Believe it or not, Australia has a long list of artisan and trade frame builders. Lying at a midpoint between the two is the name of Hillman Cycles, a Melbourne, Australia institution founded in 1946. Henry Hill passed the management of the shop and frame building business to his son Barry, and you could only hazard a guess s to how many frames the family has produced in that time.
Andy Rogers, a very talented Melburn photographer, shot these images of Eugene’s Hillman Pista, apparently secured from a neighbor’s garage for a ‘couple of hundred’. Those were the days. Designed around ‘fag-paper clearances’, Eugene has kept the component list relatively era-correct, updating the wheel set for a pair of Miche Pistard tubbys. One feature of Hillman frames produced during the mid 80s that have always appealed to me is the ‘Magic Roundabout’ style logotype. Maybe a typophile out there knows the name of the font used, if so, could they mention it in the comments? Keep an eye on Andy’s tumblr, Fame & Spear, for more beautiful photography.
PS: Voting is still open for the 2011 Crank World Cycling Blog Honors and Directory. The Spoken has been nominated in the Lifestyle category. If you like what we do, take a moment to click us a vote.
