Hobbs of Barbican frame & forks is made with Reynolds 531 tubing. Frame number 'C71203' is stamped on the left hand rear dropout, (this dates it to March 1947). The frame colour is 'Jet black'. Fitted with the original Bayliss Wiley bottom bracket & original rare 'Lytaloy' headset...
The frame has been refurbished and new decals added by original owner.
Measurements are as follows:
Top tube/cross bar centre-to-centre 57cm (Actual length between lugs 54cm) / Crank to seat tube centre-to-centre 57cm / Rear stays spacing 115mm / Forks spacing 90mm.
It's a beautiful bike ! I have a Hobbs, same colour paintjob so it looks very similar to your's.
ReplyDeleteMy father bought the bike from Hobbs and he remembers being allowed into the workshop to "help" when he was a youth. I seem to remember he told me that one of the Hobbs brothers walked very awkwardly but he was the one highly skilled at frame building and brazing. He talked about introducing just the right amount of tension into the frame tubes prior to brazing them into their lugs to achieve the race winning frame design and build for which Hobbs are legendary. My father has died and I am now the proud owner of the bike. [frame number 2187]
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