CONCOURS DE MACHINES 2023

Retour à PARIS BREST PARIS, du 18 au 24 aout 2023 !

PROGRAMME 2023 :

18/08 : Accueil des participants, passage devant le jury, la commission technique, les photos studio

19/08 : 9h-18h Exposition des machines sur l’espace dédié au château de Rambouillet, suite des passage devant le jury, commission technique et photos studio

20/08 : 9h-16h30 Exposition des machines 17h15 départ des machines depuis le parc de la Bergerie

20 -> 24/08 : 96h pour faire le parcours

24/09 -> 14h : remise des prix sur la grande scène.

PREAMBLE

Continuing the previous « Concours de machines » tradition, the 2023 edition is intending to promote cycle craftsmanship by highlighting know-how, and encouraging innovation and ingenuity through a specification that is both open and demanding, which aims to stimulate the competitors creativity.

As in 2019, the machines will be exhibited and tested on the occasion of the great international celebration of long-distance cycling, the "Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur" from August 19 to 24, 2023, from and to the Château of Rambouillet. In order to avoid any redundancy with the 2019 edition of the concours, we want this year to promote the versatility of the presented machines, which can be designed for the specific future use of pilots who are also privileged customers. Finally, the pilots will start at the same time as the "special bikes" and, always with the objective to distinguishing the 2023 concours from the 2019 one, we have favored an open specification, which allows each craftsman to make "his own special machine" in the sense that he will intend to understand and interpret it.

In order to avoid "off-topic" regarding the chosen event, the points which seem fundamental to us to define the type of Paris-Brest-Paris machines that we wish to see compete are made compulsory (their non-respect lead to disqualification of the machine which cannot therefore claim any prize).

 A cycle craft show will be held in parallel on Saturday August 19 and Sunday August 20, 2023 in Rambouillet, where the public will admire competing machines, but also more generally the work of exhibiting craftsmen and equipment manufacturers, whether or not they participate in the «Concours de machines».

TOPIC: A Paris-Brest-Paris bike, but not only…: a “special” machine

A Paris-Brest-Paris bike : As in 2019, the competing machines must be light and efficient « randonneuses », easily transportable, comfortable and meeting the safety requirements of a 1200km event in less than 90 hours on open roads in a hilly region, in complete autonomy.

The first 5 points of the specifications are eliminatory if they are not respected. The jury may therefore consider that a machine which does not meet all of these points is "off-topic" and automatically eliminated from the concours : it will therefore not be able to claim either the podium or any of the special or additional prizes. This is to encourage participants to "play the game" of the concours and demonstrate their adaptation ability to a specific specifications, as their customers can require on a daily basis.

Versatility has always been at the heart of «Concours de machines» themes : each time, craftsmen are challenged with a personal interpretation of squaring the circle: lightness, efficiency, speed, comfort, solidity...

But for this edition, we want it to be explicitly a major element of the craftmen reflection, and that they contrive to manufacture a machine dedicated to Paris-Brest-Paris, but not only... : a multifaceted machine, at the cost of quick and easy modifications, without sacrificing the style exercise of a light and efficient Paris-Brest-Paris randonneuse.

The machine will therefore be presented to the concours in its PBP configuration, but the craftmen will also have to explain in the technical dossier how to transform it for at least one other use. This could be an ultra-distance off-road race, the transport of children in an urban environment, a mountain cyclosportive, contemplative cyclocamping, a world tour, etc. !

We encourage the increasingly widespread practice of building a machine for the concours purchased at a preferential price by a customer who will give it a real second life, and will demonstrate in the field the quality and durability of the solutions tested for the concours. We therefore consider that it is important to leave complete freedom in the choice of versatility according to the specific requests of the customer. This aspect will allow to communicate on one of the major interests of the artisanal bicycle for the consumer : the tailor-made, which not only defines an adapted geometry, but a global project built in consultation from the practice of the customer.

          The creativity of the craftmen is what makes the concours so interesting, so it is strongly recommended that they let it express itself to imagine a singular and original machine, so that the start in the "special bikes" category takes on its full meaning.

“Special: Which presents particular characteristics in its kind; which is not common, ordinary. Singular, apart, atypical, exceptional, extraordinary, out of the ordinary, original, particular, unique, not banal (familiar)” (dictionary Le Robert).

The concours de machines is an opportunity for craftmen to go beyond their limits, to test solutions that they have not necessarily had the opportunity to implement before, to take the time to find an original solution to a recurring problem, and quite simply to highlight their identity, the one that will make that a customer turns more willingly to a craftmen that suits him better. There too, there is total freedom: everyone's creativity can be expressed on a small detail or on the entire project, according to their desires and means.

SPECIFIC POINTS OF THE SPECIFICATIONS

ALL THE FOLLOWING POINTS ARE TO BE CONSIDERED AT A MINIMUM, as essentials on which everyone's inventiveness will be based. We regularly refer to "the pilot", but this term is understood in a neutral way and can obviously designate a pilot, or a multiple crew.

I/ MANDATORY POINTS

To claim to compete for the podium or the various prizes, manufacturers must comply with the constraints that define the type of Paris-Brest-Paris bike that we wish to see compete in 2023. ALL the elements mentioned below are mandatory in their entirety. Failure to take into account even a single constituent element of each point will result in the disqualification of the machine, which will therefore not be able to claim either the podium or the other prizes.

1/ MAKE A PARIS-BREST-PARIS BIKE…

The machine will comply with the rules of the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur set out by the Audax Club Parisien which organizes it : https://www.audax-club-parisien.com/paris-brest-paris/

It must be efficient enough to allow an amateur (non-professional) pilot to validate the event within 90 hours in the best possible conditions.

It must be reliable enough to arrive safely in the same condition as it left : the verification by the technical commission will be largely taken into account in the total scale.

A bonus will be awarded to craftmen who will have delivered the machine to its pilot for the 400 and 600 km qualifying brevets.

2/ ENABLE PILOT SAFETY AND AUTONOMY

The pilots will drive in complete autonomy, without an assistance vehicle, in complete safety on roads open to traffic. The pilots will be registered in the “autonomy” category : following vehicles are prohibited, and the pilot must not be assisted by one or more cyclist companion. It is forbidden to change driver during the event (it is not a relay). Any material or mechanical problem must be managed by the pilote in accordance with the rules of the event. Any breach observed in this principle of autonomy will result in the disqualification of the machine.

The machine must include continuous autonomous front and rear lighting for a minimum of 90 hours, the necessary equipment for basic repairs (puncture, spoke breakage, chain breakage, cable change), and an autonomous navigation solution for at least 90 hours (not necessarily electronic).

3/ FACILITATING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF USEFUL OBJECTS

The event involves limiting and optimizing all breaks, especially in difficult conditions (rain, night, cold, hot, fatigue, etc.). The following elements must be easily accessible on the pilot, the machine or its luggage:

- Safety food and hydration

- Summary pharmacy and survival blanket

- Lighting control

- Repair hardware.

- Thermal and/or rain clothing

- Road map and means of payment

4/ PROMOTE THE COMFORT OF THE PILOT

Will be valued all the solutions that promote the main pilot/machine contact points comfort, the vibration filtration, the protection of the pilot and the machine against the rain...

5/ ENSURE THE VALUE FOR MONEY TRANSPARENCY

For the purpose of transparency and education vis-à-vis the public and potential customers, it is mandatory to mention in the technical dossier and in front of the exhibition display of each machine:

- The contractual price of an identical replica of the entire machine (not to be confused with the price of the prototype);

- The contractual price of an identical replica of the frame kit (frame + fork);

- The honest estimate of the number of hours required for the design, development and production of the machine presented.

These 3 mentions are not optional and their absence will lead to the disqualification of the machine. Manufacturers who are willing to, can deepen the approach and quantify more elements.

II/ OTHER POINTS OF THE SPECIFICATIONS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE SCALE

6/ PRESENT A VERSATILE MACHINE

The machine can easily be adapted to other surfaces, other elevations, other distances, other journeys, other uses... The technical dossier will therefore show the machine in its configuration for Paris-Brest-Paris, but also in another configuration for another use, which can be adapted to the personal practice of the final recipient of the machine.

7/ DESIGNING AN EASILY TRANSPORTABLE MACHINE

The participants of the Paris-Brest-Paris come from all over the world: the machine must therefore be easy to compact and transport, without risk for the elements which could protrude (transmission, lamps, luggage rack, etc.), and with a reasonable total weight. The machines will be weighed with the luggage, all the repair tools, the pedals, the chosen navigation solution, and the lighting on board at the start of the event. For the sake of fairness, it will not be possible to change the configuration or add tools after the weighing.

8/ CREATING ELEGANCE

Like any craftsman's bike, the 2023 machine will not only be a good bike, but also a beautiful bike, a bike that makes the dreams of its happy owner come true, and that is full of aesthetic and functional details at the same time, an expression of the craftman and the pilote uniquenesses combined.

9/ DARE TO BE ORIGINAL

Whatever meaning they want to give to the adjective, manufacturers will propose a "special" machine, which stands out from the ordinary through the audacity of one or more details, or even the overall solution, and which wants to be the expression of both their know-how and their identity.

10/ LIMIT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The craftmen will be particularly attentive to all the elements that limit the environmental impact. In particular, they can look into the source of their materials and equipment, and/or their durability, and/or their reuse (upstream or downstream).

PODIUM

  The 10 points of the specifications are evaluated in the points scale which will be the basis for the evaluation of each machine by the jury and the technical commission. The scale is provided in the appendix of this specification and is therefore known in advance by all competitors.

At the end of the machines evaluation, the points awarded by the jury and the technical commission are added together in order to define the 3 competitors having obtained the best scores, who constitute the podium of the concours. The other competitors will have access to the scores of the jury and the technical commission, but their results will not be published by the concours organizing team.

SPECIAL AWARDS

The podium will be completed by 3 special awards awarded by the jury:

 - Best Craftsmanship award

- Innovation award

- Originality award

ADDITIONAL PRICES

Many additional awards will reward specific points of the specifications or specific aspects of the craftsmanship. These are awarded by the jury, the technical commission, the public or the manufacturers according to the awards.

 - Versatility award (the most successful and relevant)

- Best painting award (design, quality, execution)

- Lightest machine award

- Most beautiful cable passages award

- Best lighting integration award

- Best luggage solution award

- Qualified machine at lowest cost award

- Best time on Paris-Brest-Paris award

- Rookie award

- Public award

- Manufacturers award (competitors and exhibitors)

TECHNICAL DOSSIER

Participants must provide a technical dossier presenting at least the following points:

- History and global project.

- Blueprints of the machine.

- Solutions brought to the 10 points of the specification.

- Presentation of an alternative configuration.

- Presentation of the process, stages and manufacturing techniques.

- Contract price for the purchase of an identical replica for another customer.

This technical file will be sent one week before the event to the various members of the jury and the technical commission, and brought in paper form during the review in front of them.

Download Jury Notation : click to download

Download Technical commission Notation : click to download