i just picked up a pair of hutch pedals and in between the cage and pedal their is a plastic piece to save the cages from bending. i have never seen them before . looks like a good idea but how come nobody uses them.

those came out later on - after the "Dark Times" and move to taiwan. they carried over into the "Hutchins" era, also (which were still taiwanese made).

Most probably thought it wasn't cool to keep them on the bike so off they went, along with the chain guard and reflectors.

can you tell the different types of hutch or are they all the same