Harry Quinn Cycles, Limited 719 Walton Road Liverpool, Merseyside L4 4PL England
The firm of Harry Quinn Cycles began frame building during the reign of Queen Victoria. Harry's father started the firm in 1901.
Since that time the firm has been producing custom frames.
Until the 1940s, the custom frames built by the Quinn family were called Coronets. In 1945, the name was changed to Harry Quinn. Since 1949, each Harry Quinn frame has been numbered consecutively and, as of September 26, 1977, 4,206 frames had been made. In fact, up until 1973, all Harry Quinn frames were made personally by Harry.
Today, Harry shares the frame-building responsibilities with one other frame builder, whom Harry has trained, and two apprentices. While Harry is presently the chief frame builder of Harry Quinn Cycles, he will be retiring in a few years. Plans have been made that will insure that Harry Quinn Cycles will continue operating as one of Liverpool's finest bicycle stores and frame building shops.
Frank Clements purchased Harry Quinn Cycles in February 1977 and has retained Harry as his chief frame builder and design consultant. Although Harry is the master builder, he has two more important functions at this time. First, he supervises the production of all frames built. Secondly, he is responsible for the training and development of competent frame builders in order to insure the future quality of Harry Quinn frames. Harry believes in continuing the line of master builders.
Frank Clements is certainly not a new name in cycling. In fact, everyone in the bicycle industry in England has heard of the Clements brothers. All of the brothers have been active racers who turned to employment in the bicycle industry after their retirement from competition. Perhaps the most illustrious member of the Clements family is brother Ernie who won a silver medal for Great Britain in the 1948 Olympic road race and is now director of Falcon Cycles.
Background
Frank Clements raced from 1953 to 1961 in Britain and on the Continent. After his racing years, Frank began working with his brother Ernie at Falcon Cycles. Frank felt the need for more independence so he started a bicycle import business, JHF Cycle Distributors, whose offices have been located, since 1975, in the same building that houses Harry Quinn Cycles. Frank's involvement with Harry Quinn started as a result of renting office space from Harry. This involvement led to the purchase of Harry Quinn Cycles on February 14,1977.
Utilizing his knowledge gained from racing and his experience from working in the cycle trade, Frank Clements has developed a propensity to analyze the critical aspects of frame design and, most importantly, verbalize his views. He is able to offer many tips to the uninformed enthusiast in search of a quality product.
According to Frank, the quality of a frameset is easiest to determine if it is examined immediately after brazing. If a frame has not been sandblasted, you should be able to see the brass around the lug. If there is brass on the tube, the builder has probably been sloppy and the frame tubes have been overheated.
Nearly all the British manufacturers that Frank has seen, braze from the outside of the tube. When examining the bottom bracket, you should be able to see the brass around the bottom of the tubes as they intersect in the bottom bracket. Frank claims that a majority of the Italian builders braze from the inside out. The advantage in this method is that, when a builder brazes from the inside of the bottom bracket, he makes sure that there is brass at the end of the tubes that go into the bottom bracket. To check if the tubes have been overheated during assembly, Frank recommends running a file on the tube adjacent to the lug. If the tube has not been overheated, the file will dig into the tube. If the file bounces over the surface, it is an indication that the tube has been overheated and that it is brittle. Once the frame is sandblasted and painted, a lot of building mistakes are hidden. After painting, it is impossible to check for the color of the tubes (another check for overheating} or the resistance of the tube to a file. Although gaps between the lug and the tube are not conclusive evidence of a poorly built frame, they do raise the possibility that there is not brazing all the way through the joint.
Figure 7-1: Harry Quinn with a complete main triangle of frame. The jig
for brazing is on Harry's right.
Frank feels that the best way to test a bicycle is to ride it. If it feels lively and you are able to sit up and ride with no hands in a straight line, you have some indication that the frame has been built correctly. Frank says that he is constantly amazed at the number of custom frames that will not track correctly, although they are alleged to have been built by specialists.
Frank believes that many people are swayed by fashion when choosing a frame, since there are few people capable of explaining the advantages or disadvantages of different designs. For instance, a couple of years ago it was in vogue to have a fork built with a fully sloping Cinelli crown. There is nothing inherently wrong with the crown except that it is usually too stiff for long races on rutted or bumpy roads. According to Frank, many of the bicycle fashions start in Italy, the "home of bicycles, top-quality bicycles.
Anything that deals with bicycles can be had in Italy, even the machinery to manufacture bicycles."
Building Philosophy
Harry Quinn has been building frames, using essentially the same methods, for 45 years. His interest in bicycles started as a young boy when he learned the basics of frame building from his father. His interest was further developed while racing prior to World War II (1935-37). His racing experience was strictly as a time trialist, as there was little else being promoted in England. But even this limited racing experience ignited the motivation required for Harry to devote the rest of his working days to frame building. There are few frame builders who had as many years' experience as Harry or who can trace their frame building history as far back as Harry can. When asked what it takes to become a frame builder, Harry answered, "If you have a young chap who's good with his hands and has a very good method of work, he can be building good frames in 12 months.
You can get another chap and it could take three or four years and he's still not able to build a good frame. It's like any other craft.
If you haven't got the aptitude and talent, you'll never do it." Harry believes that the demise of many frame builders has been caused by trying to manufacture more than they are really capable of producing. Many frame builders succumb to the temptation of cutting corners to meet demand. At Harry Quinn Cycles, they have resisted the pressure to meet demand and instead have striven to maintain the quality that brought them fame. At Harry Quinn, they spend a lot of time just cleaning up the lug, for instance. According to Harry, "You needn't do it, but it's a sign of workmanship." In order to insure consistent quality and workmanship in his frames, Harry will not build more than one per day. He believes that a frame must be carefully mitered and brazed. Most important is the need to keep the frame in proper alignment while brazing. It is not acceptable to build a frame out of track and then bend it back into track. A frame can be twisted back in line after it has been built, but it will eventually come out of track after hard use.
Harry uses the Sifbronze on all his Reynolds 531DB frames.
He uses silver on regular Reynolds 531DB frames when brazing on fittings. On the Reynolds 531SL and on the Reynolds 753, Harry uses silver solder. Reynolds has just authorized Harry as a Reynolds 753 builder and Frank has ordered 95 sets in anticipation of the demand. Frank believes that Reynolds 753 is an incredible material that has yet to reach its full popularity. "We have put a 753 fork in the vise and hit it with a hammer and there's just no way that you'll bend it. The tubing is that strong." Harry finds that working with silver solder is not much different than working with Sifbronze. The biggest difference is the melting temperature. The only problem encountered with silver is when a frame builder overheats the frame and gets oxidation. At that point the silver will not penetrate the lug.
Harry prefers to use Prugnat pressed lugs and he will cut by hand on request. Harry has used cast lugs in the past but finds the quality of cast lugs to be very poor and the angle cannot be changed to suit the individual requirements of a custom order.
There is no flexibility in design; the frame design has to suit the cast lugs that are available.
The Italian section fork blades are now available on Reynolds 753 and Reynolds 531SL. Reynolds does not provide Harry with the larger fork sections on regular Reynolds 531DB. Most fork crowns that Harry uses are Cinelli semi-sloping cast crowns. He does use pressed fork crowns, but generally prefers the quality of the cast crowns. He offers many different types of seatstay cluster arrangements and finds very little difference in strength and performance among them.
All the frames are designed on what Harry calls his "Ouija board." The adjustable sections on the board were built by Harry and adjust to given parameters for various frame sizes. For example, if a customer wants a 23-inch frame with 73-degree parallel angles, the board can be adjusted for these dimensions.
The wheelbase and top tube length become immediately obvious.
Every frame is fitted to the board throughout the frame-building process to insure accurate construction. All the tubes are mitered before they are brazed to the lug. According to Harry, a perfect miter is essential for a strong frame. The frames are brazed together without the help of pins. Harry believes that the use of pins is only needed on mass-production frames and on the hearth-brazed frames.
Figure 7-2: Harry's "Ouija board" for frame setup. The clipboards
on the left contain specific frame geometry requested by the customer.
Frame Selection
Standard top tube lengths are calculated by subtracting 1/2 inch from the frame size but, as with most frame builders, this does not apply to the small or to the large frame sizes. Building for the large or small frame sizes requires different techniques. For a 25-inch frame, Harry will build it with a 24-inch top tube but this requires dropping the seat tube from the regular 73 degrees to about 72 degrees. Then he lifts the head tube to about 74 degrees to get the wheels in the right position.
Otherwise the front wheel will be "28 inches in front of the rider" and the rear wheel "miles out." The 74-degree head angle will bring the front wheel further underneath the bicycle which will permit a decent fork rake, thus giving it good "steer-ability." With a small frame, it's just the opposite. Harry builds them with a steeper seat angle and a shallower head angle.
When sizing a customer for a bicycle frame, Harry likes to see what the customer's full height is compared to the inside leg measurement. He likes to be able to know if he has a tall person with short legs or a tall person with long legs. This helps him decide size as well as top tube length. A basic rule of thumb for determining frame size at Harry Quinn is to subtract 9 inches from the inseam measurement. Variations on this occur because Harry believes that a racing frame should be 1/2 inch smaller. This gives the rider the option of lifting the saddle a bit more while keeping the handlebars low, thus giving the racer a more aerodynamic position.
When Harry builds a frame for touring, he usually builds it with a slightly longer wheelbase than he would if it were a racing bicycle. Specifically, he lengthens the chainstays. This he does primarily to accommodate larger gear clusters in the rear. If a tourist is going to use only close ratios, there is no problem with the short chainstays but the larger freewheels do require 16.75-inch chainstays. With the smooth road surfaces that are found in the United States and in the United Kingdom, Harry sees no reason why a tourist shouldn't use "more of a racing design for touring." Harry does, however, caution that even with improved road surfaces a longer wheelbase bicycle with a lower bottom bracket will perform better on long touring rides. The need for a longer wheelbase becomes more important when the bicycle is loaded down with gear.
For 40 years, Harry Quinn has been the bicycle mentor of the Liverpool cycling community. Many riders still come to see Harry to discuss their individual bicycle problems. Harry is easy to talk to and is able to solve problems analytically. He is different from some builders who won't change simply because that's the way they have always done it. Harry is objective in his decisions.
If you are interested in a Harry Quinn frame, it can only be purchased through Harry's bicycle store which occupies the first floor of the Walton Road address. (The frame shop occupies the second floor.) By writing to Harry Quinn, you can receive his order blank, and Harry will custom-build a frame to suit your specifications.
Harry Quinn is one of the last of the famous builders who has refused to succumb to the temptations of gaining increased profit through increased production. His frames tend to be quite conservative in both design and finish. Harry believes that a frame should be strong and well finished-not flashy.