Any William Gibson fans out there?
His new novel, Zero History, mentions this british bike brand: Hetchins, apparently famous for curvy and curly stays.
www.hetchins.com
www.hetchins.org
Bike/SciFi - double geek out
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simon.sharwood
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That may not be enough to make me read it. Having read almost everything he has written, including *cough* "The difference engine", but I just couldn't finish Spook County, I just go bored. It still has the bookmark in it where I got up to.
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simon.sharwood
- Posts: 518
- Joined: 18 Feb 2008, 10:14
- Location: Marrickville
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Yeah well The Difference Engine was co-authored.
Just don't tell me you saw Johnny Mnemonic ...
SPOILER: The Hetchins mention is passing - not a key plot point.
Just don't tell me you saw Johnny Mnemonic ...
SPOILER: The Hetchins mention is passing - not a key plot point.
I do hope to one day own a curly Hetchins.
The curly stays were invented by a framebuilder who had been out on a Friday liquid lunch, and had come back to his workshop rather inebriated. Trying to finish his order off before the weekend, corners were cut. Well actually, corner's were NOT cut from the chainstays, and the framebuilder tried to jam stays that were too long, into the space in the frame between the dropout and the bottom bracket. Under the heat of the brazing tortch, and the pressure of a pipe which was too long being jammed into a gap that was too short, the steel tubing buckled, and created the famous Curly shape that Hetchins is now famous for.
Okay, I jest. The truth is that in Britain, right up to the 1980s, bike racing was an amateur sport. This means that the cycling heroes of the day were not allowed to advertise whose bikes they were riding. No decals were allowed, and no sponsors on jerseys or knicks either.
Bike manufacturers needed a way of making their bikes stand out, so that the kids could see what bike their hero was riding, and then lust after the same model. Or, better yet, go out and buy one. Hetchins got clever and made their bikes stand out in a way that a decal never could. The unique curly stays gave away that the sponsored rider was on a Hetchins from much further away than the range of a decal. The fancy twisting lugs also made them desireable up close.
The curly stays were invented by a framebuilder who had been out on a Friday liquid lunch, and had come back to his workshop rather inebriated. Trying to finish his order off before the weekend, corners were cut. Well actually, corner's were NOT cut from the chainstays, and the framebuilder tried to jam stays that were too long, into the space in the frame between the dropout and the bottom bracket. Under the heat of the brazing tortch, and the pressure of a pipe which was too long being jammed into a gap that was too short, the steel tubing buckled, and created the famous Curly shape that Hetchins is now famous for.
Okay, I jest. The truth is that in Britain, right up to the 1980s, bike racing was an amateur sport. This means that the cycling heroes of the day were not allowed to advertise whose bikes they were riding. No decals were allowed, and no sponsors on jerseys or knicks either.
Bike manufacturers needed a way of making their bikes stand out, so that the kids could see what bike their hero was riding, and then lust after the same model. Or, better yet, go out and buy one. Hetchins got clever and made their bikes stand out in a way that a decal never could. The unique curly stays gave away that the sponsored rider was on a Hetchins from much further away than the range of a decal. The fancy twisting lugs also made them desireable up close.
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