Bicycle memories
Written by Robbie Powell | 19th May, 2010
As this is the year that Probike is turning 75 it has made me think about the bikes that Probike have been supplying these last 75 years and how they have changed the lives of those who have been lucky enough to own one. It brought me back to this story from one of our customers, Frank Smith. Frank bought a Humber bike from a cycle shop in Salt River some 55 years ago. The Humber bike came from Probike then and is still available from us today. It humbles me to see that Frank has kept his bike all these years, has ridden it for thousands of kilometers, and was still using it up to the 1970’s.
Herewith the letter from Frank:
“I bought this cycle with the carrier for £8-00-03 on Saturday 20 August 1955 at a dealer in Salt River, Cape Town. The three pence tickles me to this day. I had to cough up £4-00-03 from my savings account with the Post Office while my dad loaned me £4-00-00 to pay for the cycle. I had to repay the loan to my dad at 5/- (fifty cents per month). In those years parents apparently did not believe in spoiling their kids. My dad was certainly one of them. This was on the same day that Tom (Karel) van Vollenhoven scored three tries against the then British Lions Rugby touring side. The Springboks won the test 25-9. Other cycles then on the market were the Raleigh (which we in those years regarded as the Rolls Royce of cycles), Hercules, Philips and BSA. If you were really up market you owned a Raleigh with a Sturmy Archer three speed rear hub. This is a far cry from today’s cycles with their multiple speed drives.
Anyhow, we then stayed in the railway camp at Eerste River in the Stellenbosch district. The cycle was used for rides in the district and for visits to Stellenbosch and to the sea at the Strand. In those years there were no double lane highways, only narrow tar roads sometimes bordered by pine trees. I use to travel by train to school at the Somerset West Primary School and the High School Hottentots Holland, and occasionally on the cycle. Road tax for cycles in the form of license fees to the Divisional Council was 5/- per year.
In 1958 my dad was transferred to Railway Diesel Workshops at Germiston and I used the cycle to ride from Elsburg to the Afrikaans High School Germiston. After I joined the South African Police in 1962 I used it to ride from Elsburg to the Germiston police station. In 1963 I went to the South African Police College in Pretoria and from there on to Johannesburg Central Police station. The cycle was then no longer in use. During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s my brother in law used it to travel to work every day. I was transferred to the Transkei and then the Free State and so the cycle ended up in my parent’s garage”
Frank I salute you for your dedication and love for your bike for all these years. May the memories it gave you last forever. Frank has kindly donated the bike to our museum.
