 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Bicycles |
| Founded | 1903 |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
| Products | Bicycle and Related Components |
| Parent | Sheppard Cycles [1] |
| Website | www.malvernstar.com.au |
Malvern Star is a manufacturer of bicycles based in Melbourne, Australia. The company was established in 1902, and went on to become a known brand in Australia. [2]
Malvern Star opened in a small shop at 58 Glenferrie Rd, in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern in 1902. It was started by cyclist Tom Finnigan who established the shop with the prize he earned (240 gold sovereigns) by winning the 1898 Austral Wheel Race. Finnigan specialised in touring and racing bikes, which he called Malvern Stars. The business grew with the popularity of cycling and despite competition from English and American firms. Part of Finnigan's success was due to the endorsement of Don Kirkham, one of the best-known Australian cyclists. Finnigan introduced a logo featuring a six-pointed star, which matched a tattoo on his forearm, used throughout the 1900s. His family is still in the bicycle trade, running a shop in Northcote. [2]
Finnigan retired and on 1 June 1920, the business was bought by 24-year-old Bruce Small. His brothers, Frank and Ralph, joined in the business, enlarging the shop (despite a number change, still the same shop - 185 Glenferrie Rd). [3] Small offered prizes in cycle races, resulting in 17-year-old racer Hubert Opperman winning a prize in 1921, and impressing Small so much that he offered him a job. Thus started a long relationship, with Small friend and sponsor of Opperman.
Small began a successful credit scheme, revolutionary at the time, to increase sales. The retail business expanded in 1923 to Gardenvale, and in 1925, the headquarters moved to Prahran. In 1928 a team comprising three Australians, Hubert Opperman, Percy Osborn and Ernest Bainbridge and one New Zealander Harry Watson entered the Tour De France. Although they rode French bikes [4] Malvern Star released a Tour De France model in recognition of their efforts. This model incorporated lessons learnt on the Tour including tubular tyres and wingnuts to attach the wheels.
With the Second World War, the supply of bicycle parts became scarce, so Malvern Star started manufacturing its own. Defence contracts helped growth of the business. At its peak after the war, Malvern Star had 115 stores with 1,000 dealers. Opperman helped promote Malvern Star and make both a household name in Australia. [2]
After the war, Small's Malvern Star bicycles were ridden by Sid Patterson, who won the world sprint championship in Copenhagen in 1949, the world pursuit championship in Liège (1950), the professional pursuit in Paris (1952) and professional pursuit in Zurich (1953). At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Ian Browne and Tony Marchant won a gold medal on a Malvern Star tandem.
The Malvern Star factory was located on the corner of Clarendon Street and Normanby Road in South Melbourne which is now the site of the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre just opposite Crown Casino. [5] Attached to the Malvern Star Factory was a Malvern Star Cycle Shop. Small employed John (Jack) Lee to manage the South Melbourne store from 1950 to the late 1960s. Lee went on to establish several Malvern Star cycle shops for Small in Sydney Road Coburg, Elizabeth Street Melbourne, Sydney Road Brunswick and went on to support many of Bruce Small's suburban and country Malvern Star dealers. In 1959 the Hollywood movie 'On the Beach' was filmed in Melbourne. John Lee was approached by the producers of the film to provide a number of bicycles to be used in a particular scene in Melbourne's CBD. John Lee and his wife Lauris rode Malvern Star bicycles as extras in that scene in the movie and also in the crowd scene on the steps of Melbourne's State Library. [6]
In the late 1960s, Malvern Star manufactured the Dragstar line of wheelie bikes. These have since been commemorated with a stamp by Australia Post. [7]
Malvern Star was sold to Electronic Industries in 1958 then in 1970 the brand was purchased by the Dutch multinational Philips, which sold Malvern Star in 1980 to Raleigh (all Australian bicycle building by the company ending in 1987, however most Malvern Stars were imported after 1970). Changes in ownership of Raleigh's parent company led to Malvern Star returning to Australian ownership in 1992 under Pacific Brands. [2] After struggling with low profitability, Pacific Brands finally sold the business to New Zealand's Sheppard Cycles in August 2011. [8]
The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
Malvern ( ) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Malvern recorded a population of 9,929 at the 2021 census.
Edward Russell Mockridge was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He died during a race, in collision with a bus.
Rochester is a town in rural Victoria, Australia. It is located 180 km (110 mi) north of Melbourne with a mixture of rural and semi-rural communities on the northern Campaspe River, between Bendigo and the Murray River port of Echuca. At the 2021 census, Rochester had a population of 3,154.
Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE, referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acclaim.
Sir Andrew Bruce Small OStJ was an Australian businessman and politician. In Melbourne, he developed Malvern Star bicycles into a household name in Australia, then retired to the Gold Coast, Queensland, where he developed property, and as Mayor of the Gold Coast, promoted the area to Australia and the world as a family-friendly holiday destination through the bikini-clad meter maids in Surfers Paradise.
The Austral Wheel Race is the oldest track bicycle race in the world still existing, stretching back to 1887. It is owned and run by AusCycling Victoria. The Austral race is Australia’s greatest track cycling event. It is held in Melbourne, riders assigned handicaps according to ability over a series of heats. The finals are run over 2000m.
The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle manufacturer based in Nottingham, England and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acquired by Frank Bowden in December 1888, it became The Raleigh Cycle Company, which was registered as a limited liability company in January 1889. By 1913, it was the largest bicycle manufacturing company in the world. From 1921 to 1935, Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of Reliant Motors. Raleigh bicycle is now a division of the Dutch corporation Accell.
A wheelie bike, also called a dragster, muscle bike, high-riser, spyder bike or banana bike, is a type of stylized children's bicycle designed in the 1960s to resemble a chopper motorcycle and characterized by ape hanger handlebars, a banana seat with sissy bar, and small wheels. Notable examples include the Schwinn Sting-Ray and Krate lines and the Raleigh Chopper line. Other notable manufacturers and retailers that offered models include AMF, CCM, Columbia, Huffy, Iverson, J. C. Penney, Malvern Star, Monark, Murray, Ross, Sears, and Vindec.
Speedwell was a brand of bicycle manufactured by Bennett & Wood, a firm established by Charles W. Bennett and Charles R. Wood in 1882 in Sydney. As motorcars and motorcycles became available Bennett and Wood entered the motor trade. They built and sold the Speedwell bicycle and the Speedwell and Acme motorcycles. The Speedwell motorcycle was built in the early 1900s.
Nino Borsari was an Italian cyclist who won a gold medal in the 4000 metres team pursuit event at the 1932 Summer Olympics.
Richard William "Fatty" Lamb was an Australian racing cyclist who competed on both road and track, as was typical of Australian cyclists of the era such as Hubert Opperman. Throughout his career, Lamb was associated with Malvern Star Bicycles and Bruce Small.
Oserick Bernard "Ossie" Nicholson was an Australian cyclist who twice held the World Endurance record for distance in a calendar year.
Frankie Thomas was an Australian racing cyclist who competed on both road and track, as was typical of Australian cyclists of the era such as Hubert Opperman.
Ernest Milliken was an Australian Road racing cyclist who performed strongly in distance races and individual time trials.
Walter "Hefty" Stuart (1912–1938) was an Australian cyclist who competed on both road and track, as was typical of Australian cyclists of the era such as Hubert Opperman and Richard Lamb.
The Centenary 1000 cycling race was a one-week road bicycle race over seven stages covering 1,102 miles (1,773 km). The race was run in 1934 as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Victoria. The race was originally conceived along the lines of the Dunlop Grand Prix, won by Hubert Opperman then aged 23, by 1h 20' and the concept for the race was covering 1,000 miles (1,600 km) with prizes exceeding £1,000, including a climb over Mount Hotham.
The Dunlop Grand Prix was, in 1927, the biggest cycling race in the British Empire and the richest race in the world. It was organised by the Dunlop Rubber Company which had a long history of organising bicycle races, including the Warrnambool to Melbourne, Colac to Melbourne and Goulburn to Sydney. As a result of the Dunlop Grand Prix, the Warrnambool was not held in 1927 however the Colac and Goulburn races were.
Valda Emily Unthank was an Australian cyclist who held numerous records for long distance cycling, mostly set during 1938-39, most notably the women's seven day record.
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