Finally, I have a superb, lightweight trike to call my own. A 22", 1954 Higgins "Ultralite", no less. Complete with fancy Nervex lugs, original paint and a full set of original badges and transfers. Or so I assume. The paint seems rather soft so it may have been repainted and new transfers fitted some time ago. It seems to chip and wear rather easily and leaves purple marks on the frame-fitting pump. The overall axle width is 27.5" with a 23.25" track. One of the narrower trike rear ends. Handy to get it through a narrow door or into a "busy" shed but more likely to tip on corners than a wider-tracked machine.
It's odd how we judge the age of things. In the first chapter of this blog I posted a snap of myself on my 60 year-old Dursley Pedersen taken back in the late 1960s. The irony is that the Higgins is now almost the same age as the Pedersen was when I still owned it. Of course the Pedersen would be 100 years old now and would seem strangely old fashioned and even slightly impractical. Yet the Higgins can pass itself off as a modern racer or sports machine given the correct modern accessories. In fact many older trikes are still used for racing, time trialling and touring. One cannot say the same of the Pedersen despite its relatively light weight.
Before delving into a description of the Higgins, I really must thank all those involved in getting the trike over to me from the UK to Denmark. The eBay seller went well beyond the call of duty in organising a local bike shop to pack it safely. This was to increase the chance of survival on the potentially hazardous journey across the North Sea on the good ship DHL. This was despite the gentleman having explicitly requested local pick-up in his auction text. Note that I had cleared my arrangements with him before being allowed to bid. My "bribe" was that I was willing to bid high to ensure I won.
Those planning to do as I did should approach the seller first rather than leave it to chance. I missed a similar (but lugless) Higgins trike because I had not approached the seller beforehand. I should have made it perfectly clear that I was using a local bike shop to pick up the trike, pack it properly and await collection. However, this seller was automatically blocking all overseas bids despite stating his willingness to deal with couriers. He just wasn't telling anybody he only accepted UK bids. He had only two bids and his trike sold for far less than I was prepared to pay. Having psyched myself up into an easy, but relatively expensive win, I was absolutely livid!
The proprietor of Hayes Cycles (in the West Midlands) did a superb job of packaging "my" Higgins but charged only a modest sum for all his efforts. He covered the trike in foam pipe insulation before adding more cardboard over the top at critical points and then enclosing everything in a box. I couldn't have done it better myself if I'd tried. Full marks for exceptional service.
Wheelcourier.com did their bit in getting the trike to me in just a couple of days from pick-up from the bike shop. This company is an online, carrier reseller and offer a unique service to those who need to move bikes and trikes around Europe. This is not their main business but do check their website for details. A trike is classed as a bicycle provided it is packed as compactly as possible. This means wheels off and stowed inside suitable packaging to avoid the risk of damage. Handlebars should be turned sideways or removed and stowed inside. You'd have to talk to them about special insurance for a high value bike or trike. I took the risk knowing the trike was being well packed.
I really don't know what I would have done without all of these people. My gratitude goes to them all for their part in the most unlikely of parcels arriving over here safely. At which point the heavens opened for several days in protest! It felt as if I had spent sleepless weeks worrying about winning two separate trike auctions and then getting my priceless machine delivered. So I was extremely grateful for a free day just pottering in the workshop and going outside between showers to admire my beautiful trike. You will have to imagine my huge relief in having the precious trike arrive unscathed.
As purchased, the Higgins sported only 5, close-ratio gears and sprint wheels. Probably a slightly dated, time trial iron for a race-fit rider on flat, high speed UK courses. Sadly it is decades since I was race fit and my local roads and lanes are anything but flat. Though I do like to push myself hard from the moment I leave the drive I still needed much wider ratio gears. The original, short axle, bottom bracket assembly allowed no more than a single chainwheel without rubbing. So I replaced it with an adjustable-chainline, sealed journal bearing, extended axle with adjustable locking rings to the cups on both sides. This paved the way for my favourite, cotterless, chainset of 46, 36 and 26 teeth.Chris Hewitt (Cycles) kindly posted me a OWD, Shimano block adaptor from the TRYKIT range. These are the items on either side of the black freehub in the centre.
Chris also sent me his remarkable "Higgins Register" booklet. Now listing 373 Higgins trikes and some bikes, their details and present owners in its 3rd [2006] Edition. Chris has a truly encyclopaedic knowledge of trikes and is willing to share it freely. Another real gentleman who helped me a great deal with his specialist knowledge despite my decades of cycling experience and building and fettling my own machines.
The TRYKIT OWD Shimano sprocket adaptor in place with a 7 speed cassette. The short, rear, gear hanger is also from TRYKIT. The washer on the left of the gear block should be removed to fit an 8 speed cassette. Here's everything you ever wanted to know about Shimano freehubs but were afraid to ask:http://sheldonbrown.com/k7
To fit the TRYKIT freewheel adaptor I had to remove a splined free-hub and cassette sprocket block from another recycled racing bike to get my wider ratios. I had mistakenly imagined the drum part came as part of the adaptor. Though I knew already that no sprockets/cassette were supplied.
Obtaining the necessary free-hub splined sprocket carrier required the hub axle to be removed from the donor wheel. Then a 10mm Allen key was inserted to free the drum from the hub by unscrewing the tubular axle extension. It was all really quite straightforward thanks to owning a thin, axle locking nut spanner and the correct splined Shimano cassette removal tool already in my tool collection. I also needed a chain whip to hold the other sprockets still while undoing the top gear sprocket. Once I had placed the sprocket cassette onto its splined carrier drum again I was ready to fit the entire assembly onto the trike axle.
Only then did I discover that there was no room to slide the new sprocket block and carrier between the flat face of the idler axle and the jutting end of the driven axle. So I had to remove the driven wheel and then the outer axle bearing cup. This allowed the axle to be gently withdrawn outwards. Just far enough to fit the adaptor, cassette and long, tubular fixing nut onto the tapered axle stub. All without releasing the inner ball bearings from their screwed cup.
In reality this didn't take very long and I re-greased the outboard axle cone, cup and loose ball bearings while I was at it. The new gear block now runs perfectly true. The old sprocket block used to gyrate somewhat due to misalignment of the taper relative to the axle. More noticeably when free-wheeling. So I now have seven speeds x 3 chainwheels instead of just 5 sprockets and only one chainwheel. Though 8 and 9 gear cassettes are supposed to fit the freehub I really have no real need for so many gears. One would never expect all 21 gears to work well anyway. There is no point in bending the chain to get exactly the same gear ratios when there are in-line combinations of chainwheels and sprockets. So the big chainwheel is used with the smallest 3 sprockets. The middle chainring with the middle three or four and the small chainwheel only with the three largest sprockets. Providing a range of gears which allow up to 30mph in top right down to a "granny gear" of around 30 inches for climbing really steep hills.
Gear inches are calculated by multiplying the number of chainwheel teeth by the diameter of the driven wheel and dividing the total by the number of teeth on the rear sprocket. Taking my own example of 46T chainwheel x 27" wheel then divided by 13 teeth on the smallest sprocket = ~95" top gear. My bottom gear is ~30" using a 26T chainwheel x 27" wheel divided by 23 teeth on the largest sprocket. I rarely use either gear but they are handy to have available when really needed.
I normally choose my daily training routes carefully depending on the wind direction. This avoids long straights or hills straight into a head wind. I use local windmills (turbines) to guide me as to local wind direction. It was lovely today to sail along for miles at around 19-20mph with a gentle tail wind using the big chainwheel. It is quite amazing how many miles can be covered without going far from home when all the potential loops are added together. As I build my strength and endurance I am managing mileages which were very hard work only a couple of years ago.
It is witness to Geoff Booker's triking experience and engineering skills that he extended the tubular fixing nut of his adaptor. Without adding more than a bare few grammes the long nut will safely catch the chain should it ever be thrown off the smallest sprocket. The Longstaff conversion had a nasty habit of jamming the chain immovably if it ever came off. Resulting in a couple of long walks home. Then came the loosening of the conversion fixing bolts to the rear drop outs to finally free the chain. Leverage with a long screwdriver, or other tools to free the chain, was never successful without undoing the fixing bolts first. I should have carried a spanner for the drop out bolts, I suppose, but find that tool kits keep growing. It is always good insurance to have the correct tools handy but the line has to be drawn somewhere. In my youth I would ride off on a 100 mile trip without a single tool or even a spare tubular tyre. I seemed to remarkably lucky in avoiding punctures and mechanical problems. Perhaps the simple thorn catchers really did work?
I have now fixed a half-decent Shimano front changer onto the virgin, Higgins, seat tube but kept the original Dura-ace rear changer to see if it could still manage the task of 21 gears worth of chain tension variation. The jury is still out on this despite swapping the original (and much longer) rear hanger for a shorter TRYKIT index gear hanger. I have plenty of other rear changers from recycled bikes if I need to do a swap. The present changer lacks any sense of feel or feedback and finding specific gears is a matter of actually watching the chain move. Though normally I am only interested in finding a comfortable gear for the conditions so don't care which it is.
The Higgins, small flange, alloy hub has a parallel bore making it very easy to remove the wheel when necessary. The easiest tool to use seems to be a thin, hardened steel cone adjusting spanner. The plain wheel holding nut is secured from behind with a common, split-spring washer. Higgins cleverly reinforced the axle where the hub fits by adding a cone. This cone fits snugly into the conical depression on the inside flange of the hub. Thereby greatly increasing the cross section and ultimate strength of a potential weak spot in a trike axle design. In the image above I have lodged the axle in the wheel spokes just for this posed shot to show the axle cone, drive hexagon and wheel fixing thread. The Longstaff axle is much larger in diameter but presumably the Higgins axle was a great success and much lighter thanks to that clever reinforcing cone and hub socket.
The slight wiggles in all three wheels were easily trued with a spoke key. I also added stapled rings of cloth to try and try and bring a polish back to the original, small flange, alloy hubs. I have since learned (from Chris Hewitt) that Higgins used chromed steel hubs and the alloy hubs are actually by Rodgers. Earlier axles and hubs had a matching taper.The old Mavic sprint rims and rusty, zinc plated spokes responded slowly to a rub with "0000" steel wool followed by metal polish on the rims. They will receive more of the same when I have some spare time on my hands. The untidy rings of rag have now been replaced with smarter, neatly riveted rings of frame-matching, purple suede. Ironically the suede came from a 1960s mini skirt. Which makes the hub polishers more than ten years younger than the trike!
The tubular tyres are a bit "hairy" from loose threads on the bedding tape but the file pattern treads are quite unworn. This saved me the cost and effort of fitting new tubs all round immediately. (BTW: "tubs" is an abbreviation for "tubular tyres". Also known as "sew-ups". Or "lucket ring" in Danish. "Lucket" just means closed.)
"Tubs" are stretched and then glued onto the curved beds of the sprint rims with a special contact cement. Vittoria Mastic 1 tyre cement is considered the best after very careful testing under lab conditions. Tubular tyre puncture repair involves removing the entire tyre, cutting the closure stitching and then resewing after a patch is applied. Those wealthy enough just buy a new tubular tyre instead of mending punctures. It depends how you value your own time. Training tubs can be bought for as little as £15-20. With prices rising steeply from competitive tyres at £50 and upwards as tyre weights drop to reach the the highest and lightest racing quality at well over £100!
The racing experts lay down their tubular tyres in a dark place for several years to age like old wine. This is supposed to offer a faster, more supple rubber and greater puncture resistance. Though the large investment, given the high price of racing tubulars, is certainly not to be ignored.
My first ride on the Higgins "Ultralite" was a revelation after a couple of years riding the Longstaff trike conversion! At almost half the total weight the Higgins seems to almost urge itself forwards under most conditions. I am using much higher gears than before and managing much higher average speeds and distances on my daily runs. The Higgins actually seems to accelerate downhill even when I'm not pedalling! The lower rolling resistance of the tubular tyres may be partly responsible for some of this.
I remember changing from Dunlop HPs on lightweight steel rims to heavyweight Milremo Sportivo training tubs on skinny, alloy, Fiamme 'Road' rims as a teenager and being absolutely staggered at the improvement. Not only lower revolving weight, far better road grip and much lower rolling resistance but instant response to every kick of the pedals. Changing later to 5 ounce wood-insert, alloy rims and lightweight tubulars for time trialling was never the same upgrade in performance. I seemed to suffer an almost miraculous lack of punctures in my youth. I thought nothing of heading out for the day with no spare tub strapped behind my saddle. Though I did use spring wire tyre savers which were supposed to hook out any flints or thorns before they could penetrate the tread. I'm not even sure they can be bought any more. I haven't seen one for decades.
I practically lived on my bike back then and rode flat out everywhere I went. I loved hills and would seek out local 1-in-4s just for the sport. Though turning round on such a steep hill could be fun on a trike! I could pedal incredibly quickly at that time and used this to good effect on any hill which presented itself. My usual bottom gear of 55" seemed perfectly adequate for most slopes. I'd think nothing of riding flat out all afternoon instead of doing field sports. Then ride up and down the big local hills several times in succession after having ridden out to a time trial, competed and then rode the 12 miles back again. Charly Gaul and Federico Bahamontes were my mountain climbing idols from reading library books about the great Tours.
I probably averaged 500 miles a week back in my teens. Often riding close behind (drafting) buses and lorries between cities to save time. Usually with lungs burning on diesel fumes, heart racing and legs whirling at 150 rpm on a 58 x 13 top gear. Happy days! Then I started smoking and lost my form in just a few short weeks. I competed a couple of times at 10 miles but my lungs were already permanently damaged. It took me twenty years to stop smoking again. I probably owe my life to the GP who flatly refused to treat me for yet another lung infection after catching yet another common cold.
The original Higgins-Reynolds 531 seat tube transfer has suffered a bit over the decades but is still legible.
The head tube, on a very wet day, showing the pretty Nervex lugs and brazed-on brake extension bar. This allows a second brake to be mounted in front of the calliper brake on its brazed-on bosses. In this case a centre pull brake is fitted. The bike needs a good wash to remove the grime around the lugs which will improve the colour contrast and make the paintwork sparkle a bit more. I might try car shampoo as it is specifically designed to remove greasy traffic film.Back in my youth I once borrowed a 68T TA chainring for a few days. I quickly found the ratios were just too high to allow me to catch up again after a stop. The gears were also far too high for unpaced downhill racing on the huge hills where I lived. One idiot driver stopped his car and asked me if I were completely mad to have done 65mph downhill in a 30mph speed limit while trying to stay with him! I was lucky not to hit his car from behind as he kept slowing for the corners! The fibrous Mafac (centre pull) brake blocks of the time were completely useless at higher speeds and I wanted him to maintain his speed. Not to keep slowing down and blocking my path! If the brake blocks hadn't instantly glazed against the rims they might have overheated the thin alloy. Possibly risking a tubular tyre roll-off at high speed as the tyre cement melted and lost its adhesive qualities. Ah, the innocence of youth when presented with mortal danger at every turn. :-)
The Higgins "Ultralite" trike in its present guise. I'm still not sure the tri-bars have any place in this context. I only fitted them because they had two gear change levers and cables already in place. Lazy devil! ;-)I will probably return to dropped bars with bar-end gear shifters and more modern brake levers. The triathlon bars just look too out of place on a classic, 1954 trike. They are quite heavy too. I'll have to buy a full set of new cables to change the handlebars, brakes and gears. Despite having a superb pair of Pedros cable cutters the cable ends still fray quite quickly. A ferrule still has to be removed before the cable can be re-threaded through its outer sleeve.
And now in its the latest iteration weighing just 13.5 kg (just under 30lbs) complete with bag, waterproofs, bottle cage and 21 gears. The tri-bars are gone to be replaced with the deepest and widest alloy drops I could find in my collection. They are "engraved" but the tape safely covers such silliness. These bars came with more modern brake levers and I have borrowed the Shimano, bar end, gear change levers from the tri-bars.The Dura-ace rear changer has been replaced with a Shimano ARX with long pulley cage. The TRYKIT gear hanger has been replaced with the hanger which came with the trike. The TRYKIT hanger pushed the changer a long way back. While the original gear hanger puts the gear changer just below the block but rather a long way below the sprockets. I'm still not completely happy with the gear change but will persevere before making more changes.I have plenty of other gear changers to play with if necessary. I understand that there are other superior gear hangers available from Chris Hewitt if I can find out which one I have already.
It's odd how cycling fashions go around. When I was still a keen teenager I set up my first real road bike with 58/44 chainset, a Unica Nitor plastic saddle and Campag bar end shifters. The "experts" at the local cycling clubs told me I ought to change to 52/49 (or similar) with "proper" down-tube levers and a leather saddle. Now all the racing bikes have large and small rings. 53/37 seems popular and bar end levers are used on time trial machines. Hardly anybody uses a leather saddle for racing these days. I fitted triple chainwheels, as soon as I heard about them, simply by using long bolts from the hardware store and thick washers for spacers.
I have discovered that the Shimano bar-end levers use a similar, but more sophisticated, clamping system compared to the Campag levers. If the lever itself is removed from the Shimano lever body there is a hex socket screw to tighten the expansion sleeves to get a nice, firm grip inside the handlebar. I remember the Campag levers had to be inserted then twisted bodily to lock them in place. This often took several attempts before the lever hung straight down and the lever body was really firm. This trick didn't seem to work at all on the Shimano levers until I noticed the hidden screws. Later I discovered that the Campag bar-end shifter also has a hex socket screw for tightening inside the handlebars with an Allen key.
I couldn't afford a new Campag cotterless chainset at 16 so I was talked into the TA professional by the local bike shop owner. What a total piece of crud that TA Professional chainset was! Overpriced crap. The drive side crank had a star form cast onto it with fixing holes for the chainring adaptor. The chainrings themselves fitted onto the outside of the adaptor so they could go easily over a pedal with toe-clips and straps fitted.
One day, as I was sprinting away, uphill, from the traffic lights I nearly went over the handlebars and stabbed my stomach on the handlebar extension. I was in considerable pain and thought the chain had broken! Then I discovered that the cast on star around the TA "Professional" crank had completely sheared off! Examination showed it had been severely undercut on the inside during manufacture. This had produced a paper thin section right at the point of highest stress!
The bike shop where I'd bought it wasn't remotely interested in replacing it despite it being well under a year old. So I had to send it back to the importers Ron Kitching in the post. They refused to replace the crank because I had drilled a ring of small holes in the chainring! Saying that I had modified the crank set. Which was complete nonsense because the crank itself wasn't touched. It was just an incompetent design and even poorer workmanship! I should have posted just the crank back but I was a naive teenager and expected natural justice from a famous ex-cyclist. So two complete arseholes dropped the ball for a timid, 16 year old, cycling-mad teenager. They could easily have passed the broken crank onto TA and received credit but they deliberately chose not to. I felt so badly let down that it still feel angry 45 years later. I still have the mid 60s Ron Kitching catalogue too.
Ron Kitching catalogues - Everything Cycling
I changed to a used Campag chainset and never looked at TA again. Everything about TA was thin and flimsy trash compared with Campag. Even with my skinny 9 stone I could easily flex the TA rings enough to rub constantly on the front changer. I couldn't believe the step up in quality when I went over to Campag chainsets. The Campag cranks were wider but thinner and used a big, five-armed star fixing direct to the rings. The chainrings themselves were almost twice as thick as the TA with much deeper sections for greater stiffness and strength. Of course they were also more expensive than TA. What a shame I hadn't chosen steel, cottered cranks instead!
But back to the present: The Vetta saddle which came with the Higgins trike is actually quite comfortable. Though it certainly doesn't look it! I find it needs a very precise riding position to maximise its skimpy padded comfort to my own particular bone structure. So I find I have to keep sliding backwards to find the sweet spot. I'm trying very hard to resist the temptation to tip the saddle backwards just to ensure a permanently correct seating position. I will persevere for a while to see if I really suit this saddle. I'm finding a 14-15 mile barrier beyond which all my saddles begin to hurt including the battered Brooks. This may be because I'm sitting too upright, of course, but I have to avoid overloading my damaged wrists and lower back which hurts even more! I am wearing proper, padded, racing shorts for my daily rides. I'm not daft enough to wear ordinary clothing with their huge, raised seams at critical parts of my anatomy!
Well, after a few days experience I have to admit this saddle is fine. My nether regions have adjusted to it and now I'm suffering no pain at all up to 20 miles. I haven't tried it with the dropped handlebars yet. I expect to have my pelvic girdle rotated forwards slightly thanks to the longer reach to the dropped bars. I was resting my hands on the elbow pads of the tri-bars most of the time and rarely used the forward extensions except on long downhill runs. This saddle is much flatter and slightly wider than all of others. I found I couldn't even sit on most of them for more than a minute let alone ride on them!
Whatever happened to the musette shoulder bags of my youth? I used to carry tremendous loads of text books and remember having to constantly push the bag back into place. So that it lodged in the small of my back while bent low over dropped handlebars and pedalling hard to keep up with (or overtake) rush hour traffic. Not an easy task and it usually resulted in sweaty patch on my back! A bag hanging out of the way on the back of a trike is a lesson in true practicality.
One rather odd thing I noticed about the Higgins was the rear axle noise on fast downhill runs. There is no noise to speak of until I touch the top tube with my knee. The moment I do so the noise is suddenly amplified remarkably. The first time I descended a long hill on coarse tarmac, with huge gravel, the Higgins was building up speed rapidly. So I instinctively braced my knees against the top tube because of the rough surface. Only to be treated to such a racket it further tested my nerve. That was until I relaxed again and moved my knees away from the top tube when it seemed 30mph was as fast as the trike wanted to to go. Only for the sound to instantly disappear! The Longstaff journal bearings never made any noise but they weren't nearly so fast downhill. I haven't noticed any axle noise (at all) since then.
The track of the Higgins is a couple of inches less than the Longstaff conversion. One wouldn't think this made much difference but the narrower track certainly seems to greatly emphasise road camber. I still can't get used to how light the Higgins feels. Just moving it around in the workshop and outside one notices the huge difference in weight compared with the Longstaff conversion. It is also very free running and tends to "wander away" from any parked position. Far more so than the journal bearing, Longstaff axle.
I am trying to keep the trike frameset in its original condition for as long as possible. While the paint and transfers aren't perfect I have no real desire to strip and repaint it. It does need touching up to avoid the inevitable rust spots. So I shall have to do some careful, enamel colour matching to hide the present damage to the paintwork. I may even try my air brushing skills if a water colour brush doesn't prove successful. Firstly though, I will have to decide on the best gear, brake and handlebar components from my bike parts "junk" collection. No point in getting a nice finish if you start messing up the paintwork by removing and refitting stuff all the time.
The original Higgins head badge of the 1950s.
The tandem, twin front brakes and cable hangers fitted to the replacement dropped bars and extension. The brakes are tremendously powerful compared with those on the Longstaff. I think the aero rim I used on the Longstaff front wheel hadn't very good friction qualities compared with the Mavic sprint rim on the Higgins.It has been quite an eventful week on my training rides. I was attacked by an Alsation wandering without a leash in the lanes. Its owner was 50 yards further up the road quite oblivious to what the dog was doing. Fortunately the rear tyre caught the dog unawares as it lunged to bite my leg! The left rear wheel bumped into the dog and then ran over its foot! It was so surprised it fell onto its back in the long grass on the other side of the lane! I have passed the dog and its owner many times and the dog has never shown any interest until now. The owner did not apologise just shouted at the dog! A lot of the rural farms and houses have dogs running free and they often race across the lawns to try and catch me. Fortunately I can usually sprint out of danger. If there was an obvious risk of being physically attacked I'd have to fight them off with my bicycle pump! I may have to use it on my idiot, neighbour's dog. It regularly runs down the wrong lane of a fast road with blind corners to try and catch me as I come home! Can you imagine yourself letting an aggressive dog out unsupervised on a busy main road? The last time it approached me, with obvious intentions to attack, I roared loudly and it looked surprised. I haven't seen it since so it may have succumbed to the traffic.
I have been struggling with my cycle computer. It kept slipping out of its plastic holder on the handlebars. This morning as I was taking a fast corner it shot right out of its clip and skipped away like a pebble on the road surface. It disappeared straight into the undergrowth not to be found again despite a five minute search. Luckily it was a cheap wired model from the local supermarket.
Now I have my handlebars sorted out I shall try a wireless model I bought some time ago but never used. I have been very grateful for a cycle computer to measure my daily distances. I find it gives me a real incentive to beat my mileage of the previous day. Just when it would be tempting to turn for home I always add an extra mile or two to improve on yesterday's mileage. If I rode more slowly I could cover a much greater distance. But I haven't lost the urge from my youth of riding just below my stamina limits. I use much more energy this way but it gives a greater sense of satisfaction and my fitness is increasing rapidly. Fortunately I don't have any real excess weight to lose. Familiar hills which once required a low gear can now be attacked on the big chainring and the momentum maintained at a high cadence over the summit on the middle ring.
At 45 I used to climb a formidable, mountain pass for morning exercise on my daily bike ride. Then ride back up the, even steeper, other side on my way back home! I doubt I could manage it without stopping for breath today. I run out of breath before I get too tired to pedal further. Twenty years of smoking can never be undone even if it was over twenty years ago when I finally gave up for good. I don't ever have to stop and rest but it still limits my speed on longer hills. My hope is that I can eventually recover some of my lost wind if I keep training harder every day. I shall regret smoking that first cigarette for as long as I live. I see young teenagers smoking and want to shout at them for their stupidity but they'd only think me a crazy old lunatic! If only they knew that they stink like foul, old, unwashed ashtrays from several yards away they might be tempted to give up before it kills them. What a truly revolting, wasteful and dangerous habit to be cursed with!
I should add at this point that my "wind" has returned beyond all expectation thanks to pushing myself hard for several hundred miles a month on the Higgins. The sheer pleasure of riding such a light and responsive machine has meant more miles on the clock and fewer excuses about the weather.
A large range of Higgins trike spares are available from Chris Hewitt Cycles of Harpenden, Herts. He doesn't appear to have an online presence. (very sensible too given the time which can be wasted in such activities) He also keeps a historical record of Higgins trikes and is author to some other inexpensive publications on trikes. The illustrated Higgins Registry records the history of Higgins and lists frame numbers and details, build date and their present owners. If you have a Higgins trike and haven't registered your trike yet then do get in touch with him. He may be able to tell you more about your trike than you know already. The Higgins frame number is stamped on the underside of the bottom bracket shell and also hidden on the fork steerer tube. When I rang Chris I found him a friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable chap.
His telephone number and long list of Higgins spares can be found on the Tricycle Association website:
http://www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/HigginsSpares.html
Some weights and dimensions of my 1954 Higgins 'Ultralite' trike:
21 gears using Suntour ARX changers and 13-23T Shimano cassette.
Shimano triple chainset with 48-38-28 steel rings.
Bare (roadworthy) trike with Vetta SL saddle 14.1kg = 31lbs.
Bare trike, Brooks Professional saddle 14.5kg = 32 lbs.
Bare trike, Brooks Pro and full water bottle 15kg =33 lbs.
Bare, Brooks Pro, bottle & bag including tools & spare tube 17kg= 37.4lbs.
Brooks Pro, 3 mudguards, 27 gears, new chainset 14 kg = 31lbs.(weighed 22-2-12) ???
Will have to check this weight!
Higgins original stays and pair of rear plastic mudguards 1.15kg = 2.5lbs.
Track 23.25"
Maximum width over wheel nuts= 27.5"
Wheelbase 39.5"
Seat tube BB-centre to top of tube 22"
Top tube length c to c = 22.75"
Bottom Bracket height 9.5"
The Brooks Professional is about 3 times the weight of the Vetta SL.
Try reloading the page to ensure you are seeing the latest edition.
All images may be clicked for a larger version but may be up to 300kB.
Back click to return to the text.
*
