Freddie Grubb

Frederick Henry Grubb (27 May 1887 – 6 March 1949) was a British road racing cyclist who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.

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".

He rode a Triumph bicycle with a reinforced frame to withstand his style of forcing round big gears.

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 12th 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.Grubb was considered for the New York, Paris and Berlin six-day races.

Grubb opened a cycle business in Brixton, south London, in 1914, but the First World War started.

He was made an honorary club member.Grubb opened another shop after the war with money from his clubmate Charlie Davey.

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