Noschwinns

I have a 1968 curley Hetchins that I bought second (or more) hand from The Bicycle Trip in 1975 and have had ever since. Toured 3700 miles on it including part of the Bikecentennial route in 1976. I did a Cyclart repaint in 1990 and it's still quite clean in the 30 years hence. Frame is 62 cm long wheelbase touring frame, with Magnum Opus lugs, Cinelli Bivalent hubs with Super Chanpion 700C clincher rime (originally had Fiamme Red Labels, lost in a fire), TA Cyclotouriste Criterium cottered allow cranks with 28/42/47 chainwheels, Mafac Top 63 brakes, Ambrosio adjustable stem and bars, original Brooks Pro saddle, and a Spence Wolf Simplex Tourist 303 long cage on a (gorgeous) mishmash Campy Turismo (not Gran Turismo; a proletariat Gran Sport) rear derailleur, and more. It's a nice old bike, listed in Len's Hetchins Register, and the only classic bike I've ever had (a 1968 PX10 doesn't count). I still have the receipt from when I bought it.


I'm now retired, living near Santa Fe and starting to lighten up my collection of Stuff, so in due time I'm going to put it up for sale, as the only one of my kids with legs long enough for a 62cm has no interest in it. My questions: where are the best places to list it for sale? And how can I best determine its market value?

Thank you,

Noschwinns, real name Allan

Insidious C. 

There is separate C&V valuation forum within Bikeforums. With luck a moderator will move your post there for you. You will need to add a good set of pictures, but you will need 10 posts here before you can add them.

With an upgraded BF membership (something like $12) you can advertise your bike for sale. Craigslist is not a good place to sell a nice bike like a Hetchins. Ebay might be better, or perhaps a shop that will take it as a consignment. Honestly though right now is not a good time to sell. Best of luck!

TenGrainBread 

Sounds like a very special bike. The sale forum here is good. Posting a for sale thread on the Classic Rendezvous Google group is also a good place. EBay works but there are fees involved.

randyjawa 

For a bike like a Hetchins, local selling is a back-up, in my mind. Ebay is the only way to go if you expect to reach serious collectors/buyers. Local selling or offering here or any other forum like site will not fetch top dollar, in my opinion. So, have a look at Trading Bicycles, which sums up most of what I have learned about buying and selling vintage bicycles. Then...

List the bike on Ebay in the Cycles/Vintage Cycles category. List locally also but keep the price in line with Ebay. Seek out a local bicycle shop who can properly package the bike for you, should shipping become part of the sales plan. Insure the shipment and be prepared to be patient. Do not be surprised if your old Hetchins leans to speak Japanese. Many of my top of the line or highly collectible bikes now live there...

verktyg 

Back in the 70's there were only 3 Hetchins in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area that I was aware of. The owners brought them into our shop once a year for me to service (1 Bates and 1 1960's Masi too)

Check with Gregg at the Bike Coop in Albuquerque close to UNM... That's Coop not Co-op!

He and I worked together back in the 70's. He can probably give you some advice on the local market. When I was there last year, there wasn't much of a market for C&V bikes. You will probably do better trying to sell your Hetchins out of the area.

Classic bikes like yours keep their value but you have to find someone who knows about them and also can ride a 62cm frame.

As Insidious C. mentioned, this is probably not a good time to try to sell your bike.

Good luck,

verktyg

Gary Fountain

Best wishes for your sale and I do hope it goes to a knowledgable and appreciative owner - it sounds like a real beauty.

Bianchigirll 

Good Morning and welcome to the forums. I am sure I speak for everyone else when I say I can't wait to see pictures of this fabulous bike. I have been enthralled with the beauty of Hetchins since I read an article about them in '90. I finally got my hands on a '93 M.O. around 2011 but sadly had to set her free when I was 'between economic situations'. I still miss her and hopefully one day I find another.

You sadly need ten post before we can see this beautiful bike, so if you care to email me some pictures I be sure to get them posted for you. BianchiGirLL@yahoo.com


My '93 Hetchins (I believe built by Cobra) with CampI SR derailleurs and cranks, Euclid brake lever wif MAFAC calipers. I should have done a drop bar style but this was a great cruiser.

bikemig 

I don't think I've seen this bike before. It's beautiful. Plus your post reminds me that it's time to stock up on some more Guinness.

Bianchigirll 

Thank You. Unfortunately I didn't have it for long. I don't remember what happened to the rest of that 6pack, I am not much of a beer fan, especially of heavy stuff like this.

Classtime 

Noschwinns
Why doesn't your '69 PX-10 count?

obrentharris 

Bought from The Bicycle Trip in Santa Cruz, CA? I worked across town at The Bicycle Center in '77-'78. Santa Cruz had more than its share of fine bicycles.
Sounds like quite the eclectic setup with bivalent hubs, adjustable stem, Wolf extension, etc!
I too would like to see photos.
Let's see if the moderators will move this to the "What's it worth?" thread.
Brent

Noschwinns

Brent, I bought my first serious bike from Roger Sands in 1974; a full-Campy 60cm 1970 Galmozzi, for $425. Beautiful bike; I eventually crashed and bent the frame. I was the mechanic at Mountain Cyclery in Felton, roughly 74-76.

Billy Menchine was a mechanic at Bicycle Trip whom I greatly respected. He turned me on to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Something that I've never told anyone, and now, 45 years later I'll reveal it to the world (yeah, right...): Around 1974 I was riding quite a bit in those mountains, and that summer I toured the West Coast route down from Canada pulling my 50 lb. dog in a Bugger trailer, but I hadn't come to see myself yet as athletic and had rather low self-confidence about my physical coordination and capacities. I only occasionally rode with the hotshots out of Bicycle Center, as I saw them as out of my league - after all, they were the racers. Anyway, one day we rode up Hwy. 9 to Felton, and then a few of us continued up Felton Empire to Empire Grade. That was considered the most notorious climb shy of Alta Rd. out of Ben Lomond. I was on a borrowed 64cm db531/Campy Bertin, as my bike was broken. By half way up Kelly Robertson and I were in the lead, and we just kept pushing, and I pulled away from him and beat him to the top. I waited there and when he joined me we simply looked at each other without a word and then continued on.


I tried to upload a photo but no dice...

merziac

Welcome aboard, glad you found us.

You need 10 posts for pics so go around, comment on any posts that interest you to get there. It will probably take another day to get there.

Noschwinns

Well, Classtime, I suppose it does; it's just not in the same league as the classics. My PX-10 was originally exactly like randyjawa's in the photo above - same color, same decals, same Nervex lugs. Found it in a garage in 1986 and paid $50 for it. Back then it looked as clean as that one too, but it's been knocked around on car roofs, bike racks, even hitchhiked with me (best prop I ever found for efficiently getting drivers to pull over for me with my thumb out)... so the original paint is a bit beat up, but it still rides just fine. TA Cyclotouriste triple crankset, Crane GS RD and Record FD, Record brakes and hubs, Mavic ModE 27"(!) rims... just parts I had around in the late 80's.
A PX-10 sold back then for only $225! It was an entry-level racer, well made and unabashedly French. It seems to a popular collectible these days, if only because so many of graybeards either had one or envied those who did.

Kilroy1988 

Your Hetchins sounds like a great bike in just my size! I'm looking forward to seeing photos of it. You can attach them after you've made ten posts here on the forum. I would recommend spending $3 for a trial membership here and advertising it in our classic & vintage classifieds. If you can find a buyer here you can be confident it will be someone who will really appreciate the bike. 'Tis a pity I already have plans for that $1,200 check I'm expecting... Ha!

(P.S. Depending on the condition, it could easily be worth quite a bit more than $1,200 on the US market. I just had to make that joke.)

obrentharris 

Allan,
Thanks for bringing back so many fine memories; Roger Sands, the Saturday Morning Ride, Billy Menchine, Kelly Robertson who had a compunction to critique everyone's saddle height!...

Tom Cuthbertson rode a beautiful Hetchins all over those mountains and was doing the kinds of dirt road rides that Jobst Brandt was doing on the peninsula. Some friends and I do an annual 70-mile dirt and pavement ride on one of Tom's favorite courses near Arroyo Seco each year in Tom's memory. If you knew Tom and have a desire to visit California in early May send me a private message and I'll give you more details about the ride.
Brent

cb400bill

Thread moved from C&V to C&V Appraisals.

obrentharris 

Noschwinns Perhaps you were there when this one came through.



A very rusted Motobecane Team Champion given me several years ago by a friend who stayed in Santa Cruz.
Brent

Noschwinns

Brent, this is in no way meant to disparage you, and there's no way that I can prove this, but it's likely that that bike was stolen during a test ride. My memory is hazy, but Ray Hansen (the owner) and I were both there the day a man (30's, brown curly hair, and I don't remember much else) came in looking for one. He asked to take it for a test ride and never returned. We were both naive, didn't take a driver's license or anything else and Ray filed a sheriff's report but nothing ever came of it and we never got it back. I believe that Ray only purchased one Motobecane Le Champion during the years he owned the store, which is why I'm presuming that it's the same bike. No way to find out, as Ray died around 2012 of complications from his time in Nam.
Thank you for sharing the photo, even if it triggered such an unexpected response.

merziac

obrentharris 

Ouch!
This is an issue that sometimes nags at me when I buy a used bike. I have walked away from bikes that I thought were stolen, (obliterated serial numbers, hasty spray can repaints, BB cutouts where the serial number should be), but I never suspected this one. To the best of my recollection it was given to a framebuilder friend of mine by a charity auction for whom he had dome a bunch of bike repair.
Brent

Noschwinns

I'm a newbie; this was my first post. I have received several private messages in response to this post about my Hetchins. Until I have posted ten times, I'm not allowed to read or reply to private messages. (The message I receive when I attempt to read a private message is "The administrator has restricted use of the private message system to members with less than 10 posts", which makes me laugh because it should say "The administrator has restricted use of the private message system to members with more than 10 posts." So if you have messaged me privately just wait awhile (in your own home, at least 6' away from any bicycles that have been out socializing with others) and I'll respond.
Thanks, Allan

Noschwinns

Brent, I understand the 'Ouch!' - I have always asked for at least a good provenance story, as bicycles seldom come with a paper trail. I too have never knowingly bought a bike I suspected might have been stolen. So I'm now curious: assuming that my assessment is correct that that Team Champion is the same bike (and by the way, I believe it would have been around 60-61 cm; otherwise nothing to specifically identify it, just bright orange and full Campy Record) how does this new awareness affect your relationship with it and what, if anything, you may or will do about it?

Kilroy1988 

Just as an aside, depending on which way you read the administration note it is correct either way. "I restrict the use of the swingset to students with bad grades" or "I restrict the use of the swingset to students with good grades" can both correctly mean essentially the same thing.

Technically the way it's currently written is actually more aligned with how the word "restrict" is used as a negative word in most scenarios.

thinktubes 

And it's not even April 1 yet....