As was to be expected, there was a great collection of bikes at the 2006 Cirque Bike Show. Unfortunately I was not able to photograph them all. I don't think I even got to see them all. The bike show is combined with a flea market, and I was sharing a seller's table with Tom Sanders. One of us had to be at the table at all times, so approximately half my time at the show was spent anchored to our table. Next year I will not do any selling, instead I will dedicate all of my time there to seeing and photographing all of the bikes. Fortunately I wasn't the only one there with a camera, so there are other links where you can see more pics of the bikes - you can find these links at the bottom of this page. Meantime, while I didn't get all the bikes on display, I did get all of the class winners, plus a few more.
So here it is, the fabled Bike Show at the Cirque du Cyclisme! As you can see, it took up all of a full sized basketball auditorium, with bleachers retracted. BTW, notice the blue floor? It is vinyl covering which Dale & Co. had to lay down in order to ensure that the wood flooring would not suffer any damage! This ought to give us an idea of just how much work is involved in hosting this event. My hat off to Dale and all involved in making this great event happen.
With sellers' tables around the perimeter, and bikes on the inside, the auditorium was full and vibrant. This photo was taken before the doors were officially open, so you don't see too many people, but it was pretty full at its peak point.
BTW, that's Peter Jourdain in the background, working on his bike/display, which won the Best Display Award.
Here we see two of Richie Sach's frames. I did not get to ask him about the first one, but it looked like a display of a bare frame using his Newvex lugs, which had been clear-coated and adorned with decals. I suppose you could leave it like that and ride it (which would be kinda cool), but I think it's primarily meant to display the quality of Richie's work.
The second frame, pictured above, is a work in progress belonging to Jonathan Green.
More pics of this bike (with it's rare Sachs pantographed stem), below.
I just realized the bike in this photo is not Mike Schmidt's! It's actually one of Peter Weigle's own bikes.
EDDIE ALBERT'S BIKES
Eddie Albert brought a total of 8 bikes, 5 of which he used for an impressive "N.Y. Track Bikes" multi-bike display, complete with a special sign and literature on several of the individual bikes. Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, I did not manage to get a shot of his display sign, or alas, all of his bikes. Here Eddie is holding his Gloria Garibaldina, a beautiful road bike which won the award for Best Original Italian. You can see more pics of this bike below.
This special handlebar setup belonged to a famed NY racer who had one arm shorter than the other. Eddie, what was his name?
I wish I'd had more time for all of the bikes in the show, but I particularly regret not having had enough time for Eddie's very special N.Y. Track Bikes display. For those of you who do not know, Eddie Albert is a world-class collector of track bikes. The track bikes he brought to Cirque are only a small sample of the bike collection he is stewarding at the moment. His collection also includes road bikes, like the Gloria pictured earlier, as well as the Wilier and Somec pictured below (Eddie rode the Somec on at least one of the Cirque rides).
This 1946 Wilier was in the eyes of many, one of the best Italian bikes on the floor, if not the best. Having seen it in person, I cannot disagree, but personally I prefer the Gloria.
SHOW WINNERS
Best in Show - Peter Weigle
J.P. Weigle Randonneur
Nice legs Lou!
Best Paint - Brian Baylis
Baylis AeroTour
Best Lugs - Ignacio Moore
Llewellyn Custom
Best Frameset - Mike Pumphrey
Jamie Swan Custom
That's Jamie Swan accepting the award for Mike Pumphrey
Check out the Dick Power miniature in the background.
Best Track Bike - Ken Sanford
Carpenter
Best Touring Bike - Joel Flood-Via Bike Shop
Fred Delong's Paramount Custom
Best Benelux - Billy Rounds
1982 Batavus
Best Display - Peter Jourdain
Bates Touring
Best Restoration - David Canady
Schwinn New World
Best North American - Mike Barry
Mariposa Randonneur
Best Original North American - Jeff Gaad
Mariposa Touring
Best Original British - Mike Barry
His & Hers Rotrax
Bonus shot of the Rotrax bikes, involved in an accidental display of the domino effect. As far as I know, no damage, so all's well that lands well.
Best British - John Crump
Mercian Path
Best French - Gary Della Rosa
Rene Herse Touring
Volunteer of the Year - John Pergolizzi
Best Original French - John Pergolizzi
Singer
Best Original Italian - Edward Albert
Gloria
Best Italian - Raymond Dobbins
Guerciotti Oro (1979 N.Y. Show Bike)
Best Neo-Classic - Wayne Bingham
Baylis Custom
People's Choice - Black Sheep Cycles
Vanilla Custom Track
Notice how the head lugs do not go all the way around the head tube!
Maurizio Rebolledo is a California builder whom I did not know about, and I was very impressed with the two bikes he brought to the show. In fact, I think the one below came in second in the People's Choice class. Unfortunately I did not manage to shoot his road bike.
This early Sachs bike belongs to Karen Rawls.
Besides being very pretty and in incredible condition, it sported the only Sachs pantographed stem I have ever seen - classy and cool!
This is Tom Sanders' like-new Wizard. Tom has it set up just right, and he did manage to find the time to ride it a couple of times in Greensboro.
I believe Brian Baylis repainted this bike. The colors are rich and gorgeous, but the photos do not do them justice.
LINKS TO MORE PHOTOS OF THE CIRQUE BIKE SHOW:
Peter Naiman's Wool Jersey Album Peter's album has the most pics of bikes at the show.
John Waner's Wool Jersey Album
Bob Freita's Wool Jersey Album
As usual, please let me know of any corrections or additional info. Thanks.
Ray Dobbins
6/30/06
