Vale Bevan Barron

Scott Barron reckons his Dad was “born on a bike shop floor”. Bevan ‘Bev’ Barron, the second of Eddie and Joy Barron’s three children, was born in 1944. Father Eddie was a champion cyclist in the 1940’s, riding and working for both Swansea Cycles and Lucas Cycles before taking over Ajax Cycles in Midland and renaming it Flash in 1947. Bev grew up in the Flash world; a factory and four shops spread from Midland to Belmont. Amongst others he remembered watching Bill Shackleton brazing frames, Arthur Raston painting the final ‘lining’ on by hand, Carmine Prieato building wheels and bikes, Ian McKillop and later diminutive Kalgoorlie rider Fred Tedge dealing with customers in the shop.

Eddie was a great promoter of racing and supported numerous talented riders, riders whose ranks Bevan ultimately joined. Bev started riding competitively as a juvenile in 1955, and from 1962 to 1975 won all the big Western Australian road and track races as a member of the Midland Bassendean Club. He toured Australia as a Six Day rider, rode as part of ex-pat West Australian Barry Waddell’s winning Sun Tour (VIC) team in 1965, as well as tackling the gruelling Melbourne to Warrnambool.

In the 1968 Collie-Donnybrook (having set the fastest time in 1966) Bev became only the second scratch man to win that race, the being other Joe Casserley in 1944.

Bev has a particularly fine record in the Beverley To Perth Road Race; in 1964 he was first and fastest, 2nd. in 1965 and 1966 and, in 1970, riding off scratch, he set the fastest time. In 1973 he made West Australian cycling history when he became the first rider to win the “Beverley” for the second time.

Bev’s working life began at Flash. In the late 1970’s he left the family fold and set up his own manufacturing business in a shed in Bayswater. There he did ‘indie contracts’; assembling Peugeot and Gitane bikes, painting frames and building wheels. That shed was the seed that ultimately grew into The Bicycle Entrepreneur after Bev sold it to John and Dennis Bazelman.

Carmine Prieato, then owner of Gordonsons Cycles, had offered Bev a position. Now free from the Bayswater shed, Bev took the offer up, even though Gordonsons had once again changed hands, becoming production manager at the Barrack St railway bridge shop under new owner Darren Hymus.

By the mid 1970’s Bev had pretty much retired from racing, however he was still holding his own, and holding court, on training rides. World Champion Steele Bishop OAM remembers him being a ton of fun to train with, an energetic rider with a razor sharp wit and a penchant for pranks. While working at Flash, Bev was personally responsible for building the new road and track bikes that Steele received each season as part of his sponsorship. Bev was also Bishop’s directeur sportif and soigneur for innumerable events including state titles and the Wescobee Tours.

Bevan and his wife Pat moved to South Australia in 1983. Pat had been working with Houghton Wines and was offered an interstate promotion within the Hardys wine group. As Pat recalls she was going to refuse it, but Bevan asked “If I get a job over there, will you take it?” The next day he said "Oh, I'm going to be production manager for Ricardo in Adelaide, so you better take that job, because I have to go now."

In 1990 Ricardo’s parent company, Leisure Industries, was sold to Repco owners Pacific Dunlop, who imported bikes, as opposed to building them locally. Bevan was charged with the disposal of Ricardo’s workshop equipment and, enthusiastic about being a part of the Australian manufacturing scene, bought a pile of it himself and once again opened his own shop - Baroni. Bevan estimated that he built about 500 lightweight Baroni’s during a period that he recalled as “terrific times, absolutely fantastic”.

Bev and Pat followed their children back to WA in 2000. Bev initially worked as an agency rep for a variety of brands, and later in Scott’s bike shops, Balmoral Cycles in Victoria Park and Morley Cycles. Following the GFC Scott closed his shops and in 2010 Bev cranked up his last cycling enterprise, Byford Bikes, which he ran for a couple of years.

Bev and Pat moved to Dawesville in 2015, and later to nearby Wannanup. Bevan lived with both leukemia dementia for the past few years, and while they took much from him, his quick wit and fun loving spirit were never diminished. Bevan died on Christmas Day, 2024, aged 80.

The club is indebted to Bev and Pat Barron for their assistance in putting together our 2020 exhibition Flash Cycles - The Heart and Soul of Midland.

Laurie Cox's Speedlite

As a teenager Laurie Cox used to hang around Jack Foy's Speedlite shop with his friends, Mal Barker and Brian Rule among them;
"Old Jack said to us one day "Why don't you take it up? Become a competitive cyclist?" So we did"

Laurie's first race at age 14 was a City of Perth Amateur Cycling Club five mile event that started and finished at the timber mill on Beechboro Road. Brian and Laurie paid their 50 cent entry fees and the handicapper, Reg Dovey, put them on the limit mark. Brian won and Laurie came second. It was the first and last time Laurie rode off limit.

Laurie went on to be the junior state champion two years running.

He rode the Northam to Perth four times, chalking up a win and a fastest time as a junior in 1957. Laurie's 1956 Northam outing was memorable for a different reason; "There was about 25, 30 mile of gravel. I came down a couple of times, took a bit of skin off. Then I hit a brick in the middle of the road, rolled a tyre. I spent the rest of the race in the back of a ute."

In 1956 Laurie went to Melbourne as a junior member of the WA State Team to compete in the Australian Titles road races with Mal Barker and Johnny Dingle. The title coincided with trials for the Olympics. The bike Laurie took with him was a Speedlite road bike that commemorated the event with Olympic decals.

Turning 19 Laurie finished his apprenticeship as a wood machinist and embarked on a 20 year career in the industry. Around this time he gave up competitive cycling, however he kept his Speedlite and continued riding it, updating the saddle and crankset in the 1970's.

1955 Junior Road Champion

Laurie Cox and Ray Hammond

Beechboro Road Finish c. 1955

Fred Vucak, Jack Vucak and Laurie

Laurie’s Speedlite

Rear dropout detail showing custom L. Cox mark

Death of Tom Congress

The West Australian Newspaper Mon 28th Sept. 1936

Fatality in Barrack-st. Shop.

Frederick John Thomas Congress (45), bicycle manufacturer, was found dead at the premises of Congress Cycles. Barrack-street, Perth, on Saturday morning. It was supposed that Mr. Congress. while working late on Friday night. was overcome by gas fumes when en- gaged in stove-enamelling the frame of a bicycle.

About 6 o’clock on Friday evening, when Arthur John Horlin, an employee of Congress Cycles. left the prem- ises in Barrack-street, Mr. Congress was still busy in the shop.

Wearing his apron, Mr. Congress was seen in Barrack-street about 9 o’clock. Shortly after 9.30 o’clock gas fumes were detected by the proprietor of a shop next door to the cycle shop, and he communicated with the Electricity and Gas Department. He was advised to ring a certain telephone number, and, on doing so, was given instructions how to turn off the gas leading to his establishment, because at that time it was thought that the gas leak might be in his premises. He was unable to find the handle of the gas tap, and about 15 minutes later he again communicated with the gas complaints office. Shortly afterwards, he found the handle and turned off the supply of gas to his premises. In spite of this precaution, a strong smell of gas invaded the shop but, having done his best to trace the leak, the proprietor completed his work in his shop and left for his home later in the night.

Anxiety concerning the non-appearance of Mr. Congress at his home in Monmouth-street, North Perth, caused his daughter, Jean (16), to go to the Barrack-street shop about 7.30 am. on Saturday. As the front door of the premises was locked, the girl went to a lane and entered the premises from the rear. The shop was reeking with gas, but the girl made her way to the front of the premises, where she saw her father lying face downwards near the enamelling oven. She opened the Barrack-street door of the shop and called the police. The police found that Congress was lying near the gas jet of the enamel- ling oven, and the gas was turned full on. In one of the man’s hands was a box of matches. and it was assumed that he had turned on the gas and was about to light the jet when he collapsed and was overcome by fumes.

Inside the gas oven was the frame of a freshly enamelled bicycle and a paint pot and brush on a nearby bench indicated that the frame had just been enamelled.

Constable Gault turned off the gas, and Constable Bluck removed Congress in an ambulance to the Perth Hospital, where a doctor said that death had occurred several hours earlier. The City Coroner was notified.

Gibbs St Ride and Display

Let’s Get Gibbsical! On a blissful wind-free Sunday morning we saw a great turnout of club members for the promotion of the Gibbs St Safe Active Street Project.

The Cannington public were perhaps a little under-represented, however those who did show up had a wonderful time being introduced to all manner of bikes - in particular the wild machines of the late 1800’s which were much in evidence.

City of Canning councillor Sara Saberi (right) rolled up on her road bike and, with the assistance of the Bell family, joined other locals in an introduction to penny farthing skills.

City of Canning’s Neighbourhood and Engagement Manager James Murphy put on a great spread of food for every palate and dietary preference.

Rain held off till the end of the event (though we suspect a couple of participants may have got a bit wet on ride home).

In short, if you weren’t there, you missed out on a great catchup. See you next time!

50 Years a Condor

On Monday the 6th of June 2022 my Condor celebrated its 50th birthday,
When I first started riding, I wanted to race. Dad bought me a Claud Butler bike. He thought it was great but actually it was a bit of a dog.

Anyway, over the years I replaced parts, first the wheels, then the crank and so on.
Over a number of years the bike completely changed; all I wanted for Christmas and birthday presents was money to upgrade the next component.

Eventually I purchased a new frame from Condor. So the 50th is really for the frame and today the Campag axles are the oldest component still in use.

The bike is a bit of a grandfather’s axe and one of my favourite possessions.

The photos below are of me attacking on the front of the bunch on my Claud Butler. And crashing the Condor a year later - I broke my collar bone when a witches hat got knocked into the bunch.

James Cooper

Remembering 'Smithy'

John Smith was a character, the cheeky chap in shorts.

John told me his earliest bike memory was when he was four years old. His father - Herbert Harry Edward Smith, a timber worker from Dwellingup won the hotly contested 1932 Collie Donnybrook race. John was holding his mother’s apron watching his father cross the line.

“They had to hose him down to find out who he was because he was covered in mud”

John got into cycle racing wen he was 16, only after his father made him buy his own bike - he paid 2/6 for it. He soon started out at South Bunbury Cycling Club.
John trained at night with a battery torch, it lit up the road enough to see the kangaroos as they hopped across his path. The roads were pea gravel with little traffic and he trained every day. He called himself a bit of a “cart horse”, or a domestique for much of his later years but in his late teens and early 20s he was a sure thing.

In 1948 the Collie Donnybrook race had only three miles (5km) of bitumen, the other 65 miles (104km) of was gravel. John was leading, but he punctured one mile from the finish line and his father lost a £1008 bet. A quiet ride home that night.

1949 was unlucky too; “The group had just rode off the bitumen and it turned to gravel.” The group bunched and slowed. A chap called Teddy Lewis went into a pothole. John went over the top and broke his collarbone. Ouch. “I got up and rode one handed to Donnybrook and back”

John’s job on the railways was tough too. He started out as a coal shoveller and finished up a train driver. “I took a job on that coal stage actually to get fit for quite a few months. Me and another chap we used to shovel 70 ton of coal, every day, and after a day shovelling a coal I used to go for 100 mile rides”

John kept a treasured telegram. It is dated 18 August 1951, the day before the 1951 Midland 100 Race - a few months after his 23rd birthday. It is addressed to Johnny Smith care of Eddie Barron, Flash Cycles, Midland Junction. The telegram reads “Be cunning good luck, Dad”. He won the race, £100 and a handsome trophy.
Johnny was cunning and cheeky, but always making friends.

As a veteran John rode across Australia and competed strongly in the West Coast Vets and Griffin Tour. He won the WA Apples & Pears Veteran Tour 1986, 55-59 age category.

John dropped into handicapping after volunteering one night when the lap scorer was off sick. As the handicapper and starter at WA races for over 20 years John took “constructive criticism” from every second rider about the handicap he’d given them. He knew bike racing. He had lived it.
John said “Back in the 1950s I used to ride off scratch on my own. Its funny nowadays they don’t like riding on their own, or even with less than ten in a bunch. They don’t like gravel either. Oh, they’re soft!”

Toby Hodgson

Bill Taylor - Memories Of My Cycling Days

Bill Taylor’s handwritten reminiscence was kindly provided by his daughter Gail McNab.
Born George William Henry Taylor he was known as Bill or Bluey from his army days. Bill and his brother Norrie rode and raced a lot. Bill came 3rd in the 1928 Beverley and 5th in 1936 and was still racing in the Collie Races until he was 92. He finally threw the towel in at 101 in 2017. He was healthy and sharp of mind until he passed. The photo is of Bill in 2010.

I started riding when I was 5 years old. My dad got this old bike from somewhere and gave it to me. I was thrilled to bits. Had to pump the tyres up about every 2 kilometres and the chain used to come off every so often. When I was 9 years old my dad showed me a piece of land - 3 acres - and said if I liked to clear it he would crop it for me. So I cleared it with a little help from Pat and De [sic]. I got $18 for my wheat and spent it all on my bike, a new chain, new tyres and tubes, new seat and new coat of paint. I was a millionaire and thrilled to bits. Could ride the 12 kilometres to Pop’s without stopping.

When I was 12 dad sold the farm and bought a small farm. 700 acres at East Pingelly. He built a house on it and we went to Petercarring [sic] school. I was very friendly with Bill Nairn. At Pop’s we used to ride a lot together. He came down to our farm to stay and we were going to ride to Pingelly, 15 kilometres away, but half way there I got a puncture. So we pulled the tyre off and got a heap of straw out of the paddock and rammed as much in the tyres as we could and rode home.

I left school when I was 13 and a half as it was depression time and things were hard. Dad had a clearing contract near Maurumbin [sic] so I went to work with him. I got no money, just my working clothes. So I didn't do much riding then.

I rode in my first show race when I was just 17. Borrowed Keith Hoad’s bike and I started from limit mark or front and won my first race. The next time I rode in the show race I was 20 and rode off scratch mark and won easily.

When I was 17 I got a job on a farm east of Kojonup for a dollar a week. I had a good bike by then so decided to ride to Kojonup. I left Pingelly at 3 o'clock in the morning and rode all day on corrugated gravel roads. I got to the farm at 5 o'clock and had rode 200 kilometres that day. My wrists were all swollen from the corrugations but I slept well that night.

I left Kojonup after a while and got a ride on a truck to Perth, my first trip to Perth at 17 and the first time I had seen the sea. I got a job between Wyalkatchem and Koorda but didn't stay long. I eventually got a job at Koorda with Jim Howe, an ex-Pingelly chap. I was pretty happy there until I went up to Bencubbin and rode in the show race. They decided to start a cycle club there. Also Norrie (brother Norrie Taylor) was working there so I moved to a job at Bencubbin and rode in some races there. On New Year's Day they had a race from Bencubbin to Gabbin. About 20 kilometres. Myself and another chap were sprinting to the finish for second place and the spectators got a bit excited and one chap stopped for a better view. My handlebars hooked in his pocket and ripped his trousers wide open. I crashed and smashed my front wheel and lost a lot of skin. They had another race around Gabbin. I was able to borrow a front wheel and finished second.

After harvest the chap I was with offered me a permanent job so I decided to go back to Pingelly for a holiday. I left his place at 3 o'clock in the morning and headed for Pingelly from Bencubbin to Tammin and then south towards Quairading.

Wasn't sure where I was so called into the farm and he was a bachelor about 15 kilometres from Quairading. He gave me a cuppa and a snack and also offered me a job on his farm that I didn't take. Could have been alright. He was going to town so gave me a lift to Quairading. I had very little money but had a cheque my boss had paid me. I tried to cash it at the hotel but they wouldn't cash it. I was dog tired and really hungry so went down to the railway yards, found a truck with a tarpaulin in it and wrapped the tarp around myself and spent the night there. I woke fairly early and headed for Pingelly. I eventually arrived at Aldersyde and found I still had 10 cents left.

I had no tea or breakfast but I was also very thirsty. I went into Ellingham's shop at Aldersyde and bought a bottle of cool which got me to Pingelly by midday. I had travelled 250 kilometres in a day and a half. I was a very tired and hungry boy.

I didn't ever go back to Bencubbin but got a job at Narembeen. This was in 1935. I found Narembeen the most friendly places I was ever at. I guess the fact that I played football and joined the cycle club made it easier. I went there as a complete stranger but soon got to know a lot of people. Used to go to a dance on Saturday night, go in and ride in a race Sunday morning, then play football on Sunday afternoon.

In those days every town in the wheatbelt a cycle club had. Today they are all gone. Each club used to have an annual track meeting with riders coming from everywhere, including top riders from Perth and Fremantle. During my stay at Narrabeen, I rode in track meetings at Kondinin, Narembeen, Bruce Rock and Merredin.

Because the top state riders were always there, I only ever got second places. I left Narembeen after 12 months and came back to Pingelly and rode off scratch there for about 3 years. Pingelly had an open road race one year. Some Perth riders came up including Ray Barron who had been W.A. Junior Champion.

I rode off scratch with him and I got first and fastest time. Well, his father was still lecturing him an hour later, where he lost ground and where he should have made up ground etc.

About this time I decided I would ride in the Beverley to Perth bike race. I was trapping rabbits for a living so did very little training. A fortnight before the race I stopped trapping so I could do some training. I was 20 years old and fairly fit. On the Tuesday before the race I decided to ride from Pingelly to Perth to see how I would go. Between Beverley and York [there was a group of riders] so I joined them. In that group was Ron Logue who won the year before and the father of that lass that wrote to me recently. Also John Riley who finished second.
John Riley also won two Collie-Donnybrooks during his riding career. We went to Perth on Tuesday, rode back to Beverley on Thursday where the Collie boys stayed. I rode on to Pingelly then back to Beverley on Friday, rode in the race on Saturday and back to Pingelly on Monday. Did about 800 kilometres that week.

I had a room in the hotel at Beverley on the Friday night and shared with the chap from Kalgoorlie. He was George Hebbard which didn't mean much to me until next day. He rode off scratch and punctured in the race, mended the puncture and still got fastest time which gave the title of W.A. Road Champion. Later on he was to have three sons play league football for West Perth so obviously they weren't interested in bike riding.

After the Beverley to Perth I made two trips back to Narembeen. 320 kilometres a trip. The last trip I did I rode into a howling wind from Corrigin and was about done. When I got there I walked into the Hotel. Some of the chaps I knew were there and said you look as though you could do with a beer. They handed me this nice cold beer and the next thing I woke up in a bed. A rather foolish thing to do.

I think most of what I did when I came back to riding is in my photos, but briefly, I rode with W.A. Vets for 7 years, I rode in two Northam to Perth’s, one Thornlie- Pinjarra & return, two Narrogin-Wagin and return, three different Rockingham races, numerous races in Perth Metro area, two Collie-Donnybrooks and return races, to Lowey Memorial races at Collie and three track meetings on Collie Velodrome. My first racing bike cost $3, my last one cost $800. Happy days.

P.S. I forgot to mention that before I rode in the Beverley to Perth my dad tried to talk me out of it as he said I wasn't fit enough. Then when I finished 5th out of 108 riders he was so pleased. When I got home he was so excited and couldn't stop shaking my hand. And my dad never got very excited about anything.

Malvern Star Cinema Slides

Who knew? - cinema slides actually predate cinematography. Before the invention of motion picture photography ‘lantern slides’ were used for lectures and entertainment. Early movies were short by today’s standards and lantern slides were projected between features as intermission titles or advertising.

Even as motion advertising became available the lower production costs of cinema slides saw them remain in widespread use in Australia through most of the 20th century.

A cinema slide consists of an image supported on a glass substrate or base (82mm, 3½ inches square). Sometimes a second piece of glass protects the surface of the image. Aperture masks, cut from thin card were employed in a variety of shapes. 

These Malvern Star ads from a club member’s collection incorporate photographic imagery overpainted by hand with dye. They would have been distributed to bike shops around the country who could localise the advertisement by simply adding their name in the blank box at the bottom of the slide.

Bicycle Restoration The Burra Way - Part Two

Part one introduced the radical notion of doing nothing to newly acquired projects. The key concepts are researching and understanding your bike’s history and provenance. It may be that there is little or nothing known about the bike or there may be a wealth of knowledge that will help inform the next step.

We’re drawn to machines for a variety of reasons. Rarity, nostalgia or attractive pricing. Design, be that aspects of frame design, engineering, embellishment or componentry is an obvious consideration. And of course there’s provenance - design or prior ownership of a bike by a person or organisation of note is an undeniable attraction, be they a winning rider, a celebrity or just your old dad.

The next step on the Burra Charter path to vintage cycling enlightenment is to develop a conservation policy, and from this you can develop a plan of action.

‘Restoration’ is a catch-all term that gets enthusiastically bandied about the vintage and veteran bike scene whenever collectors are gathered together. Contrasting ‘restoration’ with ‘conservation’ is considered the height of subtlety and is only used by the most elite collectors. Understanding and applying the Burra Charter principles obliges us to define these terms more carefully, and to add a few more.

At the heart of the Burra Charter is the idea that items of cultural significance should be conserved. You and I
are now conservators engaging in acts of conservation. The Burra Charter urges the adoption of a ‘do no harm’ attitude;

“Conservation is based on a respect for the existing fabric, use, associations and meanings. It requires a cautious approach of changing as much as necessary but as little as possible.”

Five conservation strategies are defined in the Burra Charter, let's have a look at them. (Once again I’ve substituted the word ‘bike’ for ‘place’ in the original Burra text.)

‘Preservation means maintaining a bike in its existing state and retarding deterioration’

Preservation is appropriate for extremely rare or unusual items, bikes that are unlikely to be ridden.

'Maintenance means the continuous protective care of a bike, and its setting.'

I love riding my bikes, who doesn't? The character of each is mostly defined by its age and original purpose. Does your collection include low value bikes? Roadside pickups with no provenance, transport bikes with unremarkable histories? Riding them incurs wear to everything from tyres and chain to bar tape, and wear requires maintenance.

‘Restoration means returning a bike to a known earlier state by removing accretions or by reassembling existing elements without the introduction of new material. ‘

The word-part or prefix ‘re’ has long been a part of English. Its roots trace back through Old French and Latin to the theorised Proto-Indo-European language first postulated five hundred years ago. 'Re's' meanings ring clear with the bike enthusiast; "back to the original place; again, anew, once more," also with a sense of "undoing".

As mentioned earlier the word restoration is used frequently in the old bike community. 'Restore' is often contrasted with 'conserve' - a binary choice about the future of a particular bike. Conservation is taken to mean that a clean and tidy is all that's required. Restoration signals more significant work that would certainly involve the introduction of new or refurbished parts, perhaps including new paint. The Burra Charter introduces bike collectors to some new words - reconstruction is the first - and, as previously mentioned, it recasts the term 'conservation' more broadly.

‘Reconstruction means returning a bike to a known earlier state and is distinguished from restoration by the introduction of new material.’

Restoration and reconstruction have much in common. Both begin with our favourite prefix 're' and both concern themselves with “known earlier states”. Let's take a moment to tease them apart.

Restoration is limited to removing accretions; cleaning up rust and dust, and, if the bike's in bits, reassembling it. No new material means no new consumables like tyres or bar tape, no new paint and no replacement parts. Reconstruction allows us the introduction of parts and paint to meet the goal of returning the bike to a known earlier state.

The bicycle had barely been invented in 1865 when Lewis Carroll sent his young friend Alice "Down The Rabbit Hole" in Chapter One of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". A century and a half later three words - known earlier states - have us tumbling in after her. There's no way around this; establishing a 'known earlier state' is hard. Given free reign the pursuit can confound the mind and damage the soul of the most hardened collector. This is important though so we shall not waver. The obvious resources available to us are photographs, written descriptions, recollections and contemporaneous machines.

Photographs, where available, are good sources of information. Prior to the 1970's most amateur photos were black and white, poorly framed and blurry, nonetheless information can be gleaned from them and pieced together to form a picture of likely components associated with a frame. Professional photos, rider portraits or advertising photos can be more detailed and informative.

The most common written descriptions contributing to 'known earlier states' are marketing materials from bike manufacturers, often brochures and advertisements promoting their products included detailed specifications.

Through the generosity of individuals and clubs like ours there is increasing access to material of this type. Locating an unmolested contemporary bike as a reference for components or paint schemes can be a huge help.

Recollections from a previous owner or someone familiar with the history of a bike can be invaluable if judged to be accurate.

'Adaptation means changing a bike to suit the existing use or a proposed use.'

There will be times when a known earlier state is impossible to establish, and times when it is of no interest. Adaptation is appropriate in these instances. This policy gives the collector the most freedom. The possibilities range from returning a bike to an imagined earlier state, through to tribute and replica bikes and completely repurposed machines.

Your own aims as well as an understanding your project bike’s history will be guiding factors when choosing the most appropriate conservation policy.

I believe that riding a bike is as much a part of its historical expression as its appearance. My preference for functional bikes suggest that Maintenance, Reconstruction and Adaptation are strategies that I should adopt, whereas a collector interested in static display may be best served by Preservation and Restoration.

Masked villains of the Oral History Programme

Annette, Bill and Bob participated in the Goolari Media oral history training course held at the clubrooms last weekend May 1&2.

Along with Frank, Rob and Rob who did the course late last year that’s six qualified oral historians in the membership now. Put another way 10% of the club are trained oral historians! And we have another two booked into the October and November courses.

Aside from the financial support the club offers members who want to do the course we’re also in the process of purchasing an industry standard solid state recorder and microphones.

Oral history is today recognised as a vital component of historical research. It’s an exciting new chapter for the club and the list of potential interviewees seems to grow by the day.

View fullsize

From left; WAHCC members Bill, Bob and Annette, with trainers Doug and Elaine of Goolari Media

Bicycle Restoration the Burra Way - Part One

Step One - Do Nothing
Bicycle collectors - we’re great doers. Part of what attracts us to bikes is the chance to fix and mend. The shed is our natural habitat, a comfortable nest of tools, tyres and tubes of various kinds. Curios of questionable taste rub shoulders with a frightening array of unguents, lineaments, acids, oils and waxes. When we’re not in the shed we gather in person or online to share our discoveries - from favoured rust removal solutions to the intricacies of cotter pin sizing.

Like the arrival of a baby the acquisition of a new old bike or frame is cause for celebration. But where the new child is swaddled, held, fed and fussed over our new bikes are dismantled, drenched in petrochemicals, subjected to the wire brush, scrubbed with vinegar, soaked in molasses, bead blasted, re-chromed and powder coated. And that’s just the start.

After a few years of frenetic vandalism the collector finally draws breath and asks “to what end?” It’s a great question and one that has been asked by students of history with increasing frequency over the past couple of centuries.

With just over 10 years in the club I’m pretty new to old bikes. While I’ve had the benefit of learning from club members and friends working in the museum and art collection world, it was a chance encounter with a South Australian bike enthusiast that got me interested in the Burra Charter, and its application to bike conservation and restoration.

Burra, population 900, is a South Australian town a couple of hours drive north of Adelaide. Copper deposits, for a short period in the 19th century, made it Australia’s biggest metals mine. A century later, in 1979, the heritage buildings inspired by the mine economy drew a group of architectural historians and heritage practitioners together for a conference that resulted in the Burra Charter, internationally the most significant set of guiding principles in heritage conservation of the modern age.

The Burra’s antecedents are the 1964 Venice Charter and the 1933 Athens Charter. The Burra is a set of principles and procedures associated with the conservation of Australian heritage places. So far, so architectural, so where do bikes fit in? I’ll answer that question with another question; why did we need a new heritage charter in the first place?

The Venice and Athens Charters were focussed on centuries old public monuments, palaces and parterre gardens. They had limited relevance to Australian heritage enthusiasts who were keen to preserve and celebrate modest, utilitarian buildings with much shorter histories.

A key feature of the Burra Charter is the acknowledgment and accomodation of the continued use of heritage buildings. This, to me, is what makes it so useful to collectors of old bikes.

Part of the joy of ownership of an old bike is in the riding of it. Bikes are made to be ridden; riding them is an expression of their purpose. Riding an old bike is an experience that engages our senses and feelings. It affords us a real opportunity to sense the past in a way that’s not available in museums which, after all, are mostly about looking and reading. I hope you will join me in saying the phrase ‘wall hanger’ has no place in our world. Anyway, back to the Burra Charter, which has at its heart the idea that mucking about with old stuff makes us better people.

“Heritage objects are worth keeping because they enrich our lives – by helping us understand the past, contributing to the richness of the present environment and because they will be of value to future generations.”

Another (edited) quote from the charter; I’ve substituted the word ‘place’ with ‘bike’.

“The Burra Charter advocates a cautious approach to change: do as much as necessary to care for the place bike and to make it useable, but otherwise change it as little as possible so that its cultural significance is retained.”

My first step with a new old bike is to do nothing. Well nothing that involves tools and solvents anyway. I make sure the bike is out of the weather of course.

And then get the camera and notebook out.

The bike is documented as found. A couple of overall shots in good light against a plain a background, followed by closer shots of drivetrain, braking components and the saddle. The emphasis is documenting the condition of the bike and should include photos of things like the frame number, paint detailing and any unique design features.

Establishing and recording the provenance of the bike is next. Provenance is the chronology of the ownership, custody, location and use of a historical object. Tracing provenance provides evidence for original production and subsequent use. A bike can be a lens that focusses attention on specific aspects of history and culture. The more we know about a bike’s past, the more valuable it is to us.

It isn’t always easy to establish provenance, in fact sometimes it’s impossible. But establishing some history of your new acquisition will really help you make decisions about your next steps. That history could include photographs, recollections of previous owners, newspaper clippings, and of course whatever can be gleaned from the machine itself.

The Burra Charter Process puts collection and analysis of information ahead of making decisions and getting on the tools.

Download The Burra Charter and check out Part Two in this series.

Robert Frith

John McGrath - Oral History

At our January 2021 meeting club members were treated to a talk given by John McGrath. John, now 92, has never owned a car or had a driver’s license.

In the late 1940’s while an amateur at the Canterbury Club in Sydney he struck up a friendship with visiting WA State Champion Geoff Baker.

I got to know him really well and he said, “If you ever decide to come over to the West, let me know and I’ll fix you up at our place with board with mum and dad. I don’t know what made me – probably I’d always wanted to come over here and have a look at it but it seemed so distant. It was like another world. People used to talk about West Australia over there as though it was another country. It was so isolated, even then in 1949 it was very isolated. So I decided to come over here and I arrived by ship on the Strathaird.

John stayed in Perth for two years, joining the Fremantle Amateur Cycling Club and was chosen for the WA State Team in 1951. In 1952 he returned home to ailing parents after competing in the Australian Titles in Goodwood, South Australia, again as part of the State Team.

He came back to Perth in 1960, this time crossing the country not by boat but by bike. Setting out on track singles (lightweight tubular racing tyres) he was obliged to make some changes to his touring setup;

Once you got past from Ceduna it was all dirt. I had no idea what I was up against. By the time I got to Melbourne I had to get most of them repaired and by the time I got to Adelaide, they were going again. When I got to Ceduna I stopped at this bike shop for a bit of advice about how the roads were and he said, “You’re not going to ride on that?” “Yeah, why?” “You won’t get round the corner on that bike.” I said, “No?” He said, “No, not on those tyres; no way.” I said, “Well, what do you reckon?” He said, “You need a pair of heavy duty wheels to get through.” So I said, “Okay.” He only had 26 inch wheels so that meant my brakes were no good, they wouldn’t fit onto the wheel and he said, “You don’t need brakes. It’s all flat.” It was nearly all flat except coming down to Eucla! There’s this great big hill – a joke! Straight down, no turns or anything, straight down then flattens out and I thought, “Well one thing, we’re not going to run into a car.” So I just sat on it and let it go. That was the only hill in over a thousand miles. 

John joined the Midland Cycling Club and started racing a variety of road and track events including the first 6 Day Race held at Lake Monger. He was sponsored by Swansea, initially riding his Bobby Jones (NSW) built frame painted as a Swansea. The steep track at Lake Monger demanded a frame that would allow better clearance for turning pedals at low speeds, Swansea built him an appropriate frame finished in copper plate.

It (the 6 Day Race) was a wonderful experience. Once I rode one, really I didn’t want to ride another one; because for one thing I considered myself a bit old for it. They ride longer these days but, how old was I? Thirty, thirty-three, something like that; and that would’ve been considered as 'getting on a bit’. The young ones, 19 or 20 year olds used to give you a bit of a serve. The Victorians controlled the race. It was a set-up, you know, and was really determined by  Bill Long. He was the organiser and in charge of the event. If he said that one team was going to win tonight, well, that was the way it went. It wasn’t what a lot of people thought.

In 2015 the City of Belmont made an oral history recording with John. John and his family have lived in Belmont since the early 1960’s. As John’s reminiscences didn’t extend to much about Belmont the city never published them. The City of Belmont and John have kindly allowed the WAHCC to publish the transcript of his interview which can be downloaded here as a pdf. John also kept a number of photographs and race programmes, copies of which can be found on the club’s Flickr album.

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John McGrath at Lidcombe Oval 1947. Riding off the scratch mark with Mervyn O’Connor.

Australian Championships L-R Bernie Fudger, Noel Davey, F. Jennings and John McGrath.

1961 start of the Douglas Jones road race. L- R John McGrath, Graham Bilton, unknown

Cover of the 1961 Perth 6 Day programme

Geoff Baker

In 1946, a young teenager accompanied State Champion Joe Casserley on a ride from Fremantle to Subiaco to watch some amateur cycle racing. Encouraged to compete, Geoff Baker “stripped” his old bike, flipped the bars and promptly won his first U16 road race. 

By October 1949, the now 18-year-old Geoff was the Senior Amateur Sprint Champion of W.A. and racing against the likes of Sid Patterson in 1000 meter and 5- mile races. Patterson commented that “Baker had a great future, though he would need to go east to reach his full potential”. (Daily News 5 Dec 1949). He was picked up and sponsored by Rainbow Cycles. As W.A. Champion of Champions and holder of the Australian 1,000 meter title in 1951, Geoff was rated amongst the best track cyclists in Australia and he set his sights on making the 1952 Helsinki Olympics cycle team. Though beaten by the legendary Russell Mockridge in team selection trials, Baker’s place in the Australian Olympic cycling team was cemented after Mockridge declined to sign a contract requiring him to remain an amateur for two years after the games. 

In the age of “true amateurism”, Baker, working as a clerk, duly began saving to fund his Olympic dream.
With the Olympics set to begin in July 1952, The Australian Olympic Federation dropped Baker from
the team in May that year because his fund raising fell £250 short of the £750 required. In today’s money, these amounts are estimated to be around $13,000 and $40,000 respectively. 

It is interesting to note that the eastern states based Federation required the West Australian to cover the extra expense of getting himself to the eastern states so that he could travel with the team by air to Europe. They would not consider allowing Baker the cheaper alternative, to sail from Fremantle to Europe and meet the team there. “The Australian Cyclist” (May 1952) states that Baker would take no chances and “stepped out” by booking his boat passage to U.K. anyway. 

Not including Hubert Opperman, who lived briefly in the south-west town of Greenbushes, and then as a toddler, at the time of writing there are only two other W.A. riders known to have raced overseas before 1950. The Smith brothers - Harold, Les and Eddie - hailed from Fremantle. Harold at one stage held 3 Australian championships. In 1927 he headed overseas and in the U.S.A. was considered, amongst other accolades, “the pursuit king”. Eddie at one stage was Australian and World Sprint Champion and was a member of Hubert Opperman’s Tour de France team that raced in Europe. 

In a Daily News article (27 Sep 1949), it is reported that Eddie Smith and Geoff met in Perth and that Eddie suggested to Geoff that he travel to Victoria to be coached by Harold. Skip forward to 1952, in presumably peak condition with his Olympic ambitions dashed, and little doubt influenced by the allure of the overseas experiences – and wisdom - of Eddie and Harold, Geoff used the ticket he had booked to get to the Olympics and the £500 he saved and jumped on the boat to England to pursue his cycling ambitions on the Continent. 

Geoff made his way to Birmingham in central England and found work with B.S.A.. His objective was to establish a reputation as an amateur and then be invited – as was the way - into the professional ranks and big races where the real money was. New South Wales cyclist Alf Strom was riding on the pro circuit at the time and is estimated to have been earning in excess of $250,000 per annum in today’s money. In July 1952, the same month that the Helsinki Olympics kicked off, Geoff introduced himself by beating two of England’s best sprinters in Shaw and Abrahams in an omnium match race. In a 1,000 metre time trial soon after, he set a time of 1min 12.9 secs at a speed of 49.4kph. This was 0.6 seconds faster than Mockridge’s time when he beat Geoff in the Olympic trials and 0.5 seconds faster than Sid Patterson’s Australian record. Geoff was riding well and in 1953 he won the Coventry Grand Prix by beating Alan Bannister, the runner-up “in English championship events” to four times world professional title holder and Olympic medalist Reg Harris. 

In the 1950’s, Denmark was where many professional cyclists spent their winter. There were four tracks, meetings three times a week, 27-hour track races, crowds of 6,000 at each meeting.... and totalisers. Geoff’s abilities were by then recognised and promoters invited Geoff to race in Denmark. He was offered “expenses paid and pocket money”. Back in Perth in 1954, Geoff reflected that he was impressed with the prospects of Denmark for a professional rider and if he were to return to the Continent, he would go to Denmark. 

It was not to be. On his return to England in the summer of ’53, he was racing in Bradford on the 1st of July when an accident occurred in front of him. Unable to avoid the carnage, he also crashed hitting his face on a notoriously bad section of the track. He suffered severe injuries around an eye socket and returned to Perth to begin saving for plastic surgery. Geoff had just been selected alongside Sid Patterson, Russell Mockridge and Lionel Cox to represent Australia at the World Championships in Zurich Switzerland in August that year. 

Geoff would in time get back on his bike and race but, despite stating that he had improved tremendously whilst overseas using different training methods and bike gearing, the highs were behind him. He would go on to give back to cycling by training young riders and get into cycling administration. 

The overseas chapter in Geoff’s cycling life is unique and warrants more research. Since January 2020, the club had hoped to record an oral interview with Geoff. The extent of COVID-19 pandemic was unknown at that point and it soon became apparent that Geoff was in the high risk category and the interview was put off because of this concern. Regrettably, Geoff passed away on the 4th December 2020, just after we rescheduled our interview from the 29th of November, which happened to be his 90th birthday. His death was not related to COVID-19. 

Research and text by Frank West.

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Geoff Baker, WA State Team Captain 1951. Photo courtesy John McGrath

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Photo by Izzie Orhloff

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The start of the Australian Amateur Teams Pursuit Championship at Goodwood Oval (SA) 1952. Left to right; F.J. Jennings, Tom Norris, Bernie Fudger, G. Wilkins, John McGrath, D. Sowden, Geoff Baker, Ossie Prowse.

Photo courtesy John McGrath

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“A hundred percent effort”. Geoff Baker leads John McGrath and Bernie Fudger with F. Jennings obscured in the final of The Australian Teams Pursuit in Goodwood South Australia

Photo courtesy John McGrath

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Geoff was one of Rainbow’s star riders.

Overlanding - A Cycle Tour From Melbourne To Coolgardie

Daniel Edward Sheehan was born at Lancefield, Victoria in 1864 and died at Hawthorn in 1928 aged 63 of diabetes.

The following article was published in the Western Mail published 19 May, 1899.

OVERLANDING - A CYCLE TOUR FROM MELBOURNE TO COOLGARDIE - 1899

Mr. D.E. Sheehan, whose photograph we publish, gives the following opinion of “overlanding”. Leaving Melbourne on March 14th [1899], I rode against a parching “three quarter face” wind, which opposed me until well over the South Australian border. I travelled via Geelong, Camperdown, and Coleraine, over excellent roads through fertile and pretty country, which, however, is mostly locked up in large estates.

On the fifth day I reached Mount Gambier, a very pretty old South Australian town, surrounded by rich agricultural land. The picturesque Blue Lake, situated on an adjacent range of hills, is a sight to be remembered.

Beside the precipitous bank is a monument to Australia’s “sad, sweet poet,” Adam Lindsay Gordon. It seems incredible that even this daring man could have leaped a horse over the precipice known as Gordon’s Leap. Beyond Gambier the road to Adelaide runs north-easterly through some 150 miles of pastoral country, rabbit infested, lonely, and desolate looking. On the coast, about three miles distant, one can often hear the meaning of Gordon’s -

White steeds of the ocean, that leap with a hollow and wearisome roar
On the bar of ironstone steep, a cable’s length from the shore.

The pipeclay lake beds alongside the sometimes bad road are reputed to be excellent for cycling when dry, but the showery weather which prevailed prevented me from using them.

After passing Wellington the country improves, and is well settled, and after some stiff hill-climbing and descending one reaches Adelaide. From the metropolis northward to Port Augusta an excellent road traverses 220 miles of prosperous farming land, with small townships at short intervals.

When 28 miles from Augusta the front fork of my bicycle snapped while crossing a gully. I sought the assistance of a roadside settler, who, with a few old tools and much ingenuity, contrived an excellent splint, and then he hospitably invited me to share his Sunday dinner, which had been kept waiting meantime. Being unable to find anyone in Port Augusta who could repair the damaged arm I took it to a blacksmith, who patched it up with a piece of an old shovel blade.

I then turned westward through the dessert country with the motto “Coolgardie or bust”, nailed, so to speak, to the mast. Considering the immense extent, the country from here to the WA goldfield is of much the same pastoral character, barren looking and fairly level with monotonous miles of scrub, saltbush, and

scrubby eucalyptus, alternating with patches of sparsely grassed plain, and frequent patches of sand.

There are sheep stations of immense area at wide intervals, but they carry only from three to ten thousand sheep. Much of the station work, including the shearing, is done by aboriginals.

On Eyre’s Peninsula a succession of rainless years has driven many of the squatters from their holdings, which are now given over to rabbits and dingoes. Eyre’s Sand Patch, 165 miles west of Eucla, consists of 30 miles of loose fine sand, on which cycling is impossible, and a speed of two miles per hour fair walking.

When the tide is out nine miles of good riding may be had along the beach, which the road skirts. The overland route is fairly well watered by Government cemented tanks, roofed over to protect their being patronised by suicidally inclined rabbits and dingoes. The trouble is that the traveller is never sure whether the tanks ahead contain any water.

About Denial Bay an attempt was made to establish an agricultural settlement, but the drought has nearly ruined those unlucky farmers. An enterprising politician who started to canvass his constituency hereabout on a bicycle, got bushed, and after suffering much from thirst, was found “speechless”, but otherwise little the worse for adventure.

On two occasions, at Madura and at Fraser’s Range, I lost a day through taking a wrong track. The overlander should beware of the fiend who tells him, “You can’t go wrong old man, you can’t make a mistake if you try”. From what I heard every overlanding cyclist has taken a wrong track at one place or another. and three cyclists have been reduced to abandoning their machines.

Beside the track, near the head of the Bight, a mound of sand marks the last camp of an unfortunate swagman who perished from thirst last summer. My cyclemeter registered the total distance covered between Melbourne and Coolgardie, as 2,200 miles, and I was 38 days making the journey, including time lost. My longest day’s ride was 120 miles from Nullarbor to Eucla, and the longest stage without water 60 miles. My bicycle was geared to 60 and weighted, stripped, 33lb., kit and tools 10lb. extra.

I bought the bike, when new, five years ago for £15, from a well-known Melbourne firm of universal providers. I had it fitted with new tyres before starting on this tour, and it has proved to my satisfaction that a low priced bike is not necessarily an inferior one. I confess that I was not sorry when the tour was finished, and have no intention of cycling it again.

Collected and corrected from Trove by Daniel’s grand niece Lynnette Hammet.

Pots of Gold - Rainbow Cycles

Cover of the 1952 Rainbow catalogue.

Founded in 1866 in Adelaide Harris Scarfe was a hardware store that ultimately had shops across Australia. It was a major supplier, and manufacturer of a broad range of household, agricultural and industrial items.

Harris Scarfe’s Rainbow brand bikes were sold in stores and via catalogue. During World War II, when the Australian Government enforced price controls, it used the Harris Scarfe catalogue as the price guide.

Entering a partnership with West Australian business W. Sandover & Co in the 1930’s gave Harris Scarfe’s ambitions local clout in the WA market.

Ex-pat South Aussie William Sandover, assisted by his younger brother Alfred, had prospered when gold was discovered at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in the 1890s. The period saw a huge demand for machinery and all kinds of hardware which W. Sandover & Co. was able to supply.

In 1921, Alfred Sandover donated the medal bearing his name as the West Australian Football League's annual award recognising the league's fairest and best player of the regular season, a tradition still alive today.

The date at which East Fremantle football coach Ossie Prowse started with Sandovers is unknown, as is the exact nature of his relationship with them. In the late 40’s and early 50’s Ossie enthusiastically poached Perth’s top riders sponsored by other bike shops, notably Geoff Baker and Bill Gilbride who had ridden for Swansea. Riders recall being sent to Aussie Cycles on Milligan St in Perth to be measured up for an Aussie built, Rainbow branded frame. Ian McKillop remembers Ossie paying cash for equipment vouchers given to riders by Sandover’s competition in an effort to keep them out of the competitors’ shops.

One hundred percent effort

Riding a Rainbow Geoff Baker leads John McGrath and Bernie Fudger at the final of the Australian Teams Pursuit at Goodwood South Australia

The Perth built Rainbows appear to have been the exception rather than the rule - the Rainbows sold by Sandovers and their agents were not exceptional. Touted as “All British” for much of its life, the Rainbow was mass produced in South Australia from British tubing and components. The parts fitted to frame number 10591, a typical survivor, while “all British” are unlikely to have found favour with sponsored riders like Bernie Fudger or Tom ‘Tiger’ Lyons; Defiance hubs, Utility brand cranks and painted steel rims were strictly the province of the affordable transport oriented roadster.

Bikes featured a colourful rainbow decal on the seat tube inscribed “Harris Scarfe” for the South Australian market and “Harris Scarfe and Sandovers” for Western Australia. They had one or two raised “R”s brazed on the head tube. Frames and rims were brightly painted and a distinct Rainbow decal applied to the downtube. Filigree pinstriping for the forks, bicycle pump braze ons and crank oil filler were common.

The bikes were first available in WA in 1934 and in August 1935 the Rainbow bicycle range was officially “announced” in WA’s Sunday Times. At the time the average Perth man took home £211 a year. £10 bought 1 acre in Bayswater and £50 got you 5 acres in Belmont. A Rainbow bike cost £7.

Sandovers wasted no time promoting Rainbow; in 1935 the winning float in the Young Australia League’s “Youth and Motherhood Parade” was the Rainbow entrant. That same year star South Australian rider Dean Toseland broke the Perth Bunbury return record on a Rainbow.

In 1936 they sponsored Billy Read’s record breaking Perth to Sydney solo record. (Read and Gordon Jones had previously crossed the country in 1933 on an Aussie Tandem). And in 1938 the inaugural Sandovers Rainbow Ball was held - “Electric lights were festooned from the balconies, a large rainbow was painted above the stage, and pictures of cyclists were placed under the rainbow.”

The ball ran annually until at least the mid 50’s, however the Harris Scarfe name was dropped from advertising material around 1950, and in 1962 Harris Scarfe and Sandovers Ltd was taken over by Electronic Industries Ltd in a share deal as business jitters “pricked the prosperity bubble of the Brand Liberal Government”.

The Rainbow story is a marketing spin - excuse the pun - a history of bicycle promotion that shone in the shops and made pots of gold.

Despite the backing of a statewide department store, national distribution, aggressive marketing highlighting British parts, and plenty of race winners there are remarkably few surviving examples of Rainbow bicycles today.

Toby Hodgson

Bob Duschka's Zenith

Bob Duschka bought his first new bike, a Zenith, in 1948 when he was fifteen. He worked as a telegram delivery boy at the Inglewood Post Office and would ride this bike for work, fun and sport. He raced the bike using a fixed gear on the flip flop hub. 

He continued riding the Zenith until his death in 2016 aged 83. 

Along the way it has had several updates, as many bikes do. Around 1970 the frame was stripped back to bare metal & repainted with an automotive metallic turquoise spraycan paint. Many of the original components were re-plated. The original Dunlop steel rims were refurbished and painted. 

Later, possibly in the early 80s, Bob again repainted, this time with Keep’s Synthetic Enamel for Writing. The ‘Poppy’ colour paint was hand brushed and this is the colour the bike retains today. Bob did all his own bike assembly and repairs. Some components were updated, possibly purchased from Speedlite of Maylands as the downtube now carries their branding. At that time it got new wheels - 27” Mavic rims laced to high flange Normandy hubs - as well as a Cinelli headstem and bars and Shimano 600 brakes. Bob fitted the new flip flop hub with a fixed gear and a single speed freewheel. The Brooks saddle, stamped “Genuine Butt Leather” also dates from this period.

The Williams chainring is coded AL for 1949, the Brooks saddle cantle plate is stamped A75 - January to March 1975. The frame number is 706. Top tube is 58cm CTC and the seat tube is 57 CTT.

There are some curious ties with other local bike brands. The decorative spears on the fork lugs bear an uncanny resemblance to those of Subiaco brand, Flying Arrow, where frame builder Milton Jones got his start. Zenith proprietor John Foy regularly advertised for young lads to work in his bike shop. It’s possible Bob or a mate filed the lugs of this bike. 

In the mid 1940's there was an alliance between Zenith and Speedlite as evidenced by the 25 mile Zenith Speedlite road race held in Osborne Park. The 1950 Beverley Perth programme includes a full page ad for “Zenith Speedlite Cycles - The State’s Fastest Cycle”. References to Zenith, common in the early 1940’s are replaced by references to Zenith Speedlite, and by the early 1950’s Zenith vanishes from view.

Bob’s son Paul, brought the bike to a club meeting back in 2016 looking for information about Zenith Cycles. Sadly as is the case with so many Perth manufacturers we were unable to shed much further light on the subject. It well may be that Bob’s old Zenith is one of only two still in existence. 

Paul is a design and technology teacher who, under the name Bitsa Bikes, dedicates much of his spare time to helping low income and homeless people get onto reliable bikes. He has decided that that is where his priorities lie and has generously donated his Dad’s Zenith to the club. Bob Duschka’s Zenith is a part of the October 2020 club auction.

Scarlet Runner made by William Furniss from 1921

“The Extra Special Light Racing Scarlet Runner De-Luxe is beautifully finished, built of the best steel fittings, ornamental head lugs, Dunlop narrow nickel-plated shell or wood rims, double- butted spokes, Baylis and Wiley hubs, Williams chain wheel and cranks, racing pedals with toe clips and straps, Mansfield racing or sprinting saddle, genuine Major Taylor handlebars, three-spiers roller chain, Dunlop speed tyres and tubes, all lugs and ends nickel plated; enamelled all colours and flamboyant transparent colours, nicely lined, with a complete set of floral transfers.  Genuine B.S.A. parts.  Nothing but the best material used.” 

From an 1930 advertisement for the Scarlet Runner

The Scarlet Runner was one of Western Australia’s more expensive bicycles during the early 1920’s but there was high demand for the three different versions available and often up to a three month wait list prior to racing season.  In 1925 Furniss was building 100 light weight wood-rim Scarlet Runners for the race season and built-to-order bicycles were also available.  The three versions of Scarlet Runner were:

The All-Service Scarlet Runner  £11:10:0

The Competitive Light Racer Scarlet Runner  £12:10:0

The Extra Special Light Racer Scarlet Runner   £18:10:0

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William John “Cocky” Furniss was born in Wanneroo in 1885 and raised on his father’s poultry farm.  His father was a farmer, builder and inventor with several very successful patents for a rabbit trap, improved kettle and self-lock fence dropper.

William was a keen cyclist and was road racing competitively in 1908.  Around 1920 he opened his first ‘Beach Bike Shop’ opposite the Cottesloe Beach Station where he was selling new BSA and second hand bicycles, accessories and repairs which included oxy-welding, soldering, brazing, enamelling and repairs to lawn mowers, gramophones, primus stoves, prams and musical instruments.  Within a year William was manufacturing two of his own bicycle brands:  the ‘Scarlet Runner’ and ‘WA’ bicycles.  The Scarlet Runner was the most successful brand.

The Scarlet Runner was used by many riders and William donated prizes for races including lap prizes of acetylene gas lamps.

William Furniss built a double story brick building at 45 Bayview Terrace, Claremont in 1927-28 called ‘Furniss Building’.  The lower level housed Furniss Cycle Works (and Garage) as well as two other stores which he leased out.  The upper level had a meeting room which was booked by local clubs and charities and residence for his wife Mercy (nee Newton a well-known family from Mandurah) and children.  The Claremont-Cottesloe Cycle Club would meet at the Furniss Building prior to their races.  Furniss chained tools in front of his shop so children could repair their own bicycles.

The building had a life-sized man in sheet metal seated on a bicycle and mounted on a beam over the laneway beside the shop.  The brightly painted figure with glass sauce bottle stoppers for eyes signified the motto “A Square Man for a Square Deal”.  The Square Man sign is now in the Claremont Museum.

The Furniss family purchased a parcel of land between Mandurah and Pinjarra in the 1920’s which was promoted extensively in newspaper advertisements as ‘Furnissdale’ and offered free camping along the shores of the Serpentine River.  During holiday season hundreds of people would camp at Furnissdale. In 1950 the land was subdivided and riverside blocks sold.  The suburb was officially was named Furnissdale in 1968.

William died from polycystic kidney disease in 1933 aged 48 years.  His son Albert William Furniss and father continued to run Furniss Cycle Works for many years after William’s death.  The building was eventually sold and subsequently demolished in 1973.

No Scarlet Runners are held by members of the WAHCC, however, a head badge is held in Merv Thompson’s collection.

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William Burvill - Thrill of the Chased

In 1899 William Burvill entered the third Beverley to Perth Race, at that time called Armstrong’s Cycling Road Race after it’s creator and promoter, entrepreneur cyclist Percy Armstrong. In 1899 the Warnambool to Melbourne cycle race, wasn’t run, leaving the Beverley as the longest road race in Australasia and as a consequence it attracted interest from all over the country. Telegraph stations along the race route gave live updates to “persons in the city and in all the principal provincial towns”, as competitors passed.

William, a relatively inconspicuous city racer, untested in an endurance event of this nature, was given a handicap of 60 minutes over the three scratch men, Tom and Alec Jewell, and Jack Beck. The Jewells were the reigning 50 and 25 mile champions. Jack Beck, originally from Menzies was a star goldfields rider, who by 1898 was also manager of Percy Armstrong’s Kanowna shop. Jack had already won the inaugural Beverley in 1897.

Joining William at the 60 minute mark was Charles Salkilld from York and a fellow Perth rider, H.F. Williams. 25 riders had entered the race, however by the Friday night before the race only 16 had made the trip to Beverley. Charlie Baxter, another favourite from Kalgoorlie withdrew due to influenza on race day leaving a starting field of just 15.

Burvill, Williams and Salkilld were waved off from the Post Office at 8:30 to cheers from their competitors and Beverley townsfolk. Fine, clear conditions with a favourable light southerly wind made it a torturous wait for the rest of the riders. Two more, Fredericks and Powell, were let go at 20 minutes. At 30 minutes H.L. Jones, Morrell and Millington started. A.D. Jones, “the two Italians” A. Wind and B. Leo, and Best all went between 9:05 and 9:10, with the three scratch men waiting until 9:30.

Almost immediately the challenges began; Harold Millington punctured just five miles out of Beverley and lost a precious quarter of an hour putting things to rights. H.F. Williams was beset by cramps before reaching York, leaving Burvill and Salkilld alone at the front. 

The three scratch riders, pacing one another, set a blistering pace of 24mph (38kmh) for the first 12 miles (19km), at which point Alec Jewell suffered a puncture and retired. By York, 22 miles (35km), the other two had clawed back 7 minutes on the leaders.

Halfway between York and Northam the trio of A.D. Jones and the two Italians came to grief. Jones’ cycle was rendered unrideable following a fall. Leo, thrown from his bike after a stick got in his spokes, injured his arm and was unable to continue. Wind, tyre and morale deflated by a puncture, also retired.

The two remaining scratch riders passed Jones walking his broken bike a few miles out of Northam and subsequently caught Millington. They rode with him arriving in York at 11:46am having gained 9 minutes on Best and 16 minutes on the leaders.

Beck, Tom Jewell and Millington caught Best a few miles shy of Newcastle (now Toodyay), however an exhausted Tom Jewell retired at this point, riding quietly into the town. Just south of Newcastle the new trio of Beck, Best and Millington passed Powell sitting on the roadside attempting to fix a puncture. Fredericks had also retired before Newcastle, and after riding another half-mile with Beck and Best, Millington cried “enough” and retired too. 

Still working together Beck and Best made short work of Morrell and H.J. Jones in the hills out of Newcastle and were making good time on the three riders in front of them; Burvill, Salkilld and Williams, who by now were each riding solo.

At Mayhew’s, thirty miles from the finish, Williams had overtaken a flagging Salkilld and the powerful back marker team of Best and Beck were now 24 minutes behind the race leader Burvill. Around Mundaring Best slipped on a loose surface and fell, Beck rode over him, and also came down. Neither was injured, and they resumed racing.

At the top of Greenmount Hill Best broke away furiously from Beck and had put a mile into him by the time they hit the flats of Midland. By Guildford Beck had overtaken Best again and with just nine minutes between himself and the race leader, Burvill, he set to work to reel him in. It wasn’t to be though; Burvill kept up a good pace and actually put some time into Jack Beck, crossing the finishing line near the Causeway 10 minutes 30 seconds ahead of him. Best and Williams followed minutes after Beck, and Morrell, the only other rider to finish the race limped in a half hour later. 

Burvill’s time of 8 hours 29 minutes is much slower that that of the previous two winners. Jack Beck won the 1897 event in 6 hours 47 minutes in squally, wet conditions. Beck's relatively poor time in 1899 (7 hours 39 minutes), together with Burvill’s suggest a challenge not noted by race reports. Pacing was allowed in 1897 and 1898, but banned in 1899. Burvill rode much of the day on his own, but Beck had the benefit of companions all the way to Greenmount Hill. Is it possible that a strong south westerly wind held them back?

Freewheels and calliper brakes, while available, were still considered a novelty, and it would be another 26 years before a geared bike was ridden in the Beverley. Who knows what the road conditions were in the days before motor cars and trucks arrived on these shores. It’s certain that they were unsealed and mostly used by horse drawn vehicles. Competitors in the 1899 race were undoubtedly mounted on sturdy, fixed wheel bicycles, pedalling non stop for the entire 116 mile (185km) route.

On the morning of Nov 1st, at the invitation of His Excellency the Governor, the successful competitors attended Government; House. William Burvill received the first prize, a Raleigh tandem valued at £45, (for perspective blocks of land in North Perth in the area where William’s factory was could be had for around £40 at the time). Jack Beck, who took second place received a Humber machine; Best a Rover, and Williams a locally built Flying Arrow. Beck was also awarded a set of Dunlop tyres and the opportunity to compete in the Warnambool for making the fastest time in the contest. The Warnambool, wasn’t run in 1899 or 1900, however Beck makes a showing in the results of the 1904 edition.

William Burvill was born in Ballarat, Victoria in 1867 and moved to Western Australia around 1893. He was a plaster modeller by trade and operated one of the first plaster businesses in Perth. He had some financial difficulties around this time and it is interesting to note that on the 2nd of November 1899, just 4 days after winning the Beverley, and the day following his audience with the Governor, he appeared in the Perth Local Court over a debt for 6 pounds and 11 shillings. He was ordered to pay the amount in full or be imprisoned for 21 days.  It is understood he was unable to pay and served his time. This was one of a number of court appearances over the next decade. William continued riding, competing in the Beverley again in 1901. He died in Fremantle in 1940.

Ross Burvill and Robert Frith.

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William Burvill, third from left with pipe, at work. Photo most likely taken at his Fitzgerald St, Perth, plaster molding factory. Photo supplied by William’s great nephew Ross Burvill.

The original, more extensive, account of the race was written by “Pedal” and published in The West Australian on Mon Oct. 3rd 1899. Here is the Trove link to the original article.

Aero Cycle Works

Aero is one of a myriad of small volume bike builders from the interwar period in Perth. A few Aeros survive but little is known about the brand, and currently none are held by members of the WAHCC. Below is a summary of material available on Trove. (Trove list here).

1924 - Edgar Henderson, Architect, calls for tenders for construction of shops at 330 Lord St.

1925 - Mr and Mrs A.K. Sanders of Aero Cycle Works are mentioned in a the funeral notice of Mrs Sander’s brother, dead at 23 years by accident. The Sanders’ home address is given as 349 Lord St. This is the earliest mention of Aero.

Advertisements for Aero bikes, built by Alan K. Sanders, as well as notices of race starts and race entries at Aero appear in local papers from 1926 until 1936. One advertisement proclaims Alan’s 26 years of experience. Sanders is elected as one of the Vice Presidents of the Bassendean Cycle Club and is listed as an official at some events. He also provides trophies under the Aero banner.

1934 - A fire breaks out in the unattended shop, likely in the brazing hearth. It is brought under control quickly and Sanders states that most of the damage will be covered by insurance.

1937 - Premises suitable for the bicycle trade at 330 Lord St are advertised to let. To date no further mention of Sanders or Aero have been found.

2019 Christmas Pageant

The club has been riding in the Christmas Pageant for many years now. 2019’s event was held on a pleasant December evening with 27 participants, a record for us. Here are some video and stills for your enjoyment.