Quote Originally Posted by Danno View Post
Not too sure I can help Jim, Dad's first race bike was an fully timber "Egan type" that had seen a few lives before he got it in the mid/late 60's, his next was a second hand ( and only second hand) all Hickory timber round back sulky that "Flash Adios" had won a bucket load of country and City races with Bob Austin in the bike. I drove my first dozen or so winners in that cart and to this day reckon it is the best cart I'v sat in. I'm also pretty sure it was a Regal, you would probably know better than me.

The Freebairn wheel you mention were truly the bees knees weren't they? In loose or heavy going they made a massive difference to how horses got to the line.

The Brewer bike had a big reputation as you would know without my saying< I have no idea why, but I always thought the Brewer was made and sold in Victoria.

You have also enlightened me on Steel tube backs, always thought it was a Regal "advancement".

Hope you get plenty of answers on this forum, but bikes are not often discussed.


Cheers,

Dan
Thanks Dan. Those all-hickory chassis bikes had a great reputation for comfort, primarily because Hickory is a very "springy" timber. I cannot recall if Flash Adios raced in one of our carts, but when you have made 15,500 carts it can be pretty hard remembering what horse was in what cart - outside of Inter Dominion winners, of course. Just FYI, the Brewer was made in a small workshop in Canterbury Road, Petersham. I remember visiting it once to get a seat for a repair we were doing at that time (late 1960s).