The Passing of Two Paul Hewitt Bicycles
February 2025
As they set off for Pickering in North Yrkshire, our two Paul Hewitt bicycles begin the last of their many journeys with us and for us
As they set off for Pickering in North Yrkshire, our two Paul Hewitt bicycles begin the last of their many journeys with us and for us
We have finally decided to switch permanently to the two electric bikes we bought at the end of 2018, having already ridden them for more than 11,000 miles. Our 40-year-long attachment to a series of traditional trans-continental touring bikes has come to an end, although time has been kinder to them than it has to us!
So we are looking for a good home for our two touring bikes, the ‘Hewitts’ as we call them since they were built for us by Paul Hewitt, master bicycle engineer in his Leyland shop and workshop. Leyland’s famous buses and trucks now feature in the town’s vehicle museum, whereas the bicycle has yet to take its rightful place in this country’s transport history (although it will).
The very full story of the Hewitts from their beginning is on our website, as is the story of our transition to the electric bikes. The latter have 28 innovatory (to us) features, such as 8 electronically-shifted hub gears and hydraulically-operated disk brakes, but their main advantage is the graded assistance to pedalling given by a 250-watt (maximum) crank-drive Shimano motor. With that help when needed we can still complete the kind of rides the Hewitts did, at least until the battery runs out!
The Paul Hewitt Touring Bicycles
Our 33 Greatest Bicycle Rides
The Transition to Volt Infinity Electric Bikes
Please let us know if you would like, or know someone who would like, to be gifted one or both of the Hewitt bicycles. They have very many miles left in them for every kind of use from shopping to commuting, from riding for pleasure and/or fitness to crossing continents. Delivery could be arranged. They would come with Brooks leather saddles, 27 derailleur gears, handlebar bag supports with bags, rear pannier frames, a full-size fitted pump, spare inner tubes and the fitted 700 x 35C Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres.
Otherwise we will donate them to the Sue Ryder Bicycle Workshop who, together with HM Prison Service, “have created a purposeful working environment where prison inmates are encouraged to learn and achieve a qualification in bicycle mechanics. At the same time, we are also reducing waste by up-cycling or renovating donated bikes to sell in our shops.” That would be serving two good causes at once. Who knows, we might need Sue Ryder’s other services one day.
So we are looking for a good home for our two touring bikes, the ‘Hewitts’ as we call them since they were built for us by Paul Hewitt, master bicycle engineer in his Leyland shop and workshop. Leyland’s famous buses and trucks now feature in the town’s vehicle museum, whereas the bicycle has yet to take its rightful place in this country’s transport history (although it will).
The very full story of the Hewitts from their beginning is on our website, as is the story of our transition to the electric bikes. The latter have 28 innovatory (to us) features, such as 8 electronically-shifted hub gears and hydraulically-operated disk brakes, but their main advantage is the graded assistance to pedalling given by a 250-watt (maximum) crank-drive Shimano motor. With that help when needed we can still complete the kind of rides the Hewitts did, at least until the battery runs out!
The Paul Hewitt Touring Bicycles
Our 33 Greatest Bicycle Rides
The Transition to Volt Infinity Electric Bikes
Please let us know if you would like, or know someone who would like, to be gifted one or both of the Hewitt bicycles. They have very many miles left in them for every kind of use from shopping to commuting, from riding for pleasure and/or fitness to crossing continents. Delivery could be arranged. They would come with Brooks leather saddles, 27 derailleur gears, handlebar bag supports with bags, rear pannier frames, a full-size fitted pump, spare inner tubes and the fitted 700 x 35C Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres.
Otherwise we will donate them to the Sue Ryder Bicycle Workshop who, together with HM Prison Service, “have created a purposeful working environment where prison inmates are encouraged to learn and achieve a qualification in bicycle mechanics. At the same time, we are also reducing waste by up-cycling or renovating donated bikes to sell in our shops.” That would be serving two good causes at once. Who knows, we might need Sue Ryder’s other services one day.
Margaret’s Hewitt in Glyn Ceiriog in North Wales
Barry’s Hewitt fully-loaded in Gerolimenas near the Southernmost Point of the Greek Mainland
The Two Hewitts together on the edge of the Ionian Sea in the Greek Peloponnese
Margaret with our two E-bikes in Arctic Finland at the Northernmost Point of the European Union. Norway is in the background, just through the completely open border.