Blue Riband according to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary refers to a ribbon of blue silk worn as a badge of honour and is then extended to mean'the greatest distinction, the first place or prize' hence its use with the fastest transatlantic crossing etc. Hobbs manufactured a Blue Riband model pre-war and then re-introduced it in 1949 I think. It had fancy hand cut lugs similar to their Superbe model. Both road and track versions wre built. Hilary Stone
> OROBOYZ@aol.com writes:
>
>> That be a Hobbs of Barbican model......(Not French at all, but veddy veddy
>> British!)
>> http://www.cyclesdeoro.com/
>> Also I think the name has a significance that I do not know. Can one of
> our
>> British members expound upon that for us?
>
> Pete Geurds wrote:
This is a stretch, but my first thought upon hearing "Blue Riband" is the
> award that was given to ocean liners for fastest transatlantic crossing.
> Held by the Queen Mary until 1952 when the SS United States won the award.
> Ocean liner size and speed were a big deal in the era before jets stole the
> transatlantic crossing business.
> So.....
> If the bike is English, and possibly older than you think, maybe that was the
> tie-in.
> A Blue Riband bike would suggest a bike capable of carrying it's rider along
> in speed and comfort. Sounds plausible @ 5 in the morning.
> Anyway, didn't someone (Raleigh?) name a bike after a missile? Makes the
> ship tie in sound much more reasonable.
>
> BTW: There is, of course a website (for those nautically inclined):
> http://www.blueriband.com/