Tandem pron

[Wowbagger]

1939 Hetchins Curly tandem. It's just gorgeous. Owner wants £6000 ono. (Photo links to FB)

[rogerzilla]

Flexy frame design, though.  Ok for pootling.

[mzjo]

1939 Hetchins Curly tandem. It's just gorgeous. Owner wants £6000 ono. (Photo links to FB)

Yes it is gorgeous. However with that short a back end I would be a bit concerned for the comfort of the stoker's backend!

Flexy frame design, though.  Ok for pootling.

*Not as flexy as a 1930's ladyback - nor probably as Dominique Lamouiller's Singer which is also flashy (chrome frame!) but a completely open frame design!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

That Singer looked gorgeous when we lined up beside the brothers at PBP a few years back. I was happy enough that our tandem was more modern, if less photogenic.

Between them, the brothers completed 23 x PBP Randonneur plus I don’t know how many x PBP Audax. The next generation (Alexandrine) is pretty impressive too.

[Ian H]

The single chainring makes it problematic for touring.  As would the stoker sitting almost on top of the back wheel.  The brakes have been updated at some point.  My guess is that it was originally intended mainly for racing.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Curly Hetchins tandems were also made under licence in the 1990s by, I think, Bob Jackson. But they were very badly made. Someone local who had one crashed when the forks and steerer parted company, fortunately at very low speed.