A BRIEF HISTORY OF HARRY HALL CYCLES

We were established in 1954 by Harry Hall, himself an enthusiastic cyclist. Harry started to built up the business in Hyde Road Manchester, but did however have very limited capital. At times he would keep the boxes from something he had sold, so he could put the empty boxes back on the shelves to make the shop look more stocked!
Harry had gained reputation as arguably the top British mechanic of his era, from some of the World's most prestigious races such as the Tour de France, the Tour of Mexico, the Peace Race and major events in the UK calendar, such as the Leeds Classic. In 1967 Tour de France Harry was mechanic to the British racing cyclist Tom Simpson, who on the 13th July died in a tragic but glorious attempt to do what no Briton has done before - to win the Tour de France.
Harry, and the shop, became famous for providing a neutral service vehicle. It was often spotted at top UK events and the little mini proved to be a reliable vehicle for the task. It has been said that Harry's mini was an inspiration for a rather famous film from 1968
In 1969 we moved into Cathedral Street . Harry Hall's was one of the first shops to move into the town centre location. Our importation of rare, and much sought after equipment & clothing , saw our reputation spread both within the UK and abroad.  
In the late 70's Manchester produced some of the best road riders in the country.  Harry Hall's is proud of what they acheived and glad to have been associated with them on their route to success.
 
From left to right;
Jeff Willaims - Milk Race rider, National HIll climb champion
Paul Sherwen - Tour De France rider and now cycling TV commentator
John Herety - National Professional Champion, later became head of Road Racing at the BCF.
Graham Jones - Tour de France rider
Brian Pownall - Milk Race rider
 
Other riders from the era included Mike Williams & Ian Binder
In 1997 Cycle Sport said that Robert Millar is probably the best rider Britain has ever produced. The Glaswegian was sponsored by Harry Halls just prior to him going to France in 1979 to ride for Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt (ACBB). He won the French 'Best Amateur' Trophy in his first year there and went professional with the Peugeot team the following year. He remains the only UK rider to hold the Tour de France King of the Mountains title and jersey.
In 1987 we moved around the corner into an 8,000 sq foot showroom. Our popular Hanging Ditch premises had a very modern retailing style, being one of the first shops to use the now popular slot-wall type of shop display. Shortly afterwards mountain bikes exploded on to the scene and we were one of the shops to pioneer this new form of cycling.
In 1989 Harry, now 60, decided he wanted to concentrate on what he had preached for the last 32 years.  Handing the keys over to Graham was easy as it now meant he'd have more time to - go racing.

Not wanting to take retirement in the slow lane, later that  year Harry won both the British National & World Age related Championship earning himself the right to wear the famous rainbow striped jersey.  The following year at the Masters Games he won the road race and got a gold & silver on the track.  He was the 'man to beat'

He can be seen here with Nigel Bishop, in the Milk Race leader's Jersey. Nigel worked for us at the time & was part of the Great Britain 'A' team in the late 80's and early 90's.  He held the 'race leaders jersey' for 4 days on a Harry Hall bike, not bad for a man who worked full time!.

 
 On a spring morning in 1990 Harry agreed to take a good friends 12 year old daughter out for a introductory ride around the Cheshire lanes. 40 miles & one crash later she was smitten with cycling.  Frightened her father would not let her go out again she asked Harry not to tell him she had fallen off!

Oh how things have changed.  Emma Davies is now one of Britain's medal hopeful's on the international stage.  She has just returned from the Athens Olympic games where she came 12th in the points race & 7th in the pursuit improving her personal best time by 2/12 seconds.
On Saturday 15 June 1996, at a peak shopping time on Father's Day, a 3,000lb IRA bomb exploded in Manchester. The staff at the shop were only evacuated about 20 minutes prior to the blast, which was fortunate as the shop and much of its stock were devastated in the blast. In the following days we had limited time to salvage what stock was worth keeping before the site was closed off.
Following the bomb, the shop briefly relocated to Eccles, but this proved to be a turbulent and difficult time for us. On one particular day following a ram-raid, we were serving customers as snow blew through the front of the building! Shortly after we returned to central Manchester and opened a large shop on the corner of Lever Street and Dale Street.
Redevelopment yet again forced us from a popular location and in 2000 we moved to our present premises, just down the road from the Hacienda on Whitworth Street West. This popular location has recreated the Aladdin's Cave feel and offers easy access and parking outside.
We were  involved in the Commonwealth Games, providing neutral service equipment and mechanics for the Road Race which was held on a challenging course in Rivington and the Triathlon which ran on a course which took competitors from Salford Quays into Manchester city centre and back.
During the Commonwealth Games we were also involved in helping the Kenyan team get a generous sponsorship package from Specialized. The African riders gained much notoriety after they were caught on a training ride on the Motorway and had to be escorted off by the Police.

Cycle Legend Harry Hall dies aged 78

Harry gave a lot to the sport he loved.  It gave him countless hours of pleasure, many great experiences and accolades.  He always said 'he was fortunate to have been able to make a business out of his hobby'

He will be sadly missed but warmly remembered.

       
Harry with some of his trophies
Vets World Road race champion1986 & 1989.  Master Games 1989, gold on the road, 2 silvers & a bronze on the track
Providing free neutral race service on most UK national events