04 Sep Stories From the Stacks: Trails End Bicycle Museum

A regular series about the museum’s motoring memorabilia and behind-the-scenes activities, compiled and written by FMM’s Assistant Curator Sian Theron. This month, Sian goes to Trails’ End and describes getting a Moulton moving again…

Heritage can be quite a specialised field, so it is common for museums to collaborate and assist each other in the interests of preserving history. FMM has a good relationship with a number of other museums in the Western Cape, and a particularly strong bond with the Trails End Bicycle Museum in Grabouw.

Trail’s End is the first bicycle museum in Africa and offers a wonderful walk down memory lane looking at the origins of the bicycle, ‘cycling’ visitors through the ages to the bikes of today. Trail’s End displays the role of the bicycle in South Africa, from transportation to sports, including some of the country’s top cycling events and cyclists.  .

Within the museum’s displays are a number of bicycles on loan from FMM, some of which Trail’s End has had professionally restored and conserved. One of the most recent restoration projects has been a 1968 Triumph Moulton bicycle, which is a great piece of South African history having been manufactured in Springs, just east of Johannesburg. The design and name of the bicycle is thanks to Dr Alexander Moulton, who engineered the bicycle for ride efficiency and comfort, employing a lightweight frame and rubber spring suspension along with small diameter wheels.

This project and its success has been thanks to the professional craftsmanship and expertise of a whole team of bicycle professionals, starting with Pieter Silberbauer and a team at Trails End who engaged David Mercer (Mercer Bikes) for the frame repairs; Jared and Mel from the Bicycle Maintenance Company (BMC) for the paintwork and decals; and Nils Hansen from Woodstock Cycleworks for the mechanics, servicing, cleaning and assembly, as well as the supply of missing components.

As restoration and conservation require the most exact attention to detail, Mel contacted both the Moulton Bicycle Company and a Vintage Collection Club –The Moultoneers – for advice and reference to ensure that the final product was a truly authentic rendering. As far as possible, original parts were retained, cleaned and refurbished, while in areas where replacement parts were required, era specific and bona fide parts were used to maintain the authenticity of the piece. The paintwork was matched exactly, and the final restored bicycle makes an eye catching addition to the Trail’s End Museum’s display.

If you have an interest in bicycles or cycling, or just want a fantastic day out, we encourage you to visit the Trails End Bicycle Museum, which also hosts a bicycle hotel and some top class biking trails for those more actively inclined.

You can find all you need to know about the Trails End Bicycle Museum at www.trailsend.bike.

FMM will also be the starting point of The Real Steel Bicycle Race on 16 September 2023, a wonderful celebration of classic steel and metal bicycles that will begin at FMM and ride through Franschhoek and over the pass to Grabouw, finishing at the Trails End Bicycle Museum. You can find a link to entries at https://qkt.io/IzyXJk