Cyclist
Meet Gordy, the Bike Whisperer
In an unassuming corner of England, on a suitably grimy back street, you’ll find a man who has been fixing bikes for 65 years. Gordon Webber, 81, known simply as Gordy, is something of a local legend in his hometown of Barnstaple, North Devon. From Monday to Saturday, 7am to 7pm, you’ll find him faithfully crouched on the pavement, surrounded by inner tubes and sprockets, quietly carrying on his life’s work. He’s so well-known he doesn’t even have a website or a phone number.
His vocation was sparked by one of Devon’s worst ever natural disasters. It was 1952 when a devastating flood swept through the town of Lynmouth, near where Gordy grew up.
‘We’d gone to bed and suddenly, whoosh… I remember the front door bursting open,’ he recalls. As water filled the ground floor, Gordy and his family survived by taking refuge upstairs. Others weren’t so lucky; 34 people lost their lives and dozens of homes were destroyed. But among the debris washed up in the aftermath of the disaster were scores of crumpled bikes.
‘I started going round picking up the bits and taking them home to rebuild,’ says Gordy. It was an act that would set the wheels of his future in motion.
At 15, he took on an apprenticeship in a bike shop, although not everyone thought it was a smart move.
‘I used to go to church and there was a farmer’s wife there who said, “Gordon, I hear you’ve got a job.” And I said, “Yes, in a bike shop.” “In a bike shop!” she replied. “You mustn’t do that, it’s going out; it’s all going to be motorised now, you’ve made a big mistake there.”
Fast forward more than half a century, and far from being rendered obsolete by the exponential rise of cars and motorbikes, the cycling scene has never looked healthier.
‘If only the farmer’s wife could come back now and see how many bikes there are,’ says Gordy. ‘It doesn’t compare.’ Of course, he’s seen many changes over the decades, most noticeably the huge amount of choice that’s now available.
Changing gear
‘There’s a bike made for everybody now,’ says Gordy. ‘When I started there were only about three sizes. You’d ride a 20-inch wheel until you were seven or eight, then a 24-inch until you were about 11. Then you’d go to a 26-inch and that would be it for life. These days you can find almost anything you want.’
The other big difference, says Gordy, is the greater level of equality within the sport. ‘Years ago you hardly ever saw a woman on a bike; now there’s nearly as many women as men.’ And, he notes, the increase in the number of women taking up cycling has been accompanied by a decline in the number of women-specific bikes on the market.
‘The old-fashioned ladies bike has disappeared,’ he says, noting that when he first started mending bikes, many women cyclists still needed a low frame to accommodate long skirts.
Gordy has seen cycling trends come and go, such as drop handlebars, which ‘died a death 40 years ago, but are now back in a big way’. Just don’t get him started on helmets.
‘Everybody says you should wear a helmet,’ he says. ‘I just find them uncomfortable.’ The only time he uses one is when it’s compulsory during an event. At 81, he’s not planning to quit the saddle any time soon.
Gordy appreciates the advent of carbon fibre in making bikes lighter, but feels some benefits have been lost with the new technology.
‘You can’t beat the old steel frame for comfort,’ he insists. ‘Steel is such a smoother ride. And steel frames are certainly easier to work on. Plus these modern frames are much less likely to hold up if you have an accident,’ he says, recalling one customer who had an unfortunate encounter with a gate on a windy day. ‘It just blew open across his bike and absolutely crushed it; rubbished it,’ says Gordy.
‘The front wheel was nearly back to the back wheel. It definitely wouldn’t have happened with an old frame. You might have had a bent pair of forks but nothing worse than that. The old frames could stand five or six times a bigger accident than modern frames.’
So, what does Gordy believe has improved in his time? Well, puncture-resistant tyres – ‘They’re a great improvement’ – and derailleur gears – ‘They’re completely different these days. The shape, the design, they’re more efficient altogether.’ Although as a steadfast old-timer, he’s not such a fan of electronic gear-shifting systems, which he views as ‘not really necessary’. Similarly, when it comes to brakes, Gordy is a stickler for a decent rim brake.
‘There’s good and bad of course,’ he says. ‘The cheap steel one they put on cheap bikes is rubbish, but a good aluminium calliper with plenty of leverage is more than efficient.’ As for disc brakes, ‘They are reasonably good and just as easy to fix as an ordinary brake. But the rim brakes are so good these days, I don’t think the disc brake is really necessary.’
Still rolling along
Despite being in his eighties, Gordy still puts in 12 hours a day, six days a week, simply because ‘people keep coming’. It’s hard to imagine, too, how he even makes a living: despite inflation and the soaring cost of living, Devon’s ‘Bike Whisperer’ hasn’t put up his prices in decades.
He will never replace anything that can be fixed – and if anyone can fix it, Gordy can. Need a chain repairing? That’s a pound, please. (He despairs of larger stores that automatically stick a new chain on old sprockets.) A puncture repair will set you back £2; a new inner tube £4.50, including labour.
When he’s not working, he’s still an avid cyclist. He hasn’t owned a car for 20 years and cycles for both transport and pleasure. Although if he had to choose, it would be pleasure.
‘It’s the scenery, the fitness, it’s all good, isn’t it?’ Gordy reflects. On a Saturday night he’ll often take the Tarka Trail from Barnstaple to Braunton for some fish and chips, a round trip of 20km.
He regularly participates in sportives too, including last year’s 106km L’Eroica vintage bike race in Italy – the fifth time he’s done it. According to Gordy, the hardest part is getting the doctor’s certificate to be allowed to take part, due to his age. Still, at 81 years young, he has no desire to retire – from either cycling or working. ‘I think about it, but no,’ he replies. ‘People keep saying, “Don’t retire; you mustn’t retire.” I think I’ve helped people. As long as I’m healthy I’ll keep going.’
• This article originally appeared in issue 147 of Cyclist magazine. Click here to subscribe
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