Speedwell appreciation society
-
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 2:15 pm
Re: Speedwell popular roadster date?
Postby flying dragon » Tue May 15, 2018 9:30 am
I've found the info in this short thread to be very helpful and interesting with the historical ads and knowledge for these older bikes.
- find_bruce
- Moderator
- Posts: 10579
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby find_bruce » Tue May 15, 2018 10:03 am
Doneflying dragon wrote:Would it be useful to change this thread title to "Speedwell appreciation society"?
I've found the info in this short thread to be very helpful and interesting with the historical ads and knowledge for these older bikes.
-
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 2:15 pm
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby flying dragon » Fri May 18, 2018 11:49 am
But does anything else fit?
- find_bruce
- Moderator
- Posts: 10579
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby find_bruce » Fri May 25, 2018 3:16 pm
I know that Speedwell was struggling in the 60s before being taken over by in 65 by the same company that had bought Malvern Star. All the info I have seen, including the wiki page largely written by torana68, tapers off by the 50s.
My question though is about whether there were any special speedwells available in the 60s.
-
- Posts: 1518
- Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:40 am
- Location: NSW/ACT
- Contact:
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Torana68 » Fri May 25, 2018 5:56 pm
I’ve touched some nice specials from ‘64 , I’d have to go dig and see but probably wouldn’t be much as by ‘68 Asian made frames were the go. The new owners were all about profit, no love there . They were busy cost cutting and sucking what they could from both once great names.find_bruce wrote:..........
My question though is about whether there were any special speedwells available in the 60s.
I have yet to find any confirmed dates for the closure of the Redfern factory, anyone know?
"It's only original once"
- find_bruce
- Moderator
- Posts: 10579
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby find_bruce » Tue May 29, 2018 3:04 pm
You are doing better than me - I can't even find the address of the Redfern factory.Torana68 wrote:I have yet to find any confirmed dates for the closure of the Redfern factory, anyone know?
I was hoping JohnJ may help or at least point me in the right direction. Perhaps randomly quoting a pic of his track speedwell will get his attention
Johnj wrote:A late 1950s Speedwell Olympic (this is a track bike)
- Clydesdale Scot
- Posts: 2254
- Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:55 pm
- Location: Adelaide, SA
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Clydesdale Scot » Tue May 29, 2018 8:05 pm
a photo of the 'new' buildingfind_bruce wrote: You are doing better than me - I can't even find the address of the Redfern factory.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52839893/view ... 1/mode/1up
and it appears to have been at 44 Rosehill St, Redfern
see http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248514518
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248510675
and an interior shot
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172834305
and a promotional article
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167913015
- find_bruce
- Moderator
- Posts: 10579
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby find_bruce » Tue May 29, 2018 11:11 pm
The building is long gone - I think this is the same perspective as the photo. One clue might be a land titles search
- Clydesdale Scot
- Posts: 2254
- Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:55 pm
- Location: Adelaide, SA
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Clydesdale Scot » Wed May 30, 2018 7:35 am
If you could get someone in Canberra to visit the NLA, the Annual Reports (1963-1975) might give you an understanding of the state of bicycle manufacturing in the period leading up to the sale to General Accessories.
-
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 5:08 pm
- Location: Sydney
- Contact:
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby tcdev » Wed May 30, 2018 1:33 pm
Anyway, a quick Google showed up a Gumtree ad for what I believe is the exact bike I owned; a burgundy-coloured racer. What's amazing is that the listing is recent (earlier this month) and only a few km away from home!
The bike itself looks in decent condition for its age. I'm no bike collector or vintage enthusiast by any means, but now I'm wondering if I should pick this one up, if for nothing else but nostalgic value? Is it of sufficient quality to be worth having? It would probably sit in the shed or garage for years until I decide to do something with it, ie. restore it properly, but perhaps could be brought back to rideable condition in the mean-time with very little cost or effort.
Thoughts?
2011 Schwinn Sporterra Comp
2021 Giant Contend AR1
-
- Posts: 551
- Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 10:53 am
- Location: Sydney, Inner West
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Johnj » Thu May 31, 2018 2:47 pm
Hmm, can't really add much. I think Rosehill Street is correct. From memory 1965, or thereabouts, is the year of purchase of the Speedwell brand by General Accessories. For a few years there were some better Speedwells around, the last being the Dura-ace equipped Olympic of 1974. But after that the better model names (Olympic and Superlite) went to Repco and the brand went down to the bottom of the market, probably never to re-emerge. More on Bennett shortly.find_bruce wrote:I was hoping JohnJ may help or at least point me in the right direction. Perhaps randomly quoting a pic of his track speedwell will get his attention.
-
- Posts: 551
- Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 10:53 am
- Location: Sydney, Inner West
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Johnj » Thu May 31, 2018 8:53 pm
Bennett and Wood were founded in the 1880s. The Speedwell brand dates from 1897 (derived from Charles Bennett's membership of the Speedwell Bicycle Club). By the 1960s Bennett and Wood made most of their money from car parts and moved out of Speedwell House to Zetland in 1961. They sold the bicycle business at a real low point in cycling in Australia. With the bike boom of the 1970s they went back into bicycles, but had no brand. Hence they created a new brand: Bennett. Probably imported bikes, not manufactured here, and bikes ranged from low-end to reasonable.tcdev wrote:I was reminiscing about my cycling past on another group this morning and the brand "Bennett" suddenly popped into my head - after eluding me in recent years - as the bike I had as a young teen. As I understand it, it's a subsidiary/offshoot of Speedwell? Apologies if not and this is in the wrong forum...
The bike itself looks in decent condition for its age. I'm no bike collector or vintage enthusiast by any means, but now I'm wondering if I should pick this one up, if for nothing else but nostalgic value? Is it of sufficient quality to be worth having? It would probably sit in the shed or garage for years until I decide to do something with it, ie. restore it properly, but perhaps could be brought back to rideable condition in the mean-time with very little cost or effort.
Thoughts?
I'd encourage you to buy this one. Nothing like wallowing in a bit of nostalgia. Won't cost you much and might be fun.
-
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 5:08 pm
- Location: Sydney
- Contact:
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby tcdev » Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:34 am
Thanks for the info, much appreciated!Johnj wrote:I'd encourage you to buy this one. Nothing like wallowing in a bit of nostalgia. Won't cost you much and might be fun.
On closer inspection it appears the frame is several sizes too big for me, so I could never ride it. A pity, it's the same bike, colour and all, that I had. Asking price is just $90, which I could probably bargain down if it's still available now, a month after it was listed. I think if it was a more suitable size, even if just one size too big, I'd pull the trigger.
Gumtree ad
2011 Schwinn Sporterra Comp
2021 Giant Contend AR1
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:18 pm
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby DD » Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:41 am
I read a few years back that all gold cup's had serial numbers starting with G, mine being G28285.
Overall weight of frame and forks are 2770g including lower steering cup and cone.
Some pics below
Any information would help
Thanks
Dave
-
- Posts: 1518
- Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:40 am
- Location: NSW/ACT
- Contact:
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Torana68 » Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:32 pm
Edit it’s no older then 1935 doubt its as new as 1937, model probably “Sports Club” it could be a different model but unless there is s lot of chrome under the paint and/or you have all the original components I can’t add any more.
"It's only original once"
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:18 pm
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby DD » Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:59 pm
Some time after the fork lug that holds the wheel broke and it was stripped down, parts used on other bikes and the frame and fork have hung in the garage ever since.
-
- Posts: 1518
- Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:40 am
- Location: NSW/ACT
- Contact:
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Torana68 » Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:38 am
"It's only original once"
- Clydesdale Scot
- Posts: 2254
- Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:55 pm
- Location: Adelaide, SA
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Clydesdale Scot » Wed Jul 25, 2018 6:09 pm
After taking away basic necessities, the cost of a bike may have been related to the available discretionary spending.
- uart
- Posts: 3208
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:15 pm
- Location: Newcastle
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby uart » Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:08 pm
Ha, that's the average yearly earnings there CS. If you were earning 250 quid a week back in the 1940s you'd have been a Bill Gates or similar.Clydesdale Scot wrote:away from the fat cats, the average weekly earnings for a factory worker in Victoria in 1940 was £248 5s 8d,
- Clydesdale Scot
- Posts: 2254
- Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:55 pm
- Location: Adelaide, SA
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Clydesdale Scot » Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:33 pm
my proofreader was having a day off.
- 10speedsemiracer
- Posts: 4904
- Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:38 pm
- Location: Back on the Tools .. when I'm not in the office
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby 10speedsemiracer » Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:47 pm
I hate it when that huppens...Clydesdale Scot wrote:weeklyannual
my proofreader was having a day off.
- uart
- Posts: 3208
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:15 pm
- Location: Newcastle
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby uart » Thu Jul 26, 2018 6:19 pm
Yeah I knew that was just a typo there CS.Clydesdale Scot wrote:weeklyannual
my proofreader was having a day off.
2.77 kg is a pretty decent weight for the frame and forks (and cups) of a bike of that vintage.
BTW. Have you had the fork dropout repaired yet?Some time after the fork lug that holds the wheel broke and it was stripped down, parts used on other bikes and the frame and fork have hung in the garage ever since.
-
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 12:56 pm
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Gordon1 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:07 pm
Edit it’s no older then 1935 doubt its as new as 1937, model probably “Sports Club” it could be a different model but unless there is s lot of chrome under the paint and/or you have all the original components I can’t add any more.[/qute]
Hi Torana68, reading through this post it seems that you may have the knowledge on Speedwells an I have no shame in trying to bleed you dry.
I purchased a Speedwell from the Canberra bicycle museum. The information I was given was it is 1936, hoping you can confirm or disprove. Frame number is G62391. It was restored to within an inch of its life so no original features can be referred to.
I can provide photos if you need, please pm me if you want as I refuse to post photos via a third party hosting site.
-
- Posts: 1518
- Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:40 am
- Location: NSW/ACT
- Contact:
Re: Speedwell appreciation society
Postby Torana68 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:11 pm
"It's only original once"
- General Australian Cycling Topics
- Info / announcements
- Buying a bike / parts
- General Cycling Discussion
- The Bike Shed
- Cycling Health
- Cycling Safety and Advocacy
- Women's Cycling
- Bike & Gear Reviews
- Cycling Trade
- Stolen Bikes
- Bicycle FAQs
- The Market Place
- Member to Member Bike and Gear Sales
- Want to Buy, Group Buy, Swap
- My Bikes or Gear Elsewhere
- Serious Biking
- Audax / Randonneuring
- Retro biking
- Commuting
- MTB
- Recumbents
- Fixed Gear/ Single Speed
- Track
- Electric Bicycles
- Cyclocross and Gravel Grinding
- Dragsters / Lowriders / Cruisers
- Children's Bikes
- Cargo Bikes and Utility Cycling
- Road Racing
- Road Biking
- Training
- Time Trial
- Triathlon
- International and National Tours and Events
- Cycle Touring
- Touring Australia
- Touring Overseas
- Touring Bikes and Equipment
- Australia
- Western Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Victoria
- ACT
- Tasmania
- Northern Territory
- Country & Regional
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Amazon [Bot]
- All times are UTC+11:00
- Top
- Delete cookies
About the Australian Cycling Forums
The Australian Cycling Forums is a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.
Bicycles Network Australia
Forum Information
Connect with BNA
This website uses affiliate links to retail platforms including ebay, amazon, proviz and ribble.