Frederick Grubb

Frederick (Freddie) Henry Grubb (b. 27 May , 1887, Kingston, Surrey - d. 6 March 1949, north-east Surrey) was a British road racing cyclist who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He won silver medals in the individual road race and the team road race. He ran a bicycle company when he stopped racing.

Cycling career

Freddie Grubb was a leading rider in Britain at a time when cycle-racing in Britain was limited to time-trials and track racing. A writer said of him in 1910: "Since August Bank Holiday he has been the most talked-of cyclist in Great Britain... and it is safe to say that no man since Harry Green has shown more brilliant promise". [ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/FreddieGrubb.htm ] He was a vegetarian and ride for the Vegetarian Cycle and Athletic Club. He broke the 100-mile time-trial record in 1910 on a fixed-wheel bike with no brakes. The Vegetarian club historian, Peter Duncan, said: "He has no brakes; traffic was so light he saw no need for them." [Riding a fixed wheel, or direct gearing between the pedals and the back wheel, would have given him limited braking but not enough for an emergency stop.] [ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/FreddieGrubb.htm] Grubb rode the distance in less than five hours.

He set a record for 12 hours in the Anerley event near Liverpool in 1911. The organisers had set a course of 210 miles, further than they expected any rider to go. It had to be extended to allow Grubb to ride 220.5 miles for Grubb. The second rider, Charlie Davey, also beat the organising club's plans and finished in 215.5 miles.

Grubb set a record of 351 miles for a 24-hour time-trial on the track. It was broken by Henrik Morén with 375.6 miles in 1912. His 5h 9m 41s for London to Brighton and back stood for 14 years.

He won two silver medals in the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912. He turned professional in 1914. Cycling reported:

:F. H. Grubb [has] returned his amateur licence to the National Cyclists' Union. He has decided to make cycle racing and record breaking both on road and path a profession... Next year he will take part in all the big Continental road races, and will also participate in paced races on the track. Grubb, who has been a strict vegetarian for five years, is a non-smoker and total abstainer, and should prove a very worthy British representative abroad. He is 25 years of age, and scales 12st stripped, and when he gets accustomed to the Continental methods there is no reason he should not shine as a star of the very first order in the professional ranks. [Cycling, 3 October 1912, p290]

Grubb was considered for the New York, Paris and Berlin six-day races [Cycling, 31 October 1912, p371] . He rode briefly on the continent before returning disillusioned. The venture ended his cycling because rules denied professionals the right to ride again as an amateur.

Cycle trade

Grubb opened a cycle business in Brixton, south London, in 1914 but the first world war started soon afterwards. Peter Duncan said:

:Fred worked in a London munitions factory. He had long working hours and cycled to and from work every day. It was all bed and work. He wanted to get into the Navy for an easier life, but his reserved-occupation status [ Workers in some industries, such as munitions, farming and mines, were often considered too valuable at home to be allowed to fight abroad.] was a problem. Eventually he managed, but Navy catering meant when he returned he was no longer vegetarian. He was made an honorary club member. [ (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/FreddieGrubb.htm ] .

Grubb opened another shop after the war, with money from his clubmate Charlie Davey. Grubb went into partnership with Ching Allin and Allin & Grubb of 132 Whitehorse Road, Croydon in 1919. The two split up in a row over an aspect of cycle design. Allin & Grubb became A. H. Allin and soon began selling Davey cycles rather than Grubb.

The cycle-trade historian Mick Butler, who called Grubb "not a very likable character", said:

:After the Armistice (1918), Charlie Davey put up more money for Fred Grubb to resume production with Ching Allin in partnership and the firm of Allin & Grubb was founded in 1919. Ching was a much more likable character so with the prestigious name of Grubb on the bikes and the likeable nature and business acumen of Ching the bikes were an instant hit complete with the then revolutionary quick release [Wheels that attached and detached faster than the nut and bolt of other wheels, an advantage when changing a punctured tyre during a race] . The earliest reference I can now verify is Cycling, 4 March 1920 p XVI. GRUBB RACING CYCLES - with the simplest quickest form of quick release wheels - Allin & Grubb, 132 Whitehorse Road, Croydon. Funnily, there is also an advert in the same issue for F.H.Grubb 250 London Road, Croydon, just around the corner from Allin & Grubb and Fred's advert says "no connection with any other firm" so it would seem they had already parted company or all was not quite well. [http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/allin-grubb.html, retrieved Sept 2008]

Butler added:

:An advert for F.H.Grubb [says] "NOT THE ONLY DROPOUT BUT THE ONLY GENUINE QUICK RELEASE". I was told many moons ago by Bill Bush and Len James, former stalwarts of the Southern Veteran Cycling Club, that there was one hell of a row between Ching Allin and Fred Grubb over who originally designed the drop-out and quick release on the Grubb bicycle. Apparently Fred Grubb wanted all the credit as his name had top billing on the bikes they were making and Ching was annoyed by this, staking a claim for Charley Davey who was Fred's money man and the designer of the original QR. [http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/allin-grubb.html, retrieved Sept 2008]

Grubb opened another business under his own name in London Road, West Croydon, in 1920 and by 1924 had a shop at Robsart Street, Brixton.

In 1934 Grubb advertised that his business was in liquidation. He then opened another company, FHG, at 147a Haydons Rd, Wimbledon, with 20 staff from the former venture.

Grubb died on 6 March 1949, aged 61, and his family continued the business. The Holdsworth company brought the Grubb name in 1952.

External links

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=GRUBBFRE01 profile]