By Tony Duboudin
CHILDREN and adults turned out in numbers to try out some of the different bicycles on show at the official opening of the Classic Bicycle Gallery in Hastings on Sunday (28 June).
The brainchild of local businessman Alan Duke and his family, the gallery is home to around 1000 bicycles from Penny Farthings onwards.
The names many of us remember from childhood like Malvern Star and Raleigh are represented along with scores of other brands.
The collection includes retro and exotic machines, oddballs, and historic bicycles. The gallery aims to show the history of pedal-powered machines and how they have evolved as well as offering demonstrations of various bicycles, from two and three wheelers through to Penny Farthings.
The gallery will now be open every second Sunday between 10am and 4pm.
The gallery is the culmination of Alan’s life-long love affair with bicycles which goes back to his high school days when he landed a part time job in a bicycle shop in Cheltenham.
“I just fell in love with bicycles and I have never lost that feeling and have been collecting them ever since,” he said.
Alan is not sure exactly how many he has got. “ I reckon it is about 1000 and still growing.”
The Classic Bicycle Gallery is at 53 Star Point Place, 1889 Frankston Flinders Road, Hastings.
Admission is $10 (children under 16 years $5).
For more information visit classicbicyclegallery.com.au
First published in the Western Port News – 1 July 2026
