Hobbs of Barbican

A London brand of brothers aimed squarely at British club folk

The Hobbs of Barbican brand started life around 1930 thanks to Albert and Joe Hobbs. They specialised in innovative frames, superbly made with high-quality metals. The two brothers were skilled marketers too, recognising the clubman rider as their key customer. In 1936 the ‘Continental’ was introduced as a top-tier model, which featured double-tapered seatstays and straighttapered chainstays, making for a light, rigid back end.

This was paired with their ‘TF oval fork’ which used specially butted tubing. These pre-war bikes were well built and expensive, but they offered real performance advantages over rivals.

In addition, the use of chrome sections and fancy paint finishes made them very desirable. Hobbs also produced racing tandems as well as singles, in particular the Raceweight and Superbe models, which also proved very successful in competition.

During the Second World War their shop at 34 Barbican was bombed, so, following the war, the brothers moved to new premises at the Sterling Works, Dagenham, Essex, in 1945. The Hobbs brothers had worked in Dagenham in munitions during the hostilities.

This bike dates from this post-war period and, although the down tube says ‘Hobbs of Barbican’, the head and seat tube decals say ‘Specialists in frame design, Hobbs, Sterling Works, Dagenham, Essex’.

The tubes are made from Reynolds 531 steel and it has horizontal, forward-facing rear dropouts with no direct attachment for a derailleur. A single freewheel keeps the look clean and is true to its clubman origins. The fancy lugwork is very nicely picked out in white over the green livery.

This bike, photographed at Golden Age Cycles, is a good example from an era when clubmen and women rode their bikes for transport during the week, and then socialised and raced at the weekend. The ability to fit mudguards helped in its all year round ride ability too.

The ‘Hobbs of Barbican’ era was more or less finished by 1953, although a few frames were built after this time.