Harry Quinn bike - novice buyer looking for advice

[themightyw]

Hi folks

I've been keen for a while now to buy an authentic Harry Quinn frame for family nostalgia reasons. I've seen a number coming up on eBay but they're usually the wrong size, and this week one's come up that does look to be the right dimensions for me:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0693747490

However I know you need to be cautious with Quinn bikes since later models were made abroad or pale imitations of Harry's own bikes.

I'm not too bothered about the components since (GASP!) I'm afraid I'm not looking to do a historical restoration job. Rather that I would like to rebuild the frame as my daily all weather bike, but since I recently found out that Harry is a relative I'd love to have one of his frames.

Does this listing look like a 'vintage' Quinn or a more modern fob off? Apologies, I'm very much a novice so any advice appreciated.

 

[keithglos]

Not an expert on Harry Quinn, but it looks genuine 1960's (possible 70's) to me. And its in its home town. I would like to see a closer view of the seat lug / seat stay top eyes rear brake bridge, bottom bracket etc.

 

[themightyw]

Interesting! So probably reynolds 531 or similar?

 

[keithglos]

Not worth a local shop building their own with anything less. Still possible to buy cheaper production frames for own transfers, but this doesn't look like it from the little I can see.

 

[mavesyn]

Looked at this earlier on, and i'm not sure, this is a proper Quinn.
He seems to be very vague about the serial number, and all frames made by Harry or his son, the serial number begins with a letter Q, in fact its a 0 with a number 1 stamped across the corner of the 0, to make it look like a Q.
So it's a bit of a risk to buy it, without seeing it. You could ask for a picture of the bottom bracket.

 

[Old Ned]

I could be very wrong but it looks to me like one of the bikes sold with HQ transfers on by the company that bought HQ's business when Harry retired (Townsend??). They were typical gas-pipe 'cheapo' jobs that were mass produced and sold by lots of shops and own-branded. A friend had one and it was nothing special. It made me quite angry to see the HQ name being downgraded so badly.

However, as stated above, I could be wrong with this one but make certain first.

 

[themightyw]

Ah well I asked for a photo a while ago, but have yet to receive one so I think I'll leave well alone.

My search continues! One day, perhaps!

Thanks for all your help, guys.