Malvern Star

Aussie word of the day: mince = ground beef, a la the mince meat pie, which are very popular to eat in Oz.

I have attached a picture of the original Malvern Star bicycle circa 1970's. This photo was found on eBay as these original Malvern Star bikes are now vintage collector's items. This is the same brand as the bike I now own. The following is a little bit about this Australian invented bicycle brought to you courtesy of my Australian contributor, The Prock.

In 1902 Tom Finnigan began Malvern Star in Glenferrie Road, Malvern, a leafy inner east suburb of Melbourne, Australia. From it's early beginnings Malvern Star set about delivering a range of bicycles built to the highest standards. Malvern Star has created its' own history with the first ever Australian to ride the Tour de France, Sir Hubert Opperman, doing so aboard a Malvern Star, and later going on to win the famous Paris-Brest-Paris race in France and in doing so setting a new record time for the event. Many years later at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics the Australian Team Pursuit aboard what were considered standard track bicycles beat the much favoured USA Team riding the latest in bicycle technology, carbon fibre.

In addition to the Malvern Star, some of Australia's better known inventions include such things as the Hills Hoist, a square rotating clothesline with a crank for "hoisting" the laundry up; boxed wine, technically referred to as a wine cask; latex gloves and the notepad.