Gove Cycles
Background
Jack Gove, father of Bill Gove, started a bicycle business in his Broughham Street home.
Gove Cycles closed with the retirement if Bill Gove in August 2010.[1]
Bill Gove died on 14 April 2024, about one month shy of his 93rd birthday.[2]
History
Gove Cycles would manufacture their own bikes until frames became available from Adelaide, but they kept assembling their own bikes and gradually selling other brands.[3]
Site
525 Doveton Street North
When Jack Gove was running the bike the original shop, it was on the west side of Doveton Street, a little closer to Macarthur Street.[4]
Innovations
Community Involvement
Each Christmas it was not uncommon for Bill Gove to be up all night painting bikes then delivering these to Ballarat families, sometimes at four or 5am on Christmas Day.[5]
Works Produced
Gove Cycles was renowned for the lines of bikes in the racks out the front of the store, usually all repair jobs waiting to be picked up. Bill Gove used to put a piece of cardboard with the customer's name in the spokes to tell the bikes apart.[6]
Workplace Relations
The People
Legacies
See also
Notes
- Gove Cycles has been keeping the city on two wheels for more than half a century.
- At its peak, founder Bill Gove was selling 1000 bikes a year, all of which were built in what is now a bowling alley at the top of Armstrong Street. When Mr Gove retired in August last year, the cycling city looked set to lose one of it key foundations.
- More than a year on, the store has been reopened with the addition of a cafe. Arthur, who will compete in his 10th ironman triathlon next year, jumped at the chance to buy the business after he was made redundant in his job at the Ballarat Telstra store.
- "The choice was commute to Melbourne daily, give up cycling or pursue a dream and that's what I've done," Mr Shaw, who is no relation to Ballarat cycling great Dennis Shaw, said.
- While the name of the business has been retained, much has changed. The rusted bikes at the front of the store have gone as has the chaos and disorder of the repair shop and showroom.
- Gove Cycles is now an outlet for Specialized and holds all the hallmarks of a well oiled, modern bike store. "We're only a new business, we're the first bike shop to have a cafe in it," Sharine Shaw, who manages Bike Rack Cafe, the cafe side of the business, said.
- Perhaps lured by the coffee, Ballarat cycling enthusiasts seem to have been converted. "Saturday you couldn't move in here, we had to turn some people away," Mrs. Shaw said. The cafe can seat 22, but that will grow to 38 next week when it will be able to set up tables out the front.
- While much had changed at Gove Cycles Arthur Shaw says Bill Gove's legacy won't be forgotten. Like most Ballarat residents, Shaw purchased his first bike from Mr Gove as a youngster. A wall of the cafe is covered in Gove Cycles memorabilia and a book could soon follow.
- "Our philosophy is that we want to keep that iconic business going for another 50 years," Mr Shaw said.[7]
References
Further Reading
External Links
http://www.govecycles.com.au/history-of-gove.html
--Clare K.Gervasoni 10:07, 6 July 2015 (AEST); --Clare K.Gervasoni 17:55, 15 April 2024 (AEST)