Very simple, but most efficient, is the Hobart spring frame, a detail of which is shown above.
Hobart. (Stand 102.)
Hobart Cycle Co., Ltd., Coventry.
This machine is the simplest, and most inexpensive of the wide range of Hobarts - all lightweights. Petroil lubrication has been adopted only this year, and only for this particular model. Owing to the design of the bottom bracket, which is specially slotted for this purpose, a Chater-Lea two-speed gear box may be fitted without any structural alterations. Should, therefore, the purchaser of a single gear Hobart desire later to go in for serious touring or mountaineering in a small way, he will be able, given the necessary sprocket, etc., to effect a conversion himself in a very short space of time.
2¾ h.p.; 70x76 mm. (293 c.c.); single-cylinder four-stroke; side-by-side valves; drip feed lubrication; Amac carburetter; C.A.V. chain-driven magneto; two-speed Sturmey-Archer gear; chain and belt drive; Dunlop 26x2½ in. tyres.
Chief model of an old-established Coventry firm, the spring frame Hobart is an excellent little job, both in design and finish. Pivoted immediately behind the gear box, the rear stays form the base of the duplex triangle supporting the back wheel. Carrying on the explanation geometrically, the apex of this triangle slides along two horizontal (loosely linked) rods pivoted underneath the saddle. The motion is controlled by compression and tension coil springs on these rods. In practice, this gives a neat and efficient suspension, which has incidentally been proved on the road for over a year. A similarly sprung machine may be obtained with a 2½ h.p. Villiers engine, and both are shown with rigid frames. Staging lightweight machines of all types from the simple single-geared two-stroke to a de luxe model with spring frame, clutch, and kickstarter, the Hobart Cycle Co. are in a position to produce a machine to suit any rider.
The Motor Cycle, December 2nd, 1920.
