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Grove Hardcore and 2-B-1 Tandem The HardCore is a technical trail bike with a higher bottom bracket, slightly softer head tube angle, and a longer wheelbase. It developed an unexpected following in urban markets, where it held up to staircase drops and loading docks, long before the modern era of urban trials began. The 2-B-1 (two-be-one) is a gorgeous, overbuilt mountain tandem. Just having one of these meant an adventure would present itself. This bike was greatly enjoyed by many riders with many stories.
GROVE HARDCORE
Here is Rob Carruba with the very first prototype Hard Core in Rothrock State Forest, late 1980s. This bike was primarily built for and ridden by Randy Moore when he owned the Bicycle Shop in State College. Rob's a short dude, this bike was too big for him, but his grin pretty much says it all. The name Hardcore may have not been decided upon yet, notice the bike has no decals. I don't know where this bike is now.
This 1991 Hard Core is now in First Flight Bikes collection. The paint job was called Triple Neon Fade with black splatter.
Al Chiesa has owned three Grove's over the years and all are on this website. It was Al who commissioned the Solomon "X" which is on the cover of Ski Trade News, and the Assault frame painted 'Clown'; both of which are now in first Flight Bikes collection. This is his personal Hard Core. In his words: Now I ride it occasionally but it gets babied. There are very few good frame builders anymore. I wish Bill was still designing and building bikes.
This is one of the smallest Hard Cores, notice where the top tube intersects the downtube, which then swallows the headtube. This was sent to me by the original owners, Trevor & Valerie Hale, in Texas.
Chad Rockey sent me this picture of his blue Hard Core waiting to be built.
This wineberry Hard Core is in Freeze Thaw Bicycles in State College, PA. Contact Justin Wagner if you're looking for Grove bikes, they buy and sell used bikes.
Rody Walter's 1989 striped psycho-neon hard Core lives in Ohio. This one has a story. Rody is a former Grove apprentice who now builds under the Groovy Cycles label. Check out his style below:
Here is the scoop on Groovy Cycleworks: Groovy Cycleworks is a small custom frame shop with an employee roster of...one. That would be me, Rody Walter. I began building frames back in the heydays of mountain biking, the early 90's, under the tutelage of Bill Grove of Grove Innovations in Center Hall, Pa. I had the opportunity to work under one of the true masters of design and construction and came away with a mantra that I've built by to this day... Design it with the rider in mind Involve the customer in the process...communicate! Build it to last forever Settle for nothing less than big smiles Just as no two of us are exactly alike, each frame is an individual. I don't do production runs or cookie cutter designs, instead building each frame by hand to the cutomers needs/desires/dreams. I've worked with all types of materials, including steel, aluminum, TI, Aermet, Metax and even Magnesium (once...I had to try ) but prefer the new steels and TI primarily. I've never marketed much work, instead relying on word of mouth. However, with the internet providing greater reach, I think it's time to start spreading the word a bit. Got a web page in the works and have been playing with a blog. So, that's the quick and dirty.
This perfect Hard Core belongs to Aron Grove, Bill's son. Complete with Titron beartraps!
Subject: Grove Bike Hi Mike,
From: Melvin Hi Cyberherm, Melvin has a webpage about his build: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8238778@N04/
This brand new Hard Core is for sale in Pietro Cycles in Germany. Pietro was the largest importer of Grove bikes in Europe and still has a few NOS Groves.
A beautiful black Hard Core from Steve D. in State College, PA
A Hard Core in Neon Solar... unfortunately I can't figure out who sent this to me to credit it! If you know who owns this, please let me know. ===================================== Grove HARD CORE test in Sportrad, a German magazine Sportrad December 1990 —This was sent by Melvin—thanks!
Click on the section links below to bring up hi-res images section1 section2 section3 section4
GROVE 2-B-1 MOUNTAIN TANDEM
1990 MBA test of the 2-B-1 mountain tandem, featured on the cover with Ibis
This shot was used in the 1992 Mountain Bike Action Calendar
This 2-B-1 lives in San Luis Obispo, California with Don Coffman, a longtime Grove affiliate. Don has known Bill Grove since high school and knows more about Grove bikes than just about anyone. He worked for Grove over the years, was the head guru mechanic at The Bicycle Shop in State College, PA in the 1980s-90s, and has built (as in with components for racers) more Grove bikes than anyone I can think of. Don has worked in the bicycle industry with Trek, Burley, Rolf Wheels, SRAM and Truvativ. He owns several Grove bikes.
A stoker-only rear suspension 2B1 collaboration with Rody Walters, shown below with Bill Grove, John Upcraft and John Balban:
Our 2B1 tandem, a collaborative design effort between Bill and I (and the opportunity that brought me into the shop), is still a joy to ride, pics here...
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