Soensport or Soens Brothers Name Transfer

[Bill Soens]

thank you for that information. Bill.

 

[dan_bo]

Hello all. Nice to read all the above. My name is Bill Soens - 75 year old son of the late Eddie Soens and I owned the bike shop in Boaler St, Liverpool.

Sorry to advise the person who is looking for Eddie Soens or SoenSport transfers but I simply ran out of them and didn't renew when I closed the shop down in the mid 60's.

For your information there were three Soens bike shops - all of who were independent of the others. I built almost all of my own frames- it was only within the last five years that I threw away my old jigs. I did buy in a small number of italian cheap frames in the rough but not more than fifteen and I built over 800. If you look under the bottom bracket you should see a 3 digit number from 001 to over 800. If you can't see it then It isn't one of mine.

Soens Bros ltd was run by two uncles - Tommy and Dougie - both of whom were painters and decorators. Neither built a single frame in their life - most of their frames were Holdsworth and painted/badged Soens Bros or Tommy Soens. The famous picture of Tommy Simpson on a Tommy Soens was almost certainly a Holdsworth.


It is still going on - nothing wrong in it.

Jim Soens had his shop in Lower Breck Rd Liverpool 6. He built all his own bikes but whether Peter Matthews carried on this I cannot say.

C and G finishes were superb and were able to hand-write the names on frames. Whether they can still do this I don't know. I am going back fifty years. Best of luck. Bill Soens

Err wow!

Hiya!

Whaddya mean you THREW AWAY THE JIGS?

 

[Bill Soens]

Simple. No longer had any use for them; they couldn't be used for anything other than older steel frames with older specifications etc. No good for Carbon fibre or alloy etc. I'm a widower in my twilight years and someone is going to have to clear all my years of junk away, so I took them and many other things to the tip !

 

[Bill Soens]

Further to the above and before anyone jumps up and down shouting "sacrilege", the jigs were not expensive Campag or Var but "home-made" by the late Aussie Hurlen and had rusted away in my garage for forty years ! When I was writing for the now defunct magazine "International Cycle Sport" I visited a number of builders when I was doing bike tests and I saw jigs far better than I had ever had, particularly in Harry Hall and Terry Dolan's businesses. The final outcome bikes were no better, but the manufacture must have been far easier.

 

[bobg]

May I echo everyone elses thanks for your contributions here Bill, it really is greatly appreciated.
All the very best and thanks for the info about my Soens
Bob

 

[Red Rose]

Bill,
It's been fascinating to read your stories, so thank you for contributing. I'm also new to this forum and have a Soens frame - at least that's what the decals state, and they look to have been there a long time. In the past, a previous owner has stuck your dad's name on the down tube in vinyl lettering, so it must be someone who was a fan of his or knew of him. I've posted some photos in the newbie section, but to save you looking, here are a couple.

The frame has some quite nicley shaped lugs, AGRATI fork ends and dropouts, but no frame number under the bottom bracket. It's a long shot, but perhaps you could shed some light on its origins.I hope so.

best regards to you

Steve

 

[Bill Soens]

Bill,
It's been fascinating to read your stories, so thank you for contributing. I'm also new to this forum and have a Soens frame - at least that's what the decals state, and they look to have been there a long time. In the past, a previous owner has stuck your dad's name on the down tube in vinyl lettering, so it must be someone who was a fan of his or knew of him. I've posted some photos in the newbie section, but to save you looking, here are a couple.

The frame has some quite nicley shaped lugs, AGRATI fork ends and dropouts, but no frame number under the bottom bracket. It's a long shot, but perhaps you could shed some light on its origins.I hope so.

best regards to you

Steve

Hello Steve.

Thank you for your request and sorry for the delay. Sorry to advise you that this is definitely not an Eddie Soens and there is a conflict with the two names/transfers but I note that you say that someone has fitted their own vinyl lettering on the down tube.

Both the head tube and seat tube indicate that this was built by Jim Soens of Lower Breck Rd, Liverpool 6. These are original transfers without doubt and it is not unreasonable to assume that it is an authentic "Soens" -( i.e. Jim Soens, not Eddie Soens) with certain reservations. Also I never, ever, put pump pegs under the top tube - just about the worst place you can put them.

The lugs are Nervex but not filed down that much which would have been a little unusual for Jim Soens - he did taper them in a bit more than that. Tacking the seat stays on to the seat lug without curving the top eyes is not Jim Soens style either - so it is not impossible that we have a bought-in frame in the rough and then having it badged, but this doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with it in any way. There is no proof of anything now of course. The only 100% guarantee is that it is not an Eddie Soens. I certainly didn't build this frame. Cheers. Bill Soens

 

[BJH]

Wow that brings back memories. I remember being smitten by a Jim Soens bike that a friend of my brother had in a beautiful dark green. He had bought it used and had it fixed up at the shop (I suspect I would have been 9 or 10 so around 1971 or so)
I was then bought my first 5 gear racer which was a "Kerry Clasique" in a burnt orange colour. Fixing this up over the next couple of years seemed to involve needing to spend lots of time in the Jim Soens shop or Harry Quinns.
That green bike was given away to a friend of mine when the owner bought an unheard of 10 speed bike and I was as jealous as hell!!!!
Those shops were absolutely fascinating as a kid, the Harry Quinn frames seemed to be in every colour under the sun, what I would have given for one of those bikes in my early teens.

 

[Paddy Lloyd]

Hello all. Nice to read all the above. My name is Bill Soens - 75 year old son of the late Eddie Soens and I owned the bike shop in Boaler St, Liverpool.

Sorry to advise the person who is looking for Eddie Soens or SoenSport transfers but I simply ran out of them and didn't renew when I closed the shop down in the mid 60's.

For your information there were three Soens bike shops - all of who were independent of the others. I built almost all of my own frames- it was only within the last five years that I threw away my old jigs. I did buy in a small number of italian cheap frames in the rough but not more than fifteen and I built over 800. If you look under the bottom bracket you should see a 3 digit number from 001 to over 800. If you can't see it then It isn't one of mine.

Soens Bros ltd was run by two uncles - Tommy and Dougie - both of whom were painters and decorators. Neither built a single frame in their life - most of their frames were Holdsworth and painted/badged Soens Bros or Tommy Soens. The famous picture of Tommy Simpson on a Tommy Soens was almost certainly a Holdsworth.

It is still going on - nothing wrong in it.

Jim Soens had his shop in Lower Breck Rd Liverpool 6. He built all his own bikes but whether Peter Matthews carried on this I cannot say.

C and G finishes were superb and were able to hand-write the names on frames. Whether they can still do this I don't know. I am going back fifty years. Best of luck. Bill Soens

 

[Paddy Lloyd]

Bill Soens,
I still have in my garage, a 1959/69 EDDIE SOENS TT BIKE, originally in orange, but changed to white,orange lustre & chrome because the gear hanger broke off, in1961. Will have to dig out and find the frame number

 

[ceepeebee]

This thread is pretty much everything that's right about the Internet. Thanks Bill

 

[bjellys]

Bill Soens

You can walk past people in the street and never know the knowledge they carry, thank you for this post it is one of the best I have seen on here.

 

[Norman Thomas]

Wow - how all these comments take me back! I rode an Eddie Soens frame back in the late 60's. I bought it as a complete bike - painted silver - and had it re-enammelled bright yellow by C&G Finishes (great to see the references to their superb work). I and a close schoolfriend used to spend our Saturday mornings riding to all the Liverpool bike shops to see what frames they had in, ogle at the latest Campag equipment, and buy a new copy of the Holdsworthy Rider's Aids catalogue when it came out. This was before I had the Soens bike - and was riding an old frame - re-enammelled Flamboyant Plum (as a Christmas present from my parents) by C&G to make it look presentable but I couldn't afford transfers or any other "extras" at C&G. It was fitted with begged and borrowed parts. I rode a 52-tooth Stronglight chain wheel with a 12 tooth fixed gear and a single front brake. I didn't have the money for gears and the 12 tooth sprocket was the cheapest you could buy. I rode that bike to school for 5 years before a part-time job allowed me to buy the (second-hand) Soens. Our Saturday morning schoolboy rides took us to Walvale and Harry Quinn on Walton Vale, then up to the other Harry Quinn shop on County Road. From there we would ride to (I think) Pete Matthews shop in Lower Breck Road and then to Quinn Brothers on Edge Lane, and Soens in Boaler Street on the way home. I also remember stopping at another shop on Rice Lane (I think) that sold Bob Jackson frames. They were happy times.

 

[Bill Soens]

Interesting nostalgia above but I think Mr Thomas may have his dates slightly wrong on one point only. When I closed down Eddie Soens Cycles in mid to late 1960's my Uncle Jim (Jim Soens cycles) was still in existence. It was until a little later that Peter Matthews took over the business. Don't know the business on Rice Lane, sorry. Are you absolutely sure that you used a 52x12 gear ? This would have given you a 117 inch gear which Chris Hoy would have difficulty in moving !

 

[uphillstruggler]

Simple. No longer had any use for them; they couldn't be used for anything other than older steel frames with older specifications etc. No good for Carbon fibre or alloy etc. I'm a widower in my twilight years and someone is going to have to clear all my years of junk away, so I took them and many other things to the tip !

unbelievable! what a shame.

Bill it is a pleasure to hear these stories, thanks for your memories