A few years ago, Eddie Albert sold me an Andy Hamel, which gave me another 30 miles of fixed gear pleasure today. The Hamel is becoming one of my favorite bikes.
Hamel was a local Long Island builder. My frameset is fillet-brazed or lugless, as all of his might have been. Very light weight, and feels "light" when ridden. Dates back to about 1950. but much nicer steering than my Ephgrave of that era. The bracket is not threaded, but takes a Bayliss Wiley "unit" bb, the precursor of today's cartridge bearings.
She's built up with a chromed sliding stem, Stronglight 5-pin cranks, inch-pitch, and wheels with the 3-piece Campy HF hubs. A sweet bike, in her bright red powdercoat. The right color, judging from the steerer, but the "LIWA" (long island wheelmen association) on the seat tube and the signature on the top tube are conjectural. But nicely done.
Thank you, Eddie, and hope you'll see her at Cirque.
harvey sachs
mcLean va.