Freddie Grubb

[pistolpedro]

Hi guys

Picked this up this morning

Dont know to much about it to be honest model name etc

I bought it for commuting to work which is just over 2 miles away, going to fit some mudguards toe clips and a few other bits and bobs over the next week, if it works out ok i'd like to fully restore it over the winter in time for next spring

Original seat post has been cut so need to source another my verniers are saying 25.8 does this seem correct for this age of bike? I see SJS have a polished alloy one in this size for £15 so that may be an option, i'd ideally like a fluted one are they hard to find / expensive ?

Hubs seem a bit of a heinz 57

I'd ideally like matching all round any suggestions what would be suitable for this particular bike? (i may get some new wheels built over the winter as these are not matching and look a little tired)

Really like the stem but its pretty pitted, tried cleaning it up with brasso but didnt come up any better, any tips for cleaning this up?

The gears appears to all be shimano but again i'm not sure if its all from the same groupset ?

So there we go! be a bit of rolling restoration at first but i'll post pics as i go through, sorry the pics arent the best its been raining all day here so cant get any outside shots

pete

 

[legrandefromage]

Thats nice that, very good condition too.

I may have a Sakae Laprade fluted 25mm ish seatpost, I'll have a look.

The stem is pretty normal for a GB, not as flash as the Italians!

I have some wide flange Normandy hubs with Wienmann 27" rims too.

 

[kanerdog1x1]

a grubby fred! my mate has one, we used to go touring on them, with me on my falcon, the bikes were ALOT older than we are. we used a mix of old kit and new, to get them ultra reliable.

 

[Old Ned]

Looks a nice find, well worth keeping, restoring and using.

I would say it is a Holdsworthy Freddie Grubb from the early/mid 70's possibly? From when they owned FG, Claud Butler and Macleans. Paintwork is in good condition too, but Holdsworthy Co. did do a good paintjob on all their frames.

I had (still have somewhere thinking about it!) a Shimano Titlist rear mech. They work fine and were one of the first 'new generation' rear mechs for the popular end of the market that made Campag sit up and take notice. Mine did sterling service for racing, training and winter and is still usable I bet.

The GB stem may come up better with some elbow grease and a good metal polish (Solvol?) but I don't think they were anodised so suffer from a bit of general corrosion - but not in any bad way. Once it's cleaned, just think that it's aged gracefully - like me!

 

[pistolpedro]

Got the seatpost sorted out yesterday and took it out for a spin round the block

only thing i have to compare it to is my Guvnor which feels like a tank comapred to the Grubb

Just zips along effortlessly, gears are great to so smooth and slick shifting, really pleased with it

Only thing is the brakes arent to hot but then i guess it a 30 year old bike!

Tried to fit my mudguards last night but ran into a few problems they werent drilled for a kick off and my chainstay bridge doesnt have a tapped hole, got them drilled this morning so should mount them up tonight fingers crossed might have to look at some sort of wedge between the mudguard and bridge going to try couple of leather washers first off

Might look at a the bridge tapped if I have it re enamelled

Wish i could keep it without mudguards as it looks much better without (had to for a 45mm due to tyre size) however i've got to be practical,

Toe clips arrived to so need to get them on tonight, next on the list is a Brooks Swift in black i'll get some pics up when i've got all these on

Thanks ned, i'll give that a go i did think about going over it with some wet and dry i've got lots of grades at home going right up to a 2000, one question do you know the size of the top nut is i've only got metric spanners and none seem to fit

 

[Old Ned]

Thanks ned, i'll give that a go i did think about going over it with some wet and dry i've got lots of grades at home going right up to a 2000, one question do you know the size of the top nut is i've only got metric spanners and none seem to fit

All I can say is that it will be a proper Imperial size as befits a component marked GB not some foreign bastard-sized alternative.

See which is/are nearest in the metric ones and I'm sure we can provide an Imperial size to fit.

Don't be too energetic with the wet and dry, keep it to the very fine sizes or you may end up with scratches that won't polish out.

 

[pistolpedro]

I'll take a look when I get back and i'll post the size

one thing I noticed that when i was fitting the mudguard bracket the bolts supplied in the kit were a little tight going in

Have one of tehbolts on my desk as i bought it in to get some washers at lunch I have noticed that the thread on the bolts is quite flat you can see where it hasnt got in the thread is still quite sharp

I'm guessing that these are the incorrect size i just hope i havent damaged the threads on the bike

Is there a standard bolt size for these brake on mudguard rack eyelets ?