Thank you all for your warm welcome,
Karen, I don't remember Jim, but i have spoken with mum this morning and she remembers Jim fondly, yes it was the late 50's when Jim worked at the Mascot shop.
I live in canberra, but the family are all up on the Central Coast so i travel through sydney quite a bit.
I have realised too that i called my grandfather Russell, his real name was Donald, but all of his good friends called him Russell.
Roger, thank you so much for your kind offer, I will take you up on that sometime. I am 6ft.
Roger I can tell you that your bikes were painted by Laurie Curtis, he worked for Russell for a very long time, he is in his 90's. Mum still has regular contact with him.
The person I remember best from the shop was Val Bathurst, he worked for Russell for approx 25 years and as Russell use to say he was the most talented frame welder/bike mechanic he had ever seen, even at the age of 14 years old, sadly Val has past on.
The shop was sold in 1978 to John and Margaret McLauglan, john has also passed but Margaret is still a very keen enthusiast.Margaret lives in Newcastle now.
My uncle John worked in the shop in his school and Uni holidays and worked along side Jim Bundy.
My tollis cycle is in storage atm, but you have given me the motivation to get it and put it back on the road where it belongs,I'll have to post some photos .
I used to spend my school holidays in the shop, I used to grab every finished bike in for repair and fly around Mascot on them, full size road bikes , when I was six lol.
Of course Russell taught me to ride, mum was horrified. he took off my training wheels at 3 years old and threw me down the driveway, all was good, he always said the best way to learn was sink or swim
Russell was still riding in his 80's, he had a titianium framed race bike he built, even as a 10 year old I could lift the bike with one finger, it is now in the possesion of a relative, I'd love to get it back but sadly Russell built it for his weight and I am too heavy
Roger, I'll need to check, I don't know if one is still around at Mum's but I might have one of Russell's hand made bike repair stands he used at the shop and then at home in retirement, it held the top of the frame via a clamp and was about 5-6 foot off the ground for easy access, chances are that your bikes were actually assembled on the same stand .
If anyone has any questions I'll do my best to get some answers for you