Many years ago, during South Africa’s tumultuous seventies, a varsity buddy gave me his treasured copy of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries, knowing that I was a passionate motor biker (before the mountain bike was even an idea) and a political left-winger (majoring in law and political science at Stellenbosch University). This classic read further fuelled my passion for both motorcycles and political ‘revolution’…

Once I’d settled into the suit-and-tie world dispensing advice on estate planning, wills, trusts and tax I somehow became a cigar aficionado, meeting regularly to sip single malts and taste Cuban cigars. Our cigar circle soon decided to plan a trip to Cuba which in turn got me reading a huge volume on the life and times of Che Guevara – the only family-authorised and authenticated biography of this enigmatic revolutionary, medical doctor, photographer and erstwhile rugby player from a privileged Argentinean family.

As my collection of cigars, Che T-shirts and Cuban memorabilia grew we changed our home pub into a Cuban-themed and Che-adorned cigar bar complete with Cuban music and a giant Cuban flag covering one whole wall (painted by my wife while I was on assignment in Argentina). By this time I’d moved on from corporate lawyer to publisher of a travel magazine and one of my prerogatives was to task a journalist to cover Cuba as a tourist destination (sadly, I could not join him on the trip) and expose ordinary South African readers to this beautiful but controversial communist island.

Almost thirty years after first reading Motorcycle Diaries I decided to depart the world of publishing deadlines and invest my life savings in another passion of mine – mountain biking and road cycling.

Oddly, connecting Che’s infamous reputation and famous image (the most printed, silk-screened, copied and painted portrait of any person ever over the last century) to our new family business was not my idea but my son’s suggestion when we were searching for a name: Revolution Cycles with Che’s famous face positioned over a red star – perfect!

• Revolution – The rotation of a bicycle wheel… and a revolutionary approach to your LBS.
• Che – Power, Passion and Equality.
• Star – Superlative Service.

P.S. Those very observant individuals will spot a small modification to Che’s image on our logo – we can chat about it over a coffee the next time you visit us!