Every now and then, something turns up which is rare, even for a Hetchins. This is one such: a curly-stays Mixte. Until this one appeared, we had thought only three existed, all post-1990. This one is from 1950, a Jack Denny-build, and the only one documented to date of this vintage. The lugwork is Nulli Secundus. Underneath the atrocious toxic-frog-green paint, it is indeed a Grande Dame among Hetchins.
A note on the design of ladies' bicycle frames: one sometimes sees top tubes which anchor and stop in the middle of the seat tube, rather than, as here, continuing back to anchor on the dropouts. This transmits all the road shock from the fork to the middle of the seat tube, where it is weakest, causing it to flex. The Mixte design, as here, stabilizes the whole geometry.
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