F H GRUBB FRAME DECALS

[GrubbyJohn]

Re:

I know I am late in responding to this , but have you got a side view photo of the Grubb head lug with diamonds?
If its got diamonds on the sides as well(so three diamonds altogether) its probably the Nervex Serie Legere feature cut 94.
This is featured in the 1958 Nervex catalogue which seems to be the only Nervex catalogue available on the web.

 

[COUPES]

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Hi John. Yes it has three Diamonds per lug. Haven't seen these before. Nervex and 58 I will look up.

 

[COUPES]

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Its a mess as far as paint but thought it was interesting.

 

[COUPES]

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Wondering if it could be a Blue Star? Looking at the 58 catalogue.

 

[GrubbyJohn]

Its a great frame with a Lug design Ive never seen on a actual frame, I would think its earlier than 1958. Probably 1954 or 1955 , what is the serial no. and where is it located ?
That would help in dating it , I think its probably 5000 series
When Holdsworth first took over the Grubb brand they were not consistent in the lug design they used for a while. They used Empress lugs a lot and also various Nervex Serie Legere feature cuts , plus some professional series Nervex. It took a while to settle down. Im trying to make sense of it but its a bit random

 

[GrubbyJohn]

PS also frame geometry the Blue Star /Silver Star/Southern Cross was 73/71 Head Seat angle ,the massed start frames were 72 parallel

 

[COUPES]

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Left rear dropout. Not sure of the angles. BB isn't nervex. Nothing on it.

 

[COUPES]

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Thankyou for any thoughts John. It certainly has me mystified.

 

[COUPES]

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Just a plain BB.

 

[GrubbyJohn]

Re:

This is a really interesting frame, as we have been trying to establish the date when the Man on bike headbadge was first used. This seems indicate it was earlier than conventional(i.e as per Kilgariff) wisdom.
This is the lowest frame serial no. on record with a Man on Bike headbadge, it also has the Ekla style bullet ended seat cluster which is typical of early Holdsworth Grubbs

Whats strange however is that there a frames on record with serial numbers that post date your frame but have Anerley aluminium badges
Any theory's welcome
Your headbadge certainly looks original in the photo's , but sometimes they have been retro fitted, allbeit a long time ago.
Can you see any evidence for that ?
Some of the very early Holdsworth Grubbs only had an Anerley decal for a headbadge, so one could have been retro fitted.

So as your frame number has Anerley headbadges before & after it, it dates it to circa 1953. It would be a Blue Star or Southern Cross.
Frame angle should be 73/71
Do you know if it has plain or butted tubing, some of the early Holdsworth Grubbs had butted tubing anecdotally.


The prior serial number on record to yours is 3451 a Holdsworth Grubb Perfection model, attributed to 1953

I hope this of interest John