His ‘encyclopaedic knowledge’ helped many cyclists
Cycling expert and long-time Christchurch bike shop owner Keith Guthrie was happiest when he was working on cycles. ‘‘He would’ve been around bicycles his entire life,’’ close friend Bob Knight said.
‘‘It shaped his view of the world. [He] could get around and meet interesting people and see all sorts of interesting stuff you can’t see in a car. He absolutely loved it. It was what he was born to do, he found his niche in life.’’
The cycling enthusiast, who built up one of the best historical cycle collections in the country, died on February 12, 2020, aged 69.
Keith Robert Guthrie was born in Christchurch to parents James and Mary Guthrie on March 31, 1950.
Guthrie was educated at Heaton Normal Intermediate School in Merivale for two years before moving to Papanui High School for the rest of his schooling.
He began studying for a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Canterbury.
From a young age, cycling became a major part of Guthrie’s life. His father James and uncle Douglas Pettigrew coowned Hobdays Cycles in Christchurch in 1960 and eight years later Pettigrew also bought the Cycle Trading Co on the corner of Manchester and Armagh streets in central Christchurch.
Guthrie fell in love with the cycling trade and he worked at the Cycle Trading Co store during his school and university holidays.
He loved working at the store so much that he left university two years later to become a fulltime bicycle mechanic. He eventually took over the business in the mid-70s and built it into the unique establishment that it is today.
Close friend Bob Knight said Guthrie had an ‘‘encyclopaedic knowledge’’ of the cycle trade.
‘‘If you had an older bicycle or needed something slightly unusual, you went to see Keith at Cycle Trading. Everybody knew that Keith loved his job and to suggest that he had never worked a day in his life would be unfair, but only a little,’’ he said.
Disaster struck in February 2011 when the Christchurch earthquake completely destroyed the Manchester St store. It did not deter Guthrie though and he moved to a new premises in Bath St and then to Elgin St in Sydenham, where the shop remains today.
‘‘He was a really calm person, people tended to gravitate towards him [because] nothing seemed to fluster him.
‘‘During the earthquake when the front of his shop fell down, he was calm and collected . . . he made sure everyone was safe and then just dealt with it, it was just what he did, he was that kind of person,’’ Knight said.
During the years after the quakes, Guthrie spent a lot of his time building a quirky and unique business. He started by buying the Brian Crooke collection of antique bicycles, which included some of the world’s most unusual Victorian-style bicycles and tricycles.
Growing the collection became a longterm hobby for Guthrie. He travelled extensively across the globe attending meets and researching historical cycles to further the unique collection, which became a drawcard for many overseas collectors.
‘‘His Victorian bike collection is just out of this world. It’s . . . the best in New Zealand and in some cases they’re the only examples left surviving,’’ Knight said.
Guthrie’s passion for peculiar and historical bicycles saw him become a member of the United Kingdom’s Veteran Cycle Club, which promotes the riding and study of older cycles.
Guthrie’s other passion was bridge, which he was persuaded to learn by a neighbour when he was young.
He was a member of the Mt Pleasant Bridge Club for about 40 years, spending about 20 years as the club’s treasurer and also having a spell as president.
Knight said Guthrie would be remembered as a reliable friend, who would always listen to your problems.
‘‘Keith was the kind of person you could tell anything to and it would remain in confidence,’’ he said.
Guthrie is survived by his sister Pam, brother-in-law John and cousins.
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