A funny thing happened on the way to the bike restorer is what I said to my wife when I brought home this Hetchins. I went to pick up the PX-10, it was there, all done and available....I couldn't help myself.

Is this in her size maybe?

You had no choice. It was calling your name and it would have been rude to ignore it.

How could you pass up a 531 on 5/31? It's your bike god.

And, it truly should be posted in the Happy 531 thread.

It is…lol

Bonus points for a Brooks Team Pro still in rideable condition, and presumably nicely broken in.

And its an earlier open nose, increasingly hard to find if you need a good one.

Oh my. You have the fully blown C&V virus. There's no known vaccine and it rarely subsides even when aggressively treated.

I was done with the virus after the PX-10 and the Falcon. I just could not pass up this bike. I still like riding the Trek 4900 I've had for 12 years.

It is nicely broken in. One of the rivits is gone from the Brooks tag. I'll try to find someone to properly secure the tag. Do they sell rivits with patina?.....

Do it right. Go mine some copper and make your own.

Amen. Every time I've taken the easy path, I've come to regret it.

C&V Member Rudi, aka., rhm and www.rhmsaddles.com is not far from you in Lawrenceville, NJ and Manhattan and can fix the badge in a few minutes.

OP - you are the lifeblood of tradition.

I love the seat stay treatment at the seat post cluster. I can see where Raleigh got the inspiration from. The question is, where did Hetchins get the inspiration from?

I reached out to Rudi for some assistance. I suspect he'll get back to me.


I'm sorry.....you lost me.

Wonderful bicycle!
Just an FYI, since no one mentioned it: those are track pedals.

Upgrading to Campy track pedals was common in the '70s and '80s. Italian racers must have been pretty short on average, with narrow feet, when Tullio Campagnolo designed his road pedals. My feet were only size 41 when I got my first bike equipped with Campy road pedals, but even with feet that small, I eventually bought Campy track pedals so I wouldn't have to continue to endure the poking-up bit on the outer edge of the road pedals.

I took the time to research mens average height in the early 20th Century (1920-1930's) which I found interesting. Globally the average height was 5'3" or 161 CM. In the US, the average was 5'09" or 167CM and the UK it was 5'6" or 167CM. Continental Europe was 5'7" or 170-171. Today, the average height in the US is 5'9" or 175.3 cm.
One can see how time would have changed the ergononics of a bicycle. Taller folks I would think have larger feet.

I think I used to be somewhere between 5'9" and 5'10" and now I'm 5'8". I wear size 12 shoes. Go figure. I figure it helps me with balance and stability.

Quill pedals are painful for me.

Do we know what year this Hetchins was made in?

It was made in 1973. The original owner ordered it in the UK and went a brought it, and another, back to the states. If you count the Damon, I'm the third owner.

I did look up saddle nose types, but you'll have to educate me regarding the difference between an "earlier" and a "later" open nose. The one I got for my mountain bike lots a lot like the one in the Hetchins picture.