A Letter From Oppy
Do not worry about the size of your chainwheels. The actual gear is the most important. If you have 8 gears, you should have from 68 up to 96” with the vari- ations from one to the other as regular as possible.
Bike Week Exhibition
The WAHCC has been awarded Department of Transport funding to assist us in mounting a month long exhibition of bicycles in the city.
The club is partnering with the fabulous Museum of Perth, the UWA Bike Club (who'll be running a series of lunchtime seminars) and Giro d'Perth.
Bike Week runs from March 12th to 20th 2016. The exhibition will run for a month though; from February 29th to March 27th, details here.
Swansea 50 Mile Race 1931 Season
This panoramic photo was taken outside the then South Fremantle Post Office on Hampton St (the building is still there and still in use). The angle of the sun puts the time around mid afternoon, so perhaps these are the finishers gathered for a group photo.
Frame Repairs
I recently had to find someone capable of doing some pretty serious repairs to a hundred year old racing frame. It seems that only two people are in business in Perth doing that sort of thing.
I contacted Quantum Bicycles in North Perth and they agreed to at least look at what was needed. I was taken there by one of my lovely daughters.
At first I only saw the tiny entrance to the workshop and wondered if the firm could do the job. Then I was taken to another couple of rooms that were full of shelves and racks of bike parts and tools. Everything was spotless, it was a pleasure to see such a great setup.
I’m happy to recommend Quantum’s services to anyone who has frame or paint problems. Aldo will be pleased to show you some of his work; his paint finish is top class.
Quantum Cycles, 64 Farmer St, North Perth, WA 6006. Phone 08 94433407. Email info@quantumbicycles.com
Peter Wells
Personal History: Percy Armstrong
Percy accepted the offer and the Sydney-Melbourne record was his first solo record attempt. He was able to break the record on September 30, 1893 by 26 hours. Completing the 930km in the remarkable time 4 days, 3 hours and 45 minutes.
RAC Tweed Ride Report
The RAC Tweed Ride held in Albany on May 9th 2015 was a great success. The Tweed Ride was just one of the many activities as part of the second Vintage Vancouver Street Festival. A wood fired pizza night was held with Perth and Albany members the evening before the Festival and Ride and was enjoyed by all.
The Festival was held on historic Vancouver Street and there were 4 500 through the gate on the day. Sixty people rode in the Tweed ride which was a big increase from last years inaugural Tweed Ride which had 25 participants. A big thank you to Mal and Myrene Bell and family who travelled down with their ancient cycles members will be familiar with. The Tweed Ride was a major drawcard of the Festival thanks to a team effort from Perth and Great Southern members. It may have been the first time ever that eight penny farthings were on Vancouver St.
Thanks to the generosity from local bikes shops, Passmore Cycles, Bob's Bikes and Impulse, cycles, prizes were awarded for the most Fetching Lady, the most Dapper Chap and Most Breathtaking Hair. WAHCC members/partners scoped the pool here with Carissa Clark winning the first and third categories and Collyn Gawned the second.
Approximately 20 bikes were displayed featuring the history of the bike and local newspaper ads featuring the agencies that sold bicycles. The bike racks and display panels that were funded by the Lotterywest grant resulted in a very professional looking display. A big thanks also to David Clark who supplied a fully restored 5 star Swansea for the display.
Hats off to WAHCC member Glenn Huffer who liaised with the City of Albany to organise the event.
The first rider sets off. Photo courtesy © Anita Hotker
The Bell family are front page news.
Kent St Weir ride report
Ride was attended by 8 members all meeting at Phil's house in Thornlie around 9am in some lovely mild autumn sunshine. The group eventually dragging themselves away after the usual frenzied and chatty catch up between everyone over small bike details.
New member Viv presented a lovely original Raleigh roadster in green, accompanied by a very suitable green striped college jacket befitting the bike.
Among other oddballs & oddities in attendance were Andrew and his Gordonson factory or plant cargo utility bike, Phil and his dark green latter day rod-braked Raleigh, Robert and his big lanky Record and Kym on his 1990s 26"/24" Australia Post pushie.
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.
Molasses for Rust Removal - try it and see
Like most of us in the hobby of conserving old cycles I was interested in finding a practical alternative to sand blasting to remove rust so that chrome, nickel (if you’re lucky) or paint and transfers are not damaged while cleaning the cycle frame and components of rust.
Lotterywest Grant Approved
About a year ago the WAHCC applied to Lotterywest for funding. The process was slow and entailed month after month of nail biting wait as Lotterywest came back to us for ever more detail. The great news is that the application was approved recently.
The money will be used to update and consolidate our visual identity as well as purchase a new marquee and a digital projector. The Great Southern crew also get a marquee as well as teardrop banners and bike tools to run their workshops.
Albany Tweed Ride 2014
Fine weather prevailed folks.
Jo Taylor from the City of Albany had this to say about the event,
"All components of the festival contributed to a fabulous atmosphere and the vibe of the festival amongst the patrons was amazing. A wonderful buzz in one of our oldest historic streets, the perfect location for a grass roots community festival with a great cross section of people attending from young to the elderly! Fantastic to see so many people wandering through the Vancouver Arts Centre to admire the Great Southern Art Award. The music and entertainment... WOW! Food... sensational! All elements worked really well.
Estimated numbers throughout the day were 3000 to 3500, not bad for a first time festival! We are all a wee bit chuffed and very much on the post event high."
Here are a couple of photos of the ride courtesy of photographer Lee Griffith.
Great Southern Gears Up
The Great Southern Division are few in number but have been busy working on a number of initiatives to grow the club in the bush. We have six members, four in Albany, one in Denmark and one in Katanning.
Meetings are held every two months at members homes, in re- cent times, monthly meetings have been required leading up to our signature event, the Inaugural Albany Tweed Ride ... more about that later.
A facebook page has been established. We have started a monthly Retro Ride on cycles older than 25 years. The Retro Ride has started to attract non-members for the ride which we are pleased about. We have been meeting at a café in Albany and gently pedalling 10km. The fine for riding the same bicycle on consecutive rides is shouting coffee for all riders. The fine won’t break the bank at this stage because rider numbers are small and Bay Merchants Café supports cyclists by providing a 50% discount.
Three displays have been conducted and we have discovered there is no shortage of opportunities to display old cycles, but with such a small number of members, there have been some opportunities we have had to let go. Our last display, Velo Vineyard, was held during Bikeweek at oranje tractor wine (owned by club member Murray Gomm and wife Pam). Oranje tractor wine is also the place of employment for another club member Collyn Gawned. Around 100 people attended this event. The lure of free coffee no doubt played a part! - Attendee’s were entitled to the freebie once they’d provided feedback on the Draft City of Albany Bike Plan. With 20 bikes on display the event was also a soft launch of a bike repair stand which that has twelve tools and a pump for cyclists to use. This was designed and built by club member Glenn Huffer.
Oranje tractor wine is an accredited cycle friendly business offering the following services to cyclists:
bike racks;
free iced water refill;
high carbohydrate meals;
free showers;
a handful of free seasonal produce. At the moment
that’s an apple straight off the tree ;
lycra friendly, i.e. lycra is acceptable dress;
rest areas and toilets;
tastings of Fat Tyre Wine. Yes, it’s a wine bottle with a
mountain bike tyre on the label. There is a broke spoke sauvi- gnon blanc, gear masher merlot, panic skid pinot and bespoke (sparkling sauvignon blanc). A percentage of the sales of these wines go to the Albany Mountain Bike Club for trail building and events;
bike repair stand;
vintage bicycle display;
free vintage trike use for kids; cycling maps and information and; coffee of course!
There are currently 10 vintage bikes on display at oranje tractor. A number of these are on loan from the Albany Historical Society and other collectors. Future plans are to feature a bike of the month. There is also a Bicycle Curio Cupboard crammed with all sorts of cycling ephemera. Special thanks to Perth club member David Clark who has loaned a number of particularly interesting items for a 12 month period. If any club members have any interesting bikes and components they would like to display at oranje tractor wine, please contact Murray on the numbers below.
In partnership with the Perth committee a grant for ~$10 000 has been submitted to Lotterywest. If successful this will fund a number of items for the Great Southern including banners, quick assembly marquee, bicycle repair tools, bicycle display stands, racks to transport bikes. Also, the Perth end of the club is in the hunt to secure a data projector, banners and marquee. The grant will also fund consolidation and updating of the club’s identity and collateral.
The Inaugural Albany Tweed Ride is part of the Vintage Vancouver Festival that will be held in Albany on Saturday May 3rd. We are looking forward to strapping on some tweed for a leisurely pedal through the historic precinct of Albany. We have been able to muster five local penny farthings for this event (only four riders at this stage)and hats off again to David Clark who will be making the trip down and bringing down a couple of barbeque stopping cycles to give our display a shot in the arm.
Alan Hinds and Alan Naber have both visited Albany recently (actually Alan Hinds has been a repeat offender having visited twice in recent times) and it was great that a couple of Great Southern members got to meet them and while away some time discussing old bikes. We look forward to other members visiting Albany and the Great Southern.
Murray Gomm
Guildford Vintage Festival 2014
Fine weather resulted in a large number of the public attending a well organised and interesting Guildford Vintage Festival. Members brought along a good display of bikes. Merv was kept busy providing rides for kids in his billy carts, with their parents taking many photos. There was lots of interest in the large display of bikes and club members were kept on their toes answering questions fired at them. Grant Bell provided demonstration Penny Farthing rides as large crowds were intrigued as to how a rider of these awkward machines mounted and dismounted.
There were displays of vintage cars, machinery as well as many produce and other stalls. Dancing displays and other entertainment were provided.
The Guildford Fair certainly rates high on the list of events the club attends and a good day was had by all.
It was great to have new members Ron and Elaine van Halen come along. Other members in attendance were Merv and Dawn Thompson, Phil Harris, David Clark, Tony Hall, Harold and Judy Perry, David and Anne Northan, Jim and Helen Selkirk and Myrene, Mal and Grant Bell.
Mal Bell
Freo Tweed Run 2013
A dashed hot day for woollens! But the sticky 36°C did little to deter participation in the third Tweed Run in Freo. Four WAHCC members joined hundreds of other riders in a fine display of stiff upper lip. The fine display of vintage machinery was icing on the bun.
2013 marks the third anniversary of the Freo Tweed Run and also the third birthday of it's energetic organisers, Dismantle. Tally ho!
Beverly Bus Trip
Sixteen brave souls set off from sundry Bunnings car parks for Beverley one sunny but cold Sunday in September. First stop was York where we did our level best to lose one another around the coffee shops in an impromptu game of hide and seek.
Refreshed and on the road again we were treated to radio documentaries brought along by the ever thoughtful Alan Naber. The hour long ABC Hindsight programme “Allez Oppy” was fascinating and included interviews with Oppy himself as well as his son and others close to his career.
Once in Beverley we made a beeline for Mark Taylor’s shed in the light industrial area, home to a collection of 20 or so vintage caravans. Stepping up into any one of Mark’s old ‘vans is a step back in time. Many of his caravans are wonderfully preserved examples of how early motor tourists travelled in style, complete with flamboyant period fixtures and appliances.
Caravans are only half the story though. Mark has a matching period car to go with each caravan; a 50’s Hudson, 40’s Chev ute, ’38 Buick straight 8 and HR Holden wagon are clustered round the door vying for attention.
Mark Taylor with his friends Hudson and Chevrolet
The legendary Barry’s Toys can be overwhelming for the first time visitor. Room after room of Barry Ferguson’s sprawling sheds unfolds with untold treasures from the wheat-belt’s early years. How many clearing sales has Barry been too? Probably Barry himself would be unable to answer that question. He has collections of everything from tractors to toasters, and harrows to hats. He even has a few bikes, most notable of which are two of Beverley’s original delivery bikes, the baker’s and the grocer’s, complete with their number-plates BE•1 and BE•2.
Barry Ferguson and a couple of old Beverley Belles
While at Barry’s we were tracked down by an amiable gent asking when we’d be getting ourselves down to the Dead Finish Museum as he was set up and had been waiting for us - a confusing turn of events as we had no fixed itinerary. The Beverley bush telegraph is alive and well. Local farmer (and old bike nut) John Hawkes had got wind of our plans and hauled ten bikes in from the farm in a horse float. Once the last of our party was dragged kicking and screaming out of Barry’s we presented ourselves at the Dead Finish. John’s son was cutting laps on a dragster that has seen better days and members lapped up the rest of John’s collection which included a five swan Swansea and an early gents Runwell (Geoff Pianta, Collie) sporting a Major Taylor stem, (pictured).
John Hawkes with his Runwell
Lunch was a bit of bleak affair with an unremitting westerly continually upsetting cups, lunch-boxes and otherwise good tempers. Beverly, like many wheat-belt towns, has a surplus of commercial real estate and one generous soul, with the assistance of the Beverley Shire has fitted out and made available an old shop as a lunchroom for travellers. Sadly, it was discovered too late!
A couple of us visited the air museum which, having had its central exhibit reclaimed by family of the donor, is a bit of a shadow of its former self.
The journey home presented riders with an opportunity for a much needed rest; heads were duly nodded and the insides of sundry pairs of eyelids careful inspected.
A big vote of thanks to Phil for organising the bus and Fred for his impeccable driving.
Bob Hall registering our presence at The Dead Finish Museum
Albany Film Night
The WA Historical Cycle Club Great Southern staged a display in the foyer of the Albany Town Hall on Wednesday October 9th prior to the screening of the Triplets of Belleville. Jon Palmer from Katanning bought down two Swansea racing bikes, circa 1946 and 1947.
The film is an animated account of a Tour de France rider in the late 1940's who was kidnapped by French Mafia and subsequently rescued by his grandmother and and the titular triplets.
Members Glenn Huffer, Bob Lipinski, Collyn Gawned and Murray Gomm also attended in period cycling gear. Thanks to Rob Frith and Tim Eastwood for parting with their retro woollen jersies enabling Collyn and Murray to be noticed as they worked behind the bar.
The local media were all over us like a rash, ABC radio captured an interview prior to the event and took photos on the night and posted on their facebook page and both local both local newspapers were there on the night taking photos and interviewing members.
Microcrystalline Wax ... what is it, and why should I want to know?
Conservation principles require the preservation of the original condition - paint finishes, decals, leather, rubber, chrome etc. The challenge of course is to find the right balance between aesthetic appearance and authentic value.
SpeedDome Sun Jun 30th 2013
Not knowing who was going to the SpeedDome, apart from Robert Hunt and myself inspired me to take a few extra bikes for a total of eight. Robert had delivered three on the day prior to the event and Tim Eastwood arrived with two more to add to the stand.
13 bikes in all giving a good representation of what our club is about. We had a phenomenal response from the public and riders. Tim had a good day taking heaps of photos of the racing and the display (see below!) We also got a full page about our club in the official event programme.
The track racing was fantastic and the crowd peaked at several hundred when the road racers pulled in around lunchtime.
Thank you Robert and Tim for your efforts and Murray of the SpeedDome for the donation to the club.
Phil Harris
2013 Annual General Meeting
With club President Peter Wells unfortunately unable to attend this year's AGM Vice President Merv Thompson officiated.
There are some new faces on the committee with Robert Frith elected President, Walter Edom Secretary and Tim Eastwood joining as a Committee Member. Merv, Harold Perry, Ken Ward, Phil Harris and Andrew Blackmore retain their current positions of Vice President, Treasurer, Historian, Events Co-ordinator and Committee Member respectively.
A heartfelt vote of thanks was made for the contributions made by outgoing members Peter Wells, Tony Hall and Alan Hind.