I only just realised that at the start of this month (1st October) the real Harry Quinn passed away. I'm not going to claim I've ever met or that I'd even heard of Harry Quinn before I made a punt on a rather tired looking track bike that I liked the look of whilst skimming through flea-bay back in 2004. But since then I've gone on to build a bit of a mythical relationship with both the bike, and, in a way- the man. From never even having heard of Harry, I've learned he was the builder for Reg Harris, the tutor to Terry Dolan, and, by the sounds of it, an all round good guy to all in the Merseyside area. But funnily enough, I'd never seen a picture of him until I saw his obituary (picture- far left). And what do you know, he actually bears a resemblence to another hero of mine- Le Coubusier. An 'architect of the workshop' seems like a nice way to think of him in my mind.
I guess his passing away is a further nail in the coffin of the UK bike industry but hopefully he is in some way approving of my attempt to bring my Harry into the 21st Century with his latest lick of paint. I kept the logo on the chain stay as a little nod, but I rather like this quote from his on-line obituary.
1963 Interview during Tour de France
"What are these continental bikes like?"
"Dunno. Mine's an old Harry Quinn with the name painted over."
http://www.veloriders.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=87078&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
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