John Ephraim Sibbit (Jack Sibbit) (4 March 1895 – 5 August 1950) was a British

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

who won a silver medal at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

. By age 41 he had held twelve national titles including tandem sprints, with Dennis Horn. Sibbit built, rode and sold his own 'Jack E Sibbit' bicycles from premises at 475 Stockport Road, Manchester.

Personal life

Sibbit was the son of a butcher from

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

.Classic lightweights, profile of J.E.Sibbit by Peter Underwood
/ref>

Career

Competition

Sibbit began racing in 1919 when he joined the

Manchester Wheelers' Club Manchester Wheelers' Club is a cycling club in Manchester, in north-west England. Formation and early history The club was formed on 7 July 1883, as Manchester Athletic Bicycle Club, the name being changed to Manchester Wheelers' Club in 1890. Th ...

. He won his first national championship in 1922, the 5-mile track. In 1925 and 1927 he was quarter-mile champion and in 1929 he was 25-mile champion. The 1,000-yard sprint championship was introduced in 1930, and Sibbit won in 1931 and 1932. He won the tandem championship eight times - in 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1936 and 1937. Sibbit rode on the front of the tandem; Ernest Chambers was his stoker for five of the national championship victories. His other national partners were A. White (Rover CC) in 1924,

Ernest Higgins Ernest Henry Higgins (1871–1945) was an Australian cinematographer during the days of silent film. He was the eldest brother of Arthur and Tasman Higgins. He shot the film '' The Throwback'' (1920) for director Arthur Shirley which resulted ...

(Manchester Wheelers) in 1931 and Dennis Horn (Norwich ABC) in 1932. Sibbit held three British tandem track records with Chambers. The two won the Olympic tandem event in 1928. Sibbit rode in the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. By age 41 he had held twelve national titles including tandem sprints, with Horn. From 1922, Sibbit represented Britain in world championships in England, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. He retired from racing in 1938 to become an official. He was British team manager at the 1948 and 1949 world championships, in the Netherlands and Denmark.

Sibbit bicycles

Later in his career he rode bicycles that bore his own name. Sibbit bicycles were ridden by people such as

Reg Harris Reginald Hargreaves Harris OBE (1 March 1920 – 22 June 1992) was a British track racing cyclist in the 1940s and 1950s. He won the world amateur sprint title in 1947, two Olympic silver medals in 1948, and the professional title in 19 ...

. The badge stated 'Jack E Sibbit 475 Stockport Rd Manchester'.Classic Lightweights, Images of Jack Sibbit bicycles.
/ref> Sibbit worked for

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and resumed making hand-made cycles from 1946 until his death in November 1950 at age 55.

Commemoration

The Golden Book

Sibbit's achievements were celebrated in 1932 with a page in the

Golden Book of Cycling The ''Golden Book of Cycling'' was created in 1932 by ''Cycling'', a British cycling magazine, to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrat ...

.The Golden Book of Cycling - John Ephraim Sibbit, 1932. Archive maintained by 'The Pedal Club'.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibbit, John 1895 births 1950 deaths English male cyclists Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Cyclists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in cycling Sportspeople from Manchester Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics