Chris’ restorations are ‘wheelie’ awesome

SINCE the age of 21, Sunningdale resident, Chris Quinton, has had a passion for bicycles of all kinds. Once a competitive rider on the race circuit the 45-year-old now spends his time ‘reliving his second childhood’ as he calls it by restoring vintage bicycles.

His workshop which is home to around 70 bicycles all in different stages of development, gives him an immense sense of pride, and he said knocking classic parts into shape can be intensely rewarding.

His incredible workmanship and passion has also seen him create a one-of-a-kind tandem BMX bicycle for his sons, Mark and Matthew, to get them active and cycling.

“I’ve always had a passion for restoration. When I was younger I would work on my own bicycle to maintain and improve it. In fact I’ve still got my very first track racing bike, a 1971 Claud Butler which I still tinker with. I think the birth of my two sons was what helped me relive my second childhood because I built a tandem bicycle for them.

“There aren’t too many BMX tandems in South Africa and I actually found both the bikes on a scrap heap. They are both from the early 1980s and would’ve ended up rusting away at a dump if I hadn’t found them. I worked on cleaning up the frames before welding them together. And when I took the boys down to the promenade to cycle, they absolutely loved it. The reaction and feedback from residents was also positive which was great,” he said.

Quinton said his restoration projects don’t involve just BMX bicycles.

“I’ve worked on all kinds of BMX, road and track racing bicycles; any iteration of a vintage bicycle. A lot of my current collections has come through word of mouth and conversations with random strangers. Sometimes someone overhears what I’m doing and shows me a vintage bicycle in their shed or garage. I also don’t think people realise how much work goes into restoring vintage bicycles,” he explained.

“I spend up to a 100 hours on a single bicycle. There are three BMX bicycles in my collection that are my pride and joy and I’ve been able to build them up to their former glory. Two of them have been what we call survivor restoration. That’s when the restoration does not involve any rechroming, repainting or even decals. It’s taking the original parts and cleaning them up with a few tweaks here and there.”

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