Badge on Hetchins bicycle
A friend who lives in Torquay has a Hetchins bicycle. We thought he had obtained it when he was a teenager in Tottenham in the late 1930s, but we have now found the frame number (H27748) and it was sold new from the Hetchins shop on 24 August 1959. It is a Brilliant model (revival of the 1930s design) and the frame is a 21.5 inch curly, built by Stan Broom. So he must have bought it when he returned to Tottenham after living in Canada. Apart from a change of handlebars everything is original. He knew Hyman Hetchin and his three sons. It has been in a loft in Torquay for 20 years. Before that it was used in Hertfordshire for daily trips to the railway station - that is probably when the change was made from the original drop handlebars.
The bike has Reynolds 531 tubing, Weinmann type 730 brakes, a Lycett saddle, five gear derailleur with top tube mounted gear changer (loose on cable when photo was taken).
Messages welcome, david@hawgood.com and I will pass information to the owner and his family.
I apologise if the photos are not the best for the purpose of identification - I didn't know quite which features to
photograph, and they are a set of flash photos taken indoors. I can take more photos in due course, but it may be a few months
before I have the opportunity.
Hetchins bicycle in Torquay
Stays on Hetchins bicycle
Transfer on seat tube of Hetchins bicycle
Reynolds 531 transfer at top of seat tube on Hetchins bicycle
Lycett saddle on Hetchins bicycle
Copyright 2008 David Hawgood
This page by David
Hawgood
was amended 27 April 2008