Hetchins were actively involved in racing for decades and scored many victories, including World's and Olympic Championships in 1936. Above is Champion, Toni Merkens, with his 'trademark' downward curved handlebar stem and curly Hetchins. Merkens was a popular racer in the 1930s, with many victories to his credit, including Herne Hill (UK), a "Counties Trophy" in the popular five-mile Point-to-Point, and gold in the 1935 World's Championship Track amateur 200m sprint in Belgium. See Bike Cult com for listings of track champions since 1893.

Toni Merkens on the left, easily identified by the handlebar stem. On the right is Sellinger (USA). Foto: Olympics, 1936. Hetchins subsequently offered a Toni Merkens model; only one is known to have survived.

Above: the 1938 Wembly Six-Day team:
(lf to rt) Harry Hetchin, Piet van Kempen (rider), Cor Wals (rider),
(trainer, unknown); they came third (behind two teams riding Claud Butlers).

Above: 1938 Wembly Six-Day team: Cor Wals (22) and Piet van Kempen (23).
Wals and Kempen were Dutchmen with long and successful racing careers.
Wals: b. 26.2.1912, d. 5.4.1994; Kempen: b. 12.12.1898, d. 5.5.1985.

Above: Piet van Kempen on a full-chrome track bike,
from an original glass-plate negative, ca. 1938.

In 1939 Hetchins supplied bikes for a team composed of Burgess, Hey, Firth, and Rangeley, of the Bronte Wheelers Club, to take part in the Bath Road 100 race, sponsored by the Bath Road Club. They were victorious. Rangeley's medal survives. The sales records list the frames as "on loan" to the team. The foto below shows the team wearing the black Alpaca jackets typical of the time.

Hetchins sponsored many road races;
this is the program from one such in 1958.

Below: a full-chrome track bike from the 1970s;
it is unusual to find a curly track iron of this vintage.

John Wigglesworth, ex Polytechnic CC, sends the following: he, Ian Alsop, and Dick Swann Jr., participated in a match event at Gladbeck near Dusseldorf, Germany in 1960; Dick Swann Sr. was team manager; all rode Hetchins. John continues: "...most of Hetchins competition success was on the track, hence the straight chainstays; obviously the curly pre-war machines were very much a marketing ploy and a very successful one, as the curly stays are Hetchins in everybody's mind. [However,] Jack Denny admitted that they were just an advertising ploy and added nothing to frame performance, which is why nearly all track frames during the 1950-1970 period were straight-stayed. ... [Typical track bike equipment:] de riguer for chainset and cranks was BSA steel with half-inch block chains, BSA pedals, Brooks hand-made saddles with copper rivets, Titan and Cinelli steel stems were favorites, Airlite hubs were the most popular. As the sixties approached, aluminium chainsets, mainly TA, started to take over, as did (what a blessing) Campagnolo seat pillars, and Lyotard platform pedals."

The fotos and captions below are courtesy of John Wigglesworth.
Start of the race in Gladbeck near Dusseldorf, Germany, 1960:
at the far left, John Wigglesworth (looking over his left shoulder),
at the far right, Ian Alsop (helping the next rider into his pedal);
Ian rides an Experto Crede, inch pitch chainrings clearly visible.

Below: Polytechnic CC in flight at Gladbeck:
top left, Dick Swann Jr,
middle, Ian Alsop (out of saddle),
bottom right, John Wigglesworth.

John Wigglesworth: "Ian Alsop also rode a Hetchins at the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the photos above, he was 16-17 and developed into the outstanding all-round track rider of his time in the UK, winning gold at the Commenwealth Games in the 10-mile scratch race in 1966. After the Mexico Olympics [1968] he retired in a rather dramatic personal fashion and returned to Mexico to live and became the national track coach."
Jim Hendry, archivist of the British Cycling Federation, kindly supplied the following summary of Ian Alsop's results.
British Track Championship Performances
1959 Junior Men 500m Sprint, Herne Hill, silver
1960 Junior Men 500m Sprint, Coventry, bronze
1962 Amateur Tandem Sprint, Notttingham, tied gold/silver (w/Roger Whitfield on the tandem)
1963 Amateur 1000m Sprint, Herne Hill, silver
1963 Amateur 4000m Team Pursuit, Fallowfield, gold (Polytechnic CC team)
1964 Amateur 4000m Team Pursuit, Wolverhampton, bronze (Polytechnic CC team)
1964 Amateur Tandem Sprint, Nottingham, silver (w/Brian Dacey on the tandem)
1965 Amateur 1000m Sprint, Salford Park, silver
1965 Amateur Division 4000m Team Pursuit, Kirkby, gold (North London team)
1965 Amateur Tandem Sprint, Nottingham, silver (w/Tony Gowland)
1966 Amateur 1000m Sprint, Kirkby, silver
1966 Amateur Kilometre Time Trial, Welwyn, silver
1966 Amateur 4000m Team Pursuit, Wolverhampton, silver (Polytechnic CC)
1966 Amateur Division 4000m Team Pursuit, Herne Hill, silver (North London)
1966 Amateur 10 mile Scratch, Nottingham, gold
1966 Amateur 50 mile Madison, Salford Park, gold (w/Tony Gowland)
1967 Amateur 10 mile Scratch, Halesowen, gold
1967 Amateur Division 4000m Team Pursuit, Salford Park, silver (North London)
1967 Amateur 50 mile Madison, Herne Hill, bronze (w/Tony Gowland)
1967 Amateur Tandem Sprint, Herne Hill, silver (w/Tony Gowland)
1968 Amateur Kilometre Time Trial, Herne Hill, tied for bronze
1968 Amateur 4000m Team Pursuit, Scunthorpe, gold (Polytechnic CC)
1968 Amateur Tandem Sprint, Leicester, gold (w/Geoff Cooke)
World's Championship and Olympic Performances
1963 Rocourt, Belgium, Amateur Sprint, competed
1963 Rocourt, Belgium, Amateur Team Pursuit, 13th place (GB team)
1965 San Sebastian, Spain, Amateur Sprint, competed
1965 San Sebastian, Spain, Amateur Team Pursuit, 8th place (GB team)
1966 Frankfurt, Germany, Amateur Team Pursuit, 7th place (GB team)
1967 Amsterdam, Holland, Amateur Team Pursuit, 8th place (GB team)
1968 Mexico Olympics, 4000m Team Pursuit, 12th place (GB team)

Ian Alsop continues to represent Mexico and win medals at masters events, including the Huntsman World Seniors games, hill climbs and XC mountainbike events. http://www.hwsg.com/Archive/2002results/pages/mountainbiking.html lists him in the experts category for men aged 55-59, gold, mountainbiking, Huntsman World Senior Games, 2002.

Left: Dick Swann (on bike),
Gladbeck, Dusseldorf, 1960.

Left: John Wigglesworth at
Herne Hill, London, 1960.

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