I have this lovely Freddy Grubb 1950’s 20″ frameset on sale here on Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232189955526
It’s in lovely condition, and thanks to the experts who follow these bikes on Ebay, is likely to be a 1951 Perfection with exquisite lugs. As you can see the lug work is stunning and nicely picked out with the lining.
I first heard about Freddy Grubb as he is mentioned in Tim Moore’s book:
Gironimo!: Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy which celebrates the 1914 Giro D’Italia which has the following terrifying statistics:
| Longest ever average stage length: | 396.25km |
|---|---|
| Smallest number of finishers: | 8 |
| Highest percentage of retirements: | 90% |
| Longest individual stage by distance: | 430km, Lucca-Rome |
| Longest individual stage by time: | 19h 34’ 47”, Bari-L’Aquila |
Tim Moore rode the same course in 2013 using a bike from the era and shared similar personal pain as the competitors the century before.
Following Freddy Grubb’s Olympic success in 1912, he turned professional and entered the hardest cycle ride ever conceived. He was famously a vegetarian and a teetotaller but this ride was to be his first and last professional ride. After returning from Italy and surviving the first world war in the Navy he set up a cycle shop in Croydon. Freddy’s bio on Classic Lightweights is none too flattering, but there is no denying his cycling and frame-building prowess. Unfortunately, Freddy died in 1949 a couple of years before this frame was made.