1949 'Raceweight' Restoration
"Good Fun and Bad Lassies"
My father, John, used a fixed gear Hobbs of Barbican
in his early 20s and, out of nostalgia, I had a hankering to
pick up a similar 1940s machine. Dad bought his at a bike
shop in Dundee, Scotland, called West End Cycles and owned
by the brothers Davis. In those far off times, few working
class people had enough cash to walk into a shop and come
away with a bike or frame so my dad's £10 Hobbs frame
was paid up each week at 2/6 until it was finally his and he
was able to start building it up using second hand parts.
The completed bike, he told me, weighed about 22lbs.
 I
found my 1949 Hobbs frame, later identified by Veteran Cycle
Club marque enthusiast Mervyn Cook as a Raceweight, at the
home of a collector in St Andrews and swapped a 1930s bike
for it. The frame had been repainted by brush but a previous
owner had left the old transfers on and simply painted round
them! Needless to say, it wasn't looking its best. I believe
it's better to retain as much of the original finish as
possible but that was out of the question in this case. A
repaint was needed and I chose to have the frame done in the
same yellowish-orange that was the colour of my dad's bike
and a popular choice in the 1940s.
Dad's recollection of the type of equipment he had on his
bike is hazy to say the least (i.e. he has no recollection!)
so I decided to build the bike up using the best period
equipment I could find. The frame was entrusted to a chap in
Dundee who sprays cars for a living. The two-pack paint
finish he applied to the frame is superb. I had to make the
head and seat tube transfers myself, copying the originals
on the frame as closely as possible in Photoshop on the PC.
The script name on the downtube came from H Lloyds.
Period Equipment
A Hobbs Lytaloy headset was installed along
with a Bayliss Wiley bottom bracket assembly. The bars are
modern moustache bars made by Japanese firm, Nitto. Apart
from the brake blocks, handlebar tape, tyres and cables,
they're the only concession to modernity. I've never felt
completely safe, for no logical reason at all, on a fixed
gear bike with drop handlebars and the moustache bars look
the part on a 1949 bike when compared with the straight bar
alternative. The stem is a GB spearpoint which were made in
the post-war period from 1945. The saddle is a Brooks from
the late 1940s/early 1950s on a Reynolds seatpost. Braking
is provided by GB Coureur callipers and Super Hood levers.
This combination didn't come out until the early 1950s but
it's close enough. I had a nice, period Chater Lea chainset
that was rechromed and attached to that a pair of Lyotard
Marcel Berthet Model 23 pedals which also began a long
production life in the 1930s. The wheels consist of Conloy
Asp rims mated to Airlite Continental large flange hubs. In
truth, this combination was probably outwith my dad's means:
some of the parts, such as the chainset and wheels, were
amongst the most expensive in their range at the time. The
bike is lovely to use, however. The parts have all seen
plenty of miles by various owners over the years but they
still work smoothly and efficiently some 50 years on.
 Spit
and Polish
There were no great problems encountered in
the restoration. Lightly rusted chrome polishes up well
using some chrome polish rubbed in with scrunched up
aluminium foil. There' s a chemical explanation for the
reaction that takes place between the rust and aluminium
which I used to know but all I remember now is that it
works! Oxidised aluminium parts clean up with a suitable
metal polish. Very fine OOO grade steel wool can be used on
heavily oxidised components and then buffed up with T-cut
before polishing. The aluminium soon oxidises again, though,
so if you don't have a fetish about shiny alloy parts,
you're just as well giving everything a good cleaning and
oiling.
Photographs of the
completed machine to follow shortly !
The bike is my pride and joy and is used sparingly,
usually on a 35-mile run to Stanley in Perthshire to where
my dad, in his youth, used to cycle in pursuit of a good
time chasing " bad lassies" at a home for wayward kids! He
never found any, he maintains...
Copyright©
1999-2002 B.Robbins Last Updated 20 November
2002
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