Bob; I'll trust the framebuilders to know the technical aspects. My 1939 Hetchin's Trio also has an internal headset. I can't wait to get back to Boston to pick up the rest of my bikes and get jpgs to the group of the Trio that right now is unrestored. It's many unusual features that Hetchins tried on the Trio were interesting, but as a model, only a few were ever produced, possibly only six and the one I have may be the only one surviving. The trio, as interesting as it was, never caught on with the cycling public. I thank Ken Denny for helping me get the trio years ago. I'll be doing an article for VBQ on the Trio as soon as I get the bike back here.
I'll try to bring it to Cirque this year, but I'm torn as whether or not to restore. The paint is literally ready to dissolve off the frame.
Peter Naiman
Shorewood, WI
> Guys:
>
> Just to hop on this conversation...I had a great
> chat
> via eMail with Chris King last year re internal
> headsets. He hates them. Says they wreck head tubes
> because the stress is on the tube, not the races. I
> sent him some shots of 1930's Six Day Paramounts
> made
> with internals. Nothing new, but I think they look
> great on the new Alu/Carbon compact frames.
>
> Bob Fulghum (ful-jum)
> Soigneur to the Cycling Stars
> Swedish Plus Massage Therapy
> Chicagoland
> USA
>
>
>
> --- David Cooper <dbcooper@rcn.com> wrote:
>
> > Tom,
> > I have a Nulli Secundus (#503574) that was made in
> > April, 1950. It
> > still has the internal headset. I was under the
> > impression that the
> > Super Special was renamed for the 1949 Earl's
> Court
> > show to introduce
> > the Latin Series lugs. I am not sure when they
> > stopped using the
> > internal headset but it was not related to the
> name
> > of the model. My NS
> > has round forks and orthodox stays. My guess is
> that
> > it was built to
> > complete an order Hetchins might have taken at the
> > 1949 show.
> > David Cooper
> > Chicago, IL
> >
> >
> > On Feb 18, 2005, at 1:17 PM, Thomas Rawson wrote:
> >
> > Pete,
> >
> > As you know Im just a student of this stuff. And I
> > like thinking about
> > it about as much as owning the bikes. I do attempt
> > to merge what we
> > believe we know with the kind of thinking I used
> to
> > do as a Product
> > Manager (gun industry). I guess that could be
> called
> > conjecture. But my
> > hope is to challenge conventional wisdom/thinking
> so
> > that eventually a
> > better understanding of what went on emerges.
> >
> > This is the kind of thing that led to Flash
> > rewriting of the Hetchins
> > manufacturing history and relationship to Bob
> > Jackson a couple years
> > ago. That history, for anyone interested, is in
> the
> > CR archive and can
> > be found on Flash' website. Flash, Len and Hilary
> > Stone are way out in
> > front of all of us on the subject of Hetchins. Its
> > fun to try and catch
> > up.
> >
> > Its my understanding based on interaction with Len
> > and Flash that the
> > Super Special, introduced in 1945 (and ran to
> > approximately 1950), was
> > renamed (with minor physical changes) the Nulli
> > Secundus. That renaming
> > occured in 1950 at the same time the Latin Series
> > was launched. We tend
> > to think the launch of the Latin Series was
> > significant and quite
> > unique in the bike bus, particularly at that time,
> > for a couple
> > reasons. First it was a series or system - not
> just
> > one new model.
> > Second and I think more important, it was another
> > example of Hetchins
> > attempt to set themselves apart from everyone else
> > by using proprietary
> > lugs. The "early" (pre Latin) models that you
> prefer
> > eg. various
> > Brilliants, Competition, Massed Start, Anglo
> > Continental used purchased
> > lugs from companies like Chater Lea. Problem was,
> > from Hetchins point
> > of view (I conjecture) that their lugs looked
> pretty
> > much like everyone
> > else's in the '30s and '40s.
> >
> > The Super Special is special in that its lugs were
> > unique - unlike
> > anything generally available on other bicycle
> > brands. Since no one is
> > around from the time and there are no marketing
> > committee meeting notes
> > left behind, we dont know what went into the
> choice
> > of the the term
> > "Latin Series" nor where the names Nulli Secundus,
> > Experto Crede,
> > Magnum Bonum, Magnum Opus, Vade Mecum came from.
> We
> > can however see the
> > Latin derivation. The Super Special therefore is
> the
> > first of the
> > Hetchins with distinctive, proprietary ornate lugs
> > and its success I
> > conjecture, contributed to the creation of the
> Latin
> > Series. The Super
> > Special sans internal headset bearings was renamed
> > Nulli Secundus and
> > was part of the launch of the Latins. It can
> > therefore be thought of as
> > the first Latin.
> >
> > And to Mick - with regard to Six Day models they
> > came both ways - track
> > dropouts or set up with gear hangers. What makes a
> > Six Day a Six Day
> > (sorry) is the crushed seat tube.
> >
> > Tom Rawson
> > Oakland, CA
> >
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===== Peter Naiman 4420 North Ardmore Avenue Shorewood, WI 53211
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