Hetchins Magnum Opus - 1950
Owned by: Hugo Vanneck
I bought this as a frameset on ebay from Alexander von Tutschek and now feel I couldn't have done better. The frame is a delight to look at and ride (almost every day) and the seller has been both kind and helpful since the purchase.
The frame is interesting. It's one of seventeen 1st generation MOs known to still exist and at 24½" probably the biggest. But more interesting to me is that the crossbar is off-straight by about 1mm at the centre and that it must have left the factory like that as everything else is properly aligned and the machine rides perfectly straight. Built up, the curve is unnoticeable to the eye but I know and I like it a lot. The lug work is simply beautiful and must have taken ages of filing to get the edges so thinned and smooth. They are a delight to run your fingers over.
The paint isn't original and is now about 20 years old. It was a good job and is in very good condition with just a little lifting around the seat post bolt, the dropouts and around the front brake mounting hole. Strangely, the down tube transfer was applied off centre and is incomplete, lacking the pointed parts above and below the Hs. Perhaps they had trouble when applying it.
Since acquiring the frame it has worn a variety of components and the build is still in transition. Presently, it is equipped thus:
| Frame |
Hetchins Magnum Opus 1950 frame number 503658:
24½" seat tube, 23" top tube, chainstays 17" |
| Wheels |
Fiamme sprints with
'moped-like' 14 gauge straight spokes, the result of a misunderstanding
with my wheel builder. In the middles are 3-piece LF Campag hubs, kept
clean with hub brushes from a local bicycle shop. For rubber I am
presently using Gommitalia Champions |
| Chainset | Stronglight 49D cranks with a single TA
ring. |
| Pedals | Lyotard 460 |
| Gears | 1953 Campag Gran
Sport. This has just replaced a 1973 Nuevo Record which changed much
better and which I might go back to if the old Simplex I have doesn't
please me when I try it. Before that, though, I might try Alexander's
Sport-spring mod to the Gran Sport in order to increase chain winding.
At present, with the 51T front clanger the chain seems a touch loose on
the 14T rear cog and a touch tight on the 26T. The lever is a Simplex
mounted directly to the frame. I wonder if the bosses are original or
if they were brazed on when the paint was applied. If so, I wish they
hadn't. The left hand boss sits ugly and unused. |
| Brakes | GB Hindiminium calipers.
The levers are GB Gran Tour kindly supplied by Alexander. I
originally fitted a pair of Campag Gran Sport calipers that I had
laying around and mated them to a pair of Dia Compe levers with red
anodised levers that really didn't look the part. I was pleasantly
surprised to find the GB set-up very effective in stopping the
bike. |
| Stem/Bars | GB Comfort bars, unknown
brass stem with all but a trace of the chrome gone and Chater Lea
headclip, the last two both supplied with the frame. Handlebar grips
are Blumels. |
| Saddle | 1970s
Brooks Professional, which replaced a 1949 Brooks Champion B15 Standard
that came with the frame and was literally a pain in the arse. The
Campag Record 2-bolt seatpost came with the frame, too, which is
fortunate as to me its infinite adjustability makes it the best
seatpost ever. |
| Extra details | VIT bottle
cage in ripe-for-repainting condition |
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Details of lugwork on this 1950
Hetchins Magnum Opus