a ny sense to me! Remember, that's just my opinion.
The Bianchi was ridden over to Wayne and MJs get together on Thursday eveni ng with Bill Talbot. Bill and I got somewhat sidetracked due to lack of clear directions, and we ended up on a stretch of unpaved hilly roads that Bill loved. He kept reminding me that the Bianchi was originally raced o n such roads and that I should equally enjoy the dirt/stone washboard roa d surface. Had to remind Bill that when these bikes were raced in the da y, one could easily locate and replace Fiamme Red Label rims (that's the on ly concern I had about riding the bike that particular day).
The Condor was ridden on the fixie ride, and my chrome-plated original Hurl ow on the long Saturday morning ride (the Hurlow unfortunately didn't win a n award).
There were many handsome bikes at the show, so it must have been tough on t he judges in making their decisions. If you didn't win this time, that d oesn't mean you won't next time around.
Happy 4th of July!
Regards,
Kevin Kruger - Grantville, PA