It seems like, for one reason or another, Team ACE has been overlooked when we talk about the history of BMX and teams in the UK. Team ACE had a big presence and a lot of coverage from the Brockwell Park London demo race in 1980, right at the very start of BMX in the UK.
This interview is with original Team ACE rider Trevor Shanks, who rode alongside the likes of Nicky Matthews, Pete Middleton, Cav Strutt, and Andy Ruffell, yet his name isn’t mentioned as often when Team ACE comes up. We thought it would be cool to get some insight and thoughts from Trevor, and to help tell more of the Team ACE story from someone who was there.
Where did you first hear about BMX?
Like so many, I first heard about BMX from the US TV show “CHiPs”. Kids around the country then converted their Grifters to look like BMX bikes and emulated motocross. The first BMX bike I saw in person was being ridden by Cav Strutt over at our local wreck off Higham Hill in Walthamstow. This must have been around 1979.
Yes, all funded by Richard.
Other Team riders? It seemed to be quite a dream team so early on.
Cav Strutt, Andy Ruffell, Steve Gilley, Pete Middleton, Tony Waye, Nicky Matthews, Scott McDonald, Steve Gratton at some point, plus myself of course. Those are the ones most people will remember.
ACE must have been one of the first legit teams in the UK. What other teams do you remember at the time?
Ammaco Mongoose, Robinson, Halfords, Redline and Kuwahara were some of the earlier ones.
Some of the tracks you raced at?
Ipswich, Buckmore Park, Peterborough, Bishop’s Stortford, Scotland, Earl’s Court and Redditch.
What was the background on the ACE frame and forks?
Richard opened up the ACE bike shop, ACE Racing at 444 Forest Road, Walthamstow, London. Cav worked in the shop setting up and fixing bikes. After a while, Richard, with help from Cav, started to design his own frame to take the ACE brand further. Cav had a lot of input into the design. He and I both rode and tested the first bare metal prototype, then we both got the first chrome plated ones.
Eastway Track
Trevor Shanks, Peter Middleton, Cav Strutt and Nicky Matthews.
What happened with you on the team?
I finished racing the 83 season as a privateer after Richard sold my bike and pulled the plug in the team.
One day I had turned up about 5 mins late to go to a race at Ipswich, Richard refused to take me and dropped me from the team although I was always in the finals and winning the odd race. For some reason he always favored Cav, Pete and Nicky & Andy had already gone over to Ammaco by this time, so my mum took me to Ipswich and I raced under no team name, I beat all the Ace riders in my class and also got myself in the Magazine during the jumping competition.
After a couple of months attending races on my own and getting my name in a few mags, Richard sent Cav over to my house and Cav said that Richard wanted to see me. I went to see Richard in his office at the shop and he said that I was making a name for myself and did I want to come back on Ace? I said I’m not sure as he might drop me again. He apologized and said that as I was paying for my current Redline weekly he would pay it off. He gave me a job in the shop as I had left school and didn’t have a job and he also started to pay me for riding which no one at the time knew.
You guys got a lot of magazine coverage in the early 80 then it seemed like Team Ace disappeared pretty quick, what happened?
Late 82 was the end for a lot of the other riders had been snapped up by the bigger teams and Richard decided to pull the plug on the team.
Cav had now given up BMX and wasn’t attending many races, Pete Middleton, and Steve Gilley had moved to Ammaco. I was doing the odd demo and at one time did a demo at a motorcycle shop in Wales. I was now 17, had a motorcycle and a girlfriend although I was attending the odd race and riding over at Rom etc
I was at home one day and one of my friends came to my house and said that Richard wanted to borrow my bike as he was selling the design to someone. A couple weeks passed still no sign of my bike so I went to Richard’s house to ask where my bike was to his reply he said it wasn’t mine in first place and that he had sold it along with the design as BMX was dying off. The shop had closed so I asked Richard what about my money for riding and what am I going to ride with that little contract he had written up a year or so ago in the shop? He tore it up and said I could get a ride anywhere. This was now the end of Team Ace. I borrowed a bike and rode for a little longer but not only could not get to many races and not compete with the now faster riders and big teams so my time in BMX was sadly over and my time in BMX was short-lived. (1980 to 1983) I then went into Motocross I tried to go back into it around 85 but I had been away for too long. So that is the true story of Team Ace from start to finish as it was.
Richard passed away in 2012, but his name and ACE are stapled in the history of BMX in the UK. You must be proud of having been involved in something so special in the early years of British BMX?
I still have a couple of bikes and still go over. I was interviewed for the Rom Boys documentary, which should be out later this year. As I said before, although myself and Nicky Matthews were at the very start and got all the lads together to form the ACE team, my name is rarely mentioned, only the guys who were lucky enough to move to the bigger sponsors. I stayed with the people who got into BMX to be loyal, but it was taken away just as quick.
On the other hand, I still have a lot to thank; Richard, Don Smith and Dave from the shop I worked at for giving my name to Don, otherwise I wouldn’t be here telling the story about Team ACE, which may have never existed. I feel very proud to have been a part of, although short lived, a part of British BMX history, and lucky enough to have ridden with some of the riders who became top pros and big names in the sport.
Regards,
Trevor Shanks
Team ACE Factory Rider 80–83
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