I first came across this bicycle on ebay in 2011. It was listed as a buy-it-now for £2000 in N.W England. I didn’t have £2000, so someone else bought it. As you can see in the article above, the buyer dismantled it and posted pictures in News & Views magazine a year later asking what it was. Many years passed, but I always remembered that X frame bicycle, and regretted not being able to buy it.
Roll on 14 years, and in January, 2025, I was visiting vintage bicycle friends in Jakarta, Indonesia, to attend a rally. My pals Fahmi, Erri and Yohanes were all staying in the same hotel so on Saturday morning Fahmi drove us to a durian stall as he’d heard I like durian. (See below). Yummy. On the way back he said I could tether my iPhone to his in order to access the internet. Once connected, I looked on facebook and saw a post with a link to ebay. It was the same bicycle! This time, the buy-it-now was £850. I didn’t hesitate. One minute I was driving through Jakarta traffic in the heat and the next minute I’d bought a fantastic bicycle back in England that I’d not seen for over a decade. As they say, it’s a small world. Everyone in the car loved the bike, and were as surprised as I was about what had just happened.
I recognized the chainwheel as a Hopper. I already knew that between 1907 and 1910 Hopper advertised bicycles with unusual frame designs. You can see them further down the page: a Girder frame, a Truss-bridge frame, plus two X frames, a ‘Duplex’ and one with the Components Ltd patent design. Hopper of Barton-on-Humber was in its prime at this time, with a healthy export market as well as good sales at home. Their advertising declared them to be “The largest emporium for cycle accessories in the world.” They had started selling imported NSUs in 1903, followed by their own brand Torpedo motorcycles with Precision engines. Their automobiles were also called ‘Torpedos’ which were built from kits provided by the Star Eng Co. Brown Brothers also supplied them with complete cars. In 1910, they bought the remains of Elswick of Newcastle.
The Duplex X frame was introduced in 1908. It was similar to the New Imperial Girplex and received a lot of publicity. In my opinion the diamond tubed X frame featured here would have been built before that, and was Hopper’s exhibition model, a one-off that would attract potential customers at cycle displays and shows. Before being superseded by the Duplex, it would have been ideal for a Hopper agent’s shop window display.
Back to my ebay purchase: the seller told me her husband would be working for a few days near Heathrow after I got back from Indonesia, and could bring the bicycle down south with him, so I arranged to meet him there. After loading the bicycle in my van, I asked how his wife had come to own it. He told me his wife’s dad had passed away and she had been selling some of his bicycles (the rest went to an Elswick-Hopper museum that will open soon in Barton-on-Humber). I asked the father’s name, and was surprised to find out it was Nigel Land.
Of course, it made sense: Nigel was the VCC marque enthusiast for Elswick and Hopper. Until he sadly passed away last year, I chatted to him on the phone for many years about bicycles, but I never knew that he had bought this machine. As I already remarked, it’s a small world, and I’m happy …after 14 years… to be able to present this lovely bicycle to the world again in all its glory (and with the addition of a Pattisson Hygienic saddle). I’ve dedicated this museum page to Nigel RIP.
EATING DURIAN IN JAKARTA. January, 2015
1907 F Hopper X Frame
Components Ltd Patent
Exhibition Model with Diamond frame tubes and triangular forks and stays
24″ Frame
28″ Wheels
Hopper pattern D16 5 screw Chainwheel
Pattisson Hygienic saddle
Dover Exonite Covered handlebar with Gooseneck stem
The unique Exhibition model Hopper X frame is in excellent restored condition and ready to ride. I hope one day to find out who restored it.
1910 ORIENT GIRPLEX X FRAME
With the popularity of X frames prior to World War One, many companies marketed them.
The Components Ltd X frame patent design was the cheapest for a company to buy for resale, both as a frame and to turn into a complete bicycle. Renouf’s patent was more elaborate. While Royal Winchester and Hopper produced a more basic version, New Imperial and Orient built theirs with duplex rear stays and forks, as you can see in this photo.
TO SEE THE
1910 ORIENT GIRPLEX X FRAME
PLEASE CLICK HERE
This museum page is dedicated to Nigel Land, collector of and marque enthusiast for Elswick and Hopper bicycles, and to Fred Hopper, founder of the company and managing director.
RIP.
