1957 Hetchins.
05-20-06, 10:08 PM
#1
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1957 Hetchins.
If you've been hanging out here - you have probably read my mutterings about a mysterious Hetchins. I didn't want to make it a big deal, because I was never sure whether the painter would ever send it back to me. But he did (of course) and now I have it in the rack. It is a 1957 Experto Crede (Expert's Choice) with curley stays. I'll share some pictures as we go through it - but first you have to put up with the history -
The bike belonged to Keith Burns from just outside Edinburgh, Scotland, who owned it since new. It was bought by mum and dad for his graduation. Like most of us slackers would like to do - he spent the next summer or so riding the crap outta it - culminating in a Land's End to John'O'Groats. This was preserved for posterity in pictures one and two, below (just in case you don't know, that ride is the traditional end to end ride in the UK, 874 mi, nothing to sniff at).
He then did what most people do, got married and used the bike as a commuter, and then let it sit. He got bit by the racing bug in the early '70's and refurbished it to do the three peaks cyclo (a mongo cyclocross race before mountain bikes, like 240 km across three mountains in one day). He did that race three times on this bike. Picture 3 shows our man Keith in a push up somewhere in the race. The fourth picture shows his lovely bethrothed, holding the bike after the finish.
He subsequently used it as a commuter, and then parked it. Two years ago he and his wife decided that they needed a tandem and sold this one to me via eBay. It came to me equipped as you see it in the third and fourth pictures, and a wrinkle in the top tube, and a wrinkle in the down tube, and a little tweak in the forks. Oh, and the seatpost hadn't been moved since 1957, and it wasn't about to move for him before he shipped it. He ended up cutting it off. We tried every home remedy (including a sawsall vertically) and finally sent it off to the painter who essentially torched and reamed it out of the seat tube.
The bike belonged to Keith Burns from just outside Edinburgh, Scotland, who owned it since new. It was bought by mum and dad for his graduation. Like most of us slackers would like to do - he spent the next summer or so riding the crap outta it - culminating in a Land's End to John'O'Groats. This was preserved for posterity in pictures one and two, below (just in case you don't know, that ride is the traditional end to end ride in the UK, 874 mi, nothing to sniff at).
He then did what most people do, got married and used the bike as a commuter, and then let it sit. He got bit by the racing bug in the early '70's and refurbished it to do the three peaks cyclo (a mongo cyclocross race before mountain bikes, like 240 km across three mountains in one day). He did that race three times on this bike. Picture 3 shows our man Keith in a push up somewhere in the race. The fourth picture shows his lovely bethrothed, holding the bike after the finish.
He subsequently used it as a commuter, and then parked it. Two years ago he and his wife decided that they needed a tandem and sold this one to me via eBay. It came to me equipped as you see it in the third and fourth pictures, and a wrinkle in the top tube, and a wrinkle in the down tube, and a little tweak in the forks. Oh, and the seatpost hadn't been moved since 1957, and it wasn't about to move for him before he shipped it. He ended up cutting it off. We tried every home remedy (including a sawsall vertically) and finally sent it off to the painter who essentially torched and reamed it out of the seat tube.
05-21-06, 02:37 AM
#2
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It's nice to know some history about a machine, and those curved stays are awesome.
05-21-06, 03:18 AM
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just 4 info,(in those days that bike was affectionally known as a"curly hetchins"and every boy racer in the UK dreamt of owning one !
05-21-06, 08:21 AM
#4
My bikes became Vintage
Hetchins also made frames with conventional straight stays for people who didn't buy into the theory the curly stays gave a better ride.
I remember other odd-ball British frame designs from the fifties, the Bates fork:
The Paris frame:
And the Flying Gate:
I remember other odd-ball British frame designs from the fifties, the Bates fork:
The Paris frame:
And the Flying Gate:
05-21-06, 01:53 PM
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So I assume this is a build up? Great that you know the history of the bike. It's really different with the curved stays. Can't wait to see it finished.
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05-23-06, 08:46 PM
#6
juneeaa memba!
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geez, I love all of those weird English bikes. I'd love to have a Gate someday...
The first picture is a very nice picture of the refinished bike seat cluster. This picture is beyond my normal photographic ability, and I can't for the life of me remember taking it, nor do I have a nice backdrop like that...but there it is, on my camera. All of the others that I took of the frameset are gone...photo pharies, I guess. The frame was refinished by Jack Trumbull from Franklin Frames, and he outdid himself on this one.
The bike came with what I suspect are original Pelissier hubs and nutted axles. I honestly didn't know they were chrome until I scraped for about 30 minutes...they are convex, sort of like the hubs that everyone was going on about on CR last week - except these flanges slope inward at about the same angle as the spokes...looks like a better design to me...it took most of the day to clean the crud off, and I still am not particularly thrilled by the cleanliness of the parts, although they seem to be really smoof.
The rims are 27x1 1/4 Mavic, and they date from Mr. Burns refurbishment in 1974 (dates on the rims at the joints). The wheels are suprisingly light for as big as they seem. The rear came with a Michelin that was marked 1 1/4, but was positively huge! I was afraid that if the wheel slipped even a little I'd grind the paint off of both chainstays, so I switched it for a more normal-sized tire that matched the front.
The bike has an unpainted badge, which I was all prepared to repaint, until I saw it unwrapped from Jack's shop. I was smitten by the unpainted look, and so unpainted it shall remain...
Jack replaced the downtube, and replaced the hacksawed single shifter with...a single shifter. I hadn't thought of this alternative, but there you go. I'd probably have said "just as Alf brazed it up the first time" anyway. The bike came to me with a double shifter setup, campy derailleurs and the oldest Shimano 600 crankset that I have ever seen. It dates to 1974, as do all of the rest of the parts.
I decided to do the "economy" rebuild for now - which in this case is the correct vintage nuovo record parts to match the 1974 refurbishment. Then, after I recover from the paint job, maybe I can replace the parts with original correct parts. But, you know, I really want to ride it...I had a "no date" strada crankset that got a single 45. The campy record bottom bracket proved to be problematic - the fixed cup would not start in the frame. The Shimano cup started just fine. Another campy, same deal. Suntour? No problemo. I finally filed the bevel down on a campy cup to get it started, and then it fit okay. The spindle is a little long. I need that pista axle back, Marty. Waddaya want for it?
The headset also proved to be problematic, as every fork crown race I have from campy is a 26.4 and apparently the fork requires a 27...I finally stole one from a non-campy headset, but it isn't right, and I'll have to raid the LBS for a better match. Did Campy ever make a 27?
A used Brooks Swift, an early Campy Record seatpost, and that cooooool Titan stem, and we are as together as I can get it - we now have to wait for parts.
The first picture is a very nice picture of the refinished bike seat cluster. This picture is beyond my normal photographic ability, and I can't for the life of me remember taking it, nor do I have a nice backdrop like that...but there it is, on my camera. All of the others that I took of the frameset are gone...photo pharies, I guess. The frame was refinished by Jack Trumbull from Franklin Frames, and he outdid himself on this one.
The bike came with what I suspect are original Pelissier hubs and nutted axles. I honestly didn't know they were chrome until I scraped for about 30 minutes...they are convex, sort of like the hubs that everyone was going on about on CR last week - except these flanges slope inward at about the same angle as the spokes...looks like a better design to me...it took most of the day to clean the crud off, and I still am not particularly thrilled by the cleanliness of the parts, although they seem to be really smoof.
The rims are 27x1 1/4 Mavic, and they date from Mr. Burns refurbishment in 1974 (dates on the rims at the joints). The wheels are suprisingly light for as big as they seem. The rear came with a Michelin that was marked 1 1/4, but was positively huge! I was afraid that if the wheel slipped even a little I'd grind the paint off of both chainstays, so I switched it for a more normal-sized tire that matched the front.
The bike has an unpainted badge, which I was all prepared to repaint, until I saw it unwrapped from Jack's shop. I was smitten by the unpainted look, and so unpainted it shall remain...
Jack replaced the downtube, and replaced the hacksawed single shifter with...a single shifter. I hadn't thought of this alternative, but there you go. I'd probably have said "just as Alf brazed it up the first time" anyway. The bike came to me with a double shifter setup, campy derailleurs and the oldest Shimano 600 crankset that I have ever seen. It dates to 1974, as do all of the rest of the parts.
I decided to do the "economy" rebuild for now - which in this case is the correct vintage nuovo record parts to match the 1974 refurbishment. Then, after I recover from the paint job, maybe I can replace the parts with original correct parts. But, you know, I really want to ride it...I had a "no date" strada crankset that got a single 45. The campy record bottom bracket proved to be problematic - the fixed cup would not start in the frame. The Shimano cup started just fine. Another campy, same deal. Suntour? No problemo. I finally filed the bevel down on a campy cup to get it started, and then it fit okay. The spindle is a little long. I need that pista axle back, Marty. Waddaya want for it?
The headset also proved to be problematic, as every fork crown race I have from campy is a 26.4 and apparently the fork requires a 27...I finally stole one from a non-campy headset, but it isn't right, and I'll have to raid the LBS for a better match. Did Campy ever make a 27?
A used Brooks Swift, an early Campy Record seatpost, and that cooooool Titan stem, and we are as together as I can get it - we now have to wait for parts.
05-24-06, 02:03 PM
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That's beautifull. All the more interesting to me since Franklin is where I'm probably going when (if?) I get the Frejus refinished. Color looks spot on for mine too. But I digress......
All of a sudden I'm interested in Hetchins.
Can't wait to see it completed!
All of a sudden I'm interested in Hetchins.
Can't wait to see it completed!
