Re: [CR]stupid question# 399944448...Hellenic Stays

(Example: Framebuilders:Bernard Carré)

Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 17:35:52 +0100
Subject: Re: [CR]stupid question# 399944448...Hellenic Stays
From: "Hilary Stone" <hilary.stone@blueyonder.co.uk>
To: Tom Sanders <tsan7759142@comcast.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
In-Reply-To: <009c01c45d2b$cfdb2900$aebe0b18@C1921978A>


Jack Denny (Hetchins' chief framebuilder) originally christened them in honour of Fred Hellens, a South London framebuilder who in the early 1920s first built frames with the seatstays crossing the seat tube to join the top tube in front of the seat lug. He may not have been the first framebuilder to do this (however I have yet to find a builder who tried the design before Hellens) but it was him who inspired Jack to do it. About 16 years ago in an article in the Veteran-Cycle Racing Club newsletter I suggested that a good generic term for this type of seatstays would be Hellenic - the name has stuck.

Hilary Stone, Bristol, England


> Why do they call them Hellenic? Is there supposed to be something Greek about
> them? Shaped like Greek letters? Who thought this up, anyway?
> Tom Sanders
> Lansing, Mi