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.

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.

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.

Driver by name, rider by nature

A recent visit to the museum in Southern Cross revealed a once-loved "humble tool of the Twentieth Century" (to quote Jim Fitzpatrick’s “The Bicycle and the Bush”).  This humble tool had belonged to Fred Driver, long-time resident of nearby Moorine Rock.  Fred was a pipe runner and did a daily bicycle patrol along the Goldfield’s pipeline, checking for leaks.  The Pipeline, that most remarkable and historically poignant engineering feat in our region, provided the pulsing artery which ultimately beat Australia's longest typhoid epidemic in the Goldfields and in many other ways brought progress.  Enough progress in fact to quench an enduring thirst from mining and agriculture throughout the region.

Fred would ride alternately west to Garratt and east to Noongar, each a daily round trip of about 30 km.  His bike, remote from archivist attention, battle weary and lacking care, hangs indelicately in the Southern Cross museum shed.  

According to “The Bicycle and the Bush”, this use was typical along much of the 557km pipeline for about 60 years, from its completion in the early 1900's. Another of Fred’s humble tools was a hammer, for caulking cracked seam welds with lead shot.

The bike is unremarkable, except for its place in the history of the Goldfields.  The generous sweep of the drop bars had been turned up for comfort.  The 'Major Taylor' headstem is more often associated with racing cycles than utility bikes.  Fixed or freewheel I wondered?  Possibly fixed as the Philco rear calliper brake appeared to be an after-thought.  It was poorly aligned on the rim and what was left of the brake lever had been mounted clumsily on the top tube. 

It seems Fred was handy with a strand of wire; tidy wire reinforcements adorned the pedals and a fine figure of 8 loop secured the break link on the chain. 

Fred Gordon Driver would have been around 18 when the pipeline was completed in the early 1900’s.  He was carting water to pioneer farmers in the early 1920’s, a hint perhaps that by then he was working on the pipeline.  A perk of working on the pipeline was unlimited water for the home garden and vegetable patch.  Assuming he made his pipe runs for perhaps 25-40 years (a reasonable guess by the look of the bike), a conservative estimate puts the bike’s working life at around 200,000-300,000 km.

Fred was still residing at Moorine Rock at his death aged 73, in 1957.  No doubt he understood well what richness to life the pipeline provided, with his own dedicated contribution to it.        Robert Loughman



Paul Clohessey’s Tandem

Working at the Midland Velodrome is a quietly spoken middle-aged man named Paul Clohessey.

The name rang a bell so with the aid of Google and Wikipedia, I looked him up and subsequently sat down with him for a chat last month.  I was especially interested to find out if Paul was the young man in a picture provided by Mavis Jones taking delivery of a rather special racing bike outside the home she shared with her late husband, bike builder Milton Jones.

“Yep. That’s me. 1990 or 1991. I had it built for the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona.”

The bike is - and I’m pleased to say remains - a rather special fillet-brazed road racing tandem built out of Reynolds 531 tubing.  It was originally fitted with a Shimano 600 / Ultegra / DuraAce groupset and triple-spoked carbon fibre wheels and cost $6000.

Racing in the Vision Impaired classification, the tandem was initially piloted by Peter Stotzer in Barcelona and thereafter Eddy Hollands. The bike would go on to participate in two more Paralympic Games (Atlanta and Sydney) and two World Championships (Belgium and The Netherlands). 

“It was an incredible bike. So stiff.” 

At the 1998 Worlds in The Netherlands, Paul felt he and Eddy were good for a podium finish having surprised the opposition with a tandem track gold and broken the world record in the 4k pursuit the day before. From the outset they were marked men though, and the tactics of opposing teams would see them targeted and kept off the podium, finishing 4th overall.

In 1999 the bike was resprayed for the Sydney Olympics in which Paul and Eddy won gold in Sprint and bronze in the time trial. Paul retired from racing after the 2000 Olympics aged 30 years of age.

Paul won numerous gold, silver and bronze medals, broke numerous world records and was awarded Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). The frame now lives with Paul’s brother.
More details and photos can be found in the MHJones Register

Frank West

Swansea Cycles - Fremantle Legend exhibition opening

The WAHCC’s 2019 marque celebration of Swansea Cycles was opened by club Chairperson Robert Frith last Friday evening. The official opening followed an afternoon tea reunion of Swansea alumni; close to twenty of the company’s staff and riders were invited to an exclusive preview of the show. Among them were Les Baldwin’s right hand man for many years, Harold Durant, now 97, ex Freo MP Dr. John Troy and a slew of champion riders from the 50’s and 60’s including Rod Dhue, Bill Gilbride, Clarrie Minciullo, Graham Benthien, Mick O’Sullivan and Peter Buswell.

The following two days were a huge success with over 400 people seeing the exhibition, among them Chris, Celia and Rhiannon Baldwin, the son and granddaughters of Swansea founder and part owner Howard Baldwin. We also had visits from Ray Ellement, frame builder Merv Ellement’s son; Helen Jones, niece of Swansea accountant Ken Pettit; Terry, Roz and Nicole Stevenson, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter of legendary rider Dave Stevenson, later the Swansea factory manager.

A number of club members brought Swansea bikes from their collections for the show and, together with generous loans from members of the public, by Sunday lunchtime there were 34 Swanseas on display. They ranged from a humble delivery bike (Swansea’s own) to a pair of spectacularly restored road race bikes. The earliest bike on show, a verge pickup, dates to 1934 and the most recent a c. 1975 “bike boom” exercise in badge engineering.

Over the course of the weekend we added a dozen bikes to the Swansea Register and gave away 44 numbered tags to owners of registered bikes.

If you missed the show we’re sorry; it was fantastic! All is not lost though; the content that club members produced from interviews prior to the show is available here.

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1925 Northam to Perth winner A.E. Golder

A piece of West Australian cycling history resurfaced recently when I invited Mal Barker - a multiple State-Champion in his time – for a coffee and a chat about another unrelated project he is currently working on.

Mal - well into his 80’s now - had mentioned in earlier phone conversations that he owned a bike that had been lying in bits under his son’s house in Gidgegannup for the past 20 years.

“It’s not in very good condition, but all the bits are there including the Brooks saddle and the wooden wheels.  A young bloke called Golder, he was about 18 or 19 years old, he won the Northam-to-Perth race on it in 1925. It came with copies of some news articles reporting the race and it’s got some pictures of him crossing the finishing line. If you’re interested, I could bring them down when we meet. I’m never going to get around to fixing it up and my son’s not interested”.

A little bit of research on Trove, an initiative by the National Library of Australia to digitise old newspapers, revealed a number of articles including pictures of the race that confirmed that an 18 year old A.E. Golder had indeed won the Northam to Perth race in September 1925.

The Northam to Perth was a very prestigious blue-ribbon event second only to the Beverley to Perth.

Collectively, the newspaper articles and photos provide a wonderful window back to simpler times between the two world wars. 

As fate would have it, the bike would end up very much forgotten under the Golder house for nearly 75 years. In 1998, Golder’s elderly son-in-law decided it was time to do something with the bike and he gave it to Mal.

To my surprise and delight, though the bike was in poor cosmetic condition, there on the head tube was the original brass badge – The West, Built by West Cycle Ltd of Hay St. The bike’s original components, some of the best available at the time and generally in very good condition included Chater Lea cranks and axle, BSA pedals & headset, Brooks Sprinter saddle and Major Taylor style adjustable head stem. The wooden front wheel was complete and the only missing component of note was the rear hub.  With regard to the frame, of note are the especially fine seat stays, 7/8” diameter top tube and ChaterLea bottom bracket shell. Three types of wooden rims of varying diameters came  with bike – small and large tubular rims and medium sized clinchers.

The bike has been cleaned, fish oiled and coated with conservation wax.  The plan is to leave the bike in very much “as found” condition and to build a rear wood rimmed wheel for display purposes and a set of steel Westwood wheels for the very occasional gentle outing.

The Trove newspaper articles are available here; https://bit.ly/2AA3hye

Frank West.

At the finish, Golder on his “The West” racer.

Hector Thomas & Fleet Cycles

Hector Thomas was born in 1900. He joined the army when he was 15 years and 11 months old and went to England.  An accidental meeting with his father, who was also in the army, found him out and he was sent back to Perth.

He was determined and rejoined the army and was sent to Belgium and France. He was certainly one of the youngest to serve from WA. Hector was a signaller with the 13th Battalion. In the battle of Hamel he was wounded but stayed with his unit until the Armistice was signed.

After the First World War he returned from service and worked in the cycle industry from 1919 - 1940. He worked for Armstrong Cycle & Motor Company on Hay Street from 1925 to 1940.

The below reference is from Armstrong when Hector applied to work in a munitions factory. He didn’t end up working in the munitions factory but went off to the Second World War for another five and half years of service.

When he returned he started his own cycle shop, Fleet Cycles on Beaufort Street, Inglewood near 7th Avenue. He used to paint the bikes with enamel with the Fleet Cycles logo and then bake the enamel under lights. He also did bicycle repairs. Hector retired in 1968 when his arthritis became bad. His GP told him to stop working which he did immediately, closing the shop up and selling the property with everything intact.

The name Fleet Cycles was taken over by a bicycle shop owner in Morley for many years.

Hector Thomas lived at 22 Normanby Street, Inglewood.

Mark Powell (Hector's grandson)

Fred Buzza and Swift Cycles

This article is mainly recollections of Fred’s son John Buzza, with some additional detail provided by Allen Buzza. Fred’s Grandson Wes Buzza is keen to find out more about the history of Swift Cycles, please contact the club if you have any recollections to pass on.

My Dad, Alfred William Buzza (Fred to all that knew him), was born on 12th June 1901 in North Perth. His family moved to 2 Mint Street East Victoria Park in about 1902 or 1903. He was the youngest of four with a brother John (Jack) and 2 sisters, Vera and Olivia (Olive).

He attended the state school at Cargill Street Victoria Park and Perth Boys school in Perth. Jack was Killed in action in WW1 on the Western Front.

When Fred left school aged 14 he went into the rag trade and served his apprenticeship as a tailor’s presser. WW1 was in progress and while he was too young to fight he probably worked on military uniforms a lot of the time.

In about 1925 he started a garage business in what is now Rivervale at or near the corner of what is now Enfield Street and Kitchener Avenue. It was called Buzza’s Garage. Fred was hit pretty hard by the great depression of 1929-31and Buzza’s Garage was closed at some point. Ever resourceful Fred worked on stations around Yalgoo in shearing sheds and on farms for a time.

Around 1932 he went into a partnership with Phil someone and they started Sprint Cycles on the corner of Gresham Street in Victoria Park. This partnership dissolved in about 1934 and Fred moved to a shop at 471 Albany Highway; Swift Cycles. Dad used the Buzzalong name for the bicycles and tricycles he manufactured in-house and the Swift name on the bicycle stock he would purchase from the trade.

He married our mother on 10th March 1934, so there may have been a change in the structure of the business at that time. Mumwas a highly qualified nurse, no office wallah, and I think she would have exerted plenty of say in how the business was going to be run from then on. The house they lived in was built in 1928 by Mum’s parents and leftto her and her sister. (Sister Melva lived with them for many years until she married and went to live in Manjimup)

I didn’t come along until 1939,so all I ever knew during my childhood was that Dad had a bike shop and he made bikes. I spent a fair bit of time at the shop with Dad during the war years because Mum was in charge of a first aid post at the Cargill St school and attended there quite a bit. I saw Dad build the bikes from scratch. He used to buy all the components in; various tubing, lugs, rims, spokes, hubs, seats, handle, bars, bells, chains, sprockets, mudguards, ball bearings, brakes, brake rubbers and so on.

He had a forge and brazed the frames together with silver solder. During the war years he went to join up and was “manpowered” because he owned a small business which could be set up if required to manufacture for the war effort. It never came to that, although he was asked to make 2 samples of a small mechanism from a drawing supplied bythe Dept of War. It was top secret and at the time he didn’t know what it was. Years later, he recognised the chap who was from the DoW in the Broken Hill Hotel and was told the samples hemade were a part of a 303 rifle bolt mechanism.

As children, Allen (4 and a half years my junior) and I used to build wheels in front of the kitchen stove while we listened to the radio. We would have been about 6 & 10 by then. Dad was meticulous about the spokes being in the right place. I don’t know if it still the case but there were I think 32 spokes in the front wheel and 40 in the back. We could true the wheels and put the tyres and tubes on when we were quite young too. Dad used to do all his own painting; he had an oven for baking the enamel. He used some decal transfers but all the lining and fancywork he did himself. He had a set of lining brushes.

He also made tricycles to order for disabled and geriatric people. These were tricky as they were specially engineered frames and had to have a split rear axle to enable cornering. I was a test rider o these on more than one occasion. They were tricky to ride too because you didn’t need to try and balance them. They only had a front brake too.

The bikes he made to order were called Buzzalongs. The length of the seat pillar bar and inside leg measurement were critical. Racing bikes were a specialty. He had racing bike riders who used to ride for him in the big races like Beverley to Perth and Northam to Perth. The Northam to Perth came via Red Hill. I can remember going in the car early to Beverley. Mum would pack thermoses and sandwiches. Can’t remember breakfast but we must have had some. I think we went up Great Eastern Highway, branched off at the Lakes and went via York. Idon’t ever remember going via Brookton. It started outside theBeverley Town Hall.

We would then follow the riders down to the finish line in Maylands outside the Peninsular Hotel. As with Northam same thing startedat the town hall came via Toodyay and finished a the MaylandsPeninsular Hotel. They were exciting times.

His road racing activities was mainly sponsorship, although he did some road racing himself. I remember Lionel Felstead and Phil Kidd as two of the riders but I’m sure there were others.

Another scheme he had going was where you bought a book of 10 tickets and sold them for a pound each. That gave you 10 pounds to buy a new bike with. The people you sold the ticket to all came and got a book of tickets and so it went on. It would be illegal now as it is classed as a Ponzi Scheme. Back in those days it sold a lot of bikes.

In 1952 Dad sold the shop to Hi-way Cycles, owned by Les Andrews, whose brother had Swansea Cycles on the corner of Teddington Road and Albany Highway. Hi-way was a motor bike business as well. He had small bikes like BSA Triumph and Nortonbut I don’t think he had any Harleys or Indians.

The bike business was tough in those days. Starting from Hampshire Street in East Victoria Park there was Balmoral cycles, Sprint, Swift, Malvern Star, Swansea - I may have forgotten a couple.

Fred Buzza passed away at the age of 74.

V.E.W. Components

Giovanni “Jack" Bazzano was born in Morano sul Po, about 50 km east of Turin in northern Italy. He arrived in Australia with his family including boys Charles (3 at the time) and Leo in about 1925. 

By 1934 he was in partnership with W.L. Morgan in the Velox Cycle Works at 356 Parramatta Road, Petersham. The partnership was dissolved in June 1934, with Morgan retaining the premises and the name Velox Cycle Works. Jack Bazzano moved to 6 Holmwood Street, Newtown, a big Victorian house. In 1934-1935 he set up a factory in sheds adjacent to the house which he named the Velox Engineering Works. Charlie, along with Leo became tradesmen producing VEW branded alloy bicycle components, including hubs that are reputed to be some of the earliest one-piece aluminium hubs in the world.

Jack competed in the 1934 Goulburn Sydney race (as an amateur for the Newtown club) and his sons Leo and Charles were prominent amateur cyclists. Charlie rode for Marrickville and swept the field for the 1945 NSW State Championship, when he was compared to the great Dunc Gray and he went on to win the NSW sprint title seven times. He competed in the 1948 Olympics and scored a fourth place in the sprint. He was beaten in the semi-finals by Reg Harris, who won a silver medal. He also represented Australia in the 1950 Empire Games (now called the Commonwealth Games) as a sprint cyclist finishing fifth in the sprint title with fellow team-mates Russell Mockridge and Sid Patterson taking the gold and silver medals. 

During the second world war, Velox was provided with a priority on aluminium that was higher than some munitions manufacturers so that they could make hubs whenever there was a shortage of them in the bicycle industry.

Velox never made hubs in anything other than aluminium, so even the most humble go-to-work austerity finished roadster bike could sport an all alloy one-piece hub that the most expensive British or European bikes could only dream of at the time.

V.E.W. made four different headstems and five grades of hubs; Roadster, Light, Continental, Special Continental and Zenith. The Roadster was a low flange model, the  Zenith, Continental and Special Continental were high or wide flange models with the Light model available in three flange sizes.

V.E.W. hubs were a mid level option on Malvern Star Five Star models from around 1951 with Harden Bacon Slicers as the premium offering.

An advertisement appearing in Sydney’s “Il Giornale Italiano” in December 1930 indicates V.E.W. also made handlebars and there have been rumours of seat posts as well. To date there is no evidence that either were ever produced 

Velox Engineering Works moved to Blakehurst, probably about 1946. They continued production of bicycle components until at least 1957. As the post war bike boom wound down during the 50's Velox diversified into the manufacture of letterboxes and mag wheels for boat trailers. Production of both lines continues to this day; Velox Engineering Works is still in business near Sutherland, south of Sydney.