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That is a fantastic result! You have inspired me to have a go at my own frame and see if anything is left under the hand paint job.

@Errol I'm pm you now :)

Thanks @7ven. Yes I was surprised how great it is to ride. New bar tape is on its way for Eroica and I'm hoping I can find a 40s derailleur whilst I'm there, or perhaps a saddle.

@Big_Block that explains why my lamp bracket it on the left then! I thought my bike must have been exported but it doesn't have the x prefix. It certainly makes sense. There were no proper markings on the crank unfortunately.

The docs that everyone is making available make great reading!

@Quiet_Mike thanks for posting that, it makes very interesting reading. Its great that people on this site are willing to share such information and knowledge.

According to Classic Lightweights on Weinmanns

Early ones from the early 1950’s have different engraved markings and
no dimples around the spoke holes.

I'm guessing mine are later as they don't appear to have dimples around the spoke holes. Weinmann rims seem to be the easiest to get hold of so I may look to replace the rear wheel completely by getting an age appropriate 115mm freewheel hub and another Weinmann rim, and simply replace the hub in the front wheel with something more appropriate age wise. I don't want to damage the rear wheel at all as it seems a nice one.

I'll rider her as she is for Eroica but hopefully I will find some parts whilst I'm there. Things seem to have dried up on ebay at the moment.

Thanks for all your comments guys. It's really helpful to get insights from other people. I guess bikes like these are rarely truly original, just a snapshot in time.

I've been out riding on her and she rides really well. I'm planning to ride Eroica on her in June, perhaps just fitting cotton bar tape to improve the look like you suggest @Skülly. The lights still work, although the bulb fitting in the rear lamp has something missing. I wouldn't rely on them though as the light is more amber than white!

That's a beautiful bike @Quiet_Mike, I'm jealous of your original paintwork. There doesn't seem to be any of the original left on mine, although I will try to strip off the layers of paint just in case. My bike seems to have been for export as it has the lamp fitting on the left fork rather than the right. The lamp fitting itself is Chater Lea.

By the way, does anyone know how to date Weinmann Alesa rims?

Thanks @jeff80 the info on the saddle is really useful to know. I believe that Hobbs supplied both fully speced bikes and frame only. I suppose I'll just never really know what the original spec was as the bike is so old and has probably had lots of owners.

At the moment my instinct is to replace the crankset, stem, handlebars and both wheels. I was planning to fit a derailleur anyway seeing as the frame has a boss fitted (I've already obtained a Simplex shifter from Hilary Stone, although the screw doesn't actually fit the boss unfortunately).

I suppose that someone may have simply built it up out of old parts to look original in order to get a better price...

A few months ago I bought a 1947 Hobbs of Barbican Superbe on ebay to build up with age appropriate parts. It seems to have some good original parts on it already (Reynolds R5 seat post, Brooks B17 saddle, Hiduminium brake calipers and levers and a Lytaloy headset.

Some of the other parts are more suspect. The rims are Weinmann Alesa I think, the front hub is Atom and the rear Sturmey Archer AW is dated 1949 (although the frame has a derailleur shifter braze-on boss fitted). The rear wheel is also wrapped and soldered which is the sign of a quality wheel. The Crankset is unmarked, as are the stem and the handlebars, although these look very old. The pedals are Phillips Credalux quills and the BB axle is drilled but the cups don't have any markings on.

A Hobbs document that @7ven posted recently details the spec for a Superbe of this era and some items match, however others appear to be much cheaper specced items. As @7ven's document states how difficult supplies were in 1947, I've been wondering if some of the items I was going to replace might actually be original and fitted purely due to the shortages at the time. The ones I'm think about are the stem and handlebars, the pedals (and possibly the crankset) and the rear wheel.

I would be interested in peoples thoughts. I've included some pictures.

Thanks.

7ven been following your builds for quite a while but felt compelled to join and comment on your last post. Thanks so much for sharing this! I am in the process of building up a 1947 Hobbs Superbe at the moment so the document you posted was perfect for me.

Does anyone know if there is going to be any meeting up of Hobbs owners at Eroica Britannia this year?