Coffee?

hmm, yeah... think so... Or rather, think I saw it on the internet somewhere... an interview with Eddie F in which a copy of that bike ad is displayed, and Eddie comments only on what a mistake that was, both for himself and also that whole bike company as a concept. Something like, "...what a total POS that bike was, I think they sold like one, and then went broke..." Don't know if that helps you at all. Good luck anyway.

What is the diameter of the central mounting hole on spiders, where they mount on the bb spindle? Apparently there are two different sizes; on some one-piece cranks it is said to be 15/16", which makes 23.8 mm. (I have one on my bike, but it isn't worth the work to take it apart) Are they different on different makers?

Yeah... In a way it was old news and new news. I was the only guy I knew who had them BITD. They were held in very high regard. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the drive side crank arm had SPLIT down the middle, like splitting a matchstick. And it wasn't from abuse; I was a seriously soft rider at the time. (now years later, I realize some jerk at the factory (or wherever they were made ) did a no-good job of welding / grinding it. Or forgot to weld it altogether. Sent the whole crankset back to Hutch. Months later, they sent me two new crank arms. Nothing else. More months later they sent the rest. Now, in modern-day internet news, all I hear about is spindles breaking. Which, in my now grown-up and engineering-inclined mind, suggests a twofold error, in both engineering and execution. The spindle should have a much larger radius around the hex / wedge juncture-- corners like that are an invitation to fatigue and cracking. Secondly, the heat treatment and tempering performed seems to have been out of whack. It takes a LOT to break a piece of metal that big, regardless of type. Provided of course, that it is properly heat-treated. (y'all got crescent wrenches at home, right? They have serious corners, and are half as big. You rarely see them break) Well, that about that, then. .

Ah... And that's why they called it Black Chrome in the advertisements.

In the beginning, Hutch racers were only offered in two colors- chrome and black, that smoked chrome sort of black. Didn't see a lot of them then, and fewer now. Where are they? Are they just not out there, or are they hoarded in secret collections? Also, the Trickstars were eventually offered in black as well. Was that a regular powdercoated black, or the same smoked chrome kind of black as the racers? .

Yeah, nice find. I scored my third* set of Aerospeeds a while back. Maybe I can go pick them up today and see what they're all about. Something tells me there will be a lot of polishing involved. Now all I need are some my third set of Hutch pedals and a third Trick Star frame to match the cranks... About the Aerospeeds though... where the heck are all the discs? The cranks all came with discs, but it seems that most got lost along the way. Except for one. Oh well- put that on the list too. *in my entire life, not just this week.

Where can I find a good-quality, high resolution Hutch Hi-Performance BMX logo suitable for printing? I want to make a poster and stuff. Not very big, like 6 x 8 inches or so. 8 x 11 maybe. Anybody?

Holy smokes, what have I started... A few loose thoughts and look what it got me into. DMG nailed it though; my mistake-- that's an upside-down R all right, took me a while to see it. ( funny though, all day today I've been walking around wondering to myself how the machinist managed to get a dimple on the wrong end of the part) Still though, the other stuff stands true. About using specific details to determine authenticity not really being accurate. Things change; variations occur. Now, what about the Hutch pedals with titanium spindles? I had two sets of Hutch pedals, one of the Titron Beartrap and the other Hutch Pro like in the pics above. Now, years later I sincerely doubt that either were titanium. Yet the magazine ads sometimes claimed so. So, anybody got a magnet? Go check. Ti is completely non-magnetic. Koo Man, what up with those aluminum spindles? How'd that happen? 401Flight, thanks for the heads-up. Duly noted.

No... With all due respect to the experts and expertise in this forum, sometimes it goes a little too far. That dimple there is a tool mark left by the lathe on the bar which was used to produce the preceding piece. Small errors like this are normal in production, and definitely normal for Hutch, whose quality control and continuity of production program was maybe not the best. I have no idea about this particular pair of pedals, by the way, and do not know the seller. What I meant was that details considered to be the basis of factual representation leave no room for mundane error. Like this as an example... All genuine Hutch frames are stamped on the brake plate (no, some dummy at the factory must've forgotten mine) All GHPs have good welding (no, a trainee welded that one) All Those top tubes are so-and-so thick (no, not if they ran out at the factory and used such-and-such instead) All Pro-Stars had TIG welded handlebars (no, mine didn't. Somebody grabbed the wrong ones off the shelf) See what I mean? Not at all dissin' you DMG; it was very sharp-eyed of you to notice that detail. Nice pedals though. I ought to bid. Rgds, Coffee? Former lurker just come out of the dark and really liking this forum.