Summer in Tokyo, as it seems is presently the case in the eastern parts of the USA, is not a good time for riding. It's okay while you're moving, but when you stop it's horrible. I've been walking, slowly, a lot recently as a result. Last Thursday, however, it cooled down considerably and so, when a fellow vintage bicycle friend suggested getting together with a couple of other, like-minded friends on Saturday evening, I agreed. We were to celebrate. The occasion was the finishing of 3 separate builds - a 1936 Hetchins tandem, a 1938 Hetchins Brilliant and a 1949 Ephgrave No.1. They were hoping that I would be able to finish my 1950 Thanet Silverlight but I hadn't even started... I took my 1950 Hetchims MO instead.
We met up in the large park near where I live, called Yoyogi Park, to have some fun riding each other's machines and then retire to a local Irish-style pub nearby - if Lenton58 is reading this he will remember it as it's where I took him and his family for dinner when they were in Tokyo back at the end of March. I didn't make the park so the photos I took were at the pub.
The tandem - I'd never ridden one before, or even seen one up close, and was amazed. Up front it's hard to keep the cycle going straight at first as the weighted back is all over the place and I kept over-correcting. On the back it's worse. You have no brakes and find yourself wanting to steer all the time. The only thing you can do is to completely trust the pilot and go with him. It's also odd that if you back-pedal the other pedals do the same as they're linked. You can freewheel, however, if your partner freewheels at the same time.
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IMG_6290 by
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The tandem's gears were Cyclo and the brakes Resilion, the latter being of particular interest to me as the restoration of my Thanet involves replacing the caliper brakes with Resilions, which it was originally built for. The friend whose machine it is bought it complete but in very rough condition and has done a good job of restoring it. I was also interested in the excentric bottom bracket, necessary for adjusting the bb back and forth for chain tension.
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IMG_6296 by
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The Hetchins Brilliant was also a basket-case, complete, and was restored by its owner. He's a funny guy whose eyes glaze over when the conversation turns to anything post-1930s. I was particularly surprised to see that the vibrant chain and seat stays were so much thicker than on my 1950 MO. Also of interest was the Trivelox rear derailleur, completely new to me, with a freewheel that slides in and out over the hub and the wheel spoking, radial on the freewheel side and crossed on the other.
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IMG_6275 by
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Lastly, the Ephgrave with its Osgear gear set. This bike must be one of the nicest, lightest bikes of the period that I've ever ridden. It felt very modern. This machine, unlike the other 2, has its original paint and it's lovely. I didn't try changing gears but I understand you have to do it with 2 movements, forward then back.
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IMG_6299 by
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We had a great evening!