 |
|
|
|
GROVE CUSTOMS Grove's specialty was one-off's. In a perfect world, Bill would never build the same bike twice. He made trials bikes, time trial bikes, tri bikes, track bikes, custom tandems and specialty bikes for really big or tall people, including bikes for NBA and NFL players. A few oddities, such as the Woods bike, were a little bit out there but pushed the limits of design, and people's riding abilities.
Grove Bottle Opener
Perhaps the most utilitarian of all Grove designs, the classic fork blade bottle opener. What does a builder do with all those botched forks anyway? Now you know. This one is still in service by the multi-talented former wrench and bike scribe, now Montana lawyer, Dan Wilson. Crack a cold one for old times, Dan. Grove Trials Bike
Grove made trials bikes, usually in a 20/24 configuration. This one is now in California.
Grove Woods Bike
Several Grove Innovations bikes can be found in Jeff Archer's collections at First Flight Bikes. Click here for a link to the Grove Woods Bike in Jeff's collection. It is one of the rarest, and oddest bikes of the era. This ran in Dirt Rag issue 106, April 2004. We thought about calling it the Jeep, but knew Chrysler would object.
One of three prototype "woods bikes" made by Grove. Only one sold to the public. This bike was designed to push the boundaries of frame design. The bottom bracket height is 16", 15.25" seat stays, BB shell width of 80mm, rear hub 160mm and rear facing "drop-outs" in the rear.
The original review from Dirt Rag #20 in 1991.
Hubcap Cycles John Upcraft apprenticed with Bill for years, and is a career machinist and instructor in Pennsylvania. He builds beautiful frames under the label Hubcap Cycles.
Chad Rockey has this Hubcap built by John Upcraft: The Hubcap- Reynolds 853 with Breeze dropouts. A product from a Grove
The Hubcap tandem, unique in so many ways...
Below are a series of bikes that John built:
The Hubcap Flatty
Grove Track Bike
Grove track bike
Ti Road Bikes
Brave Cycles Brave Cycles was created by Doug Gloyd (a cabinet maker) and had bikes made by different builders. This one was made by Bill Grove. The rear chain stays are actually Tange fork blades on this model.
Schwinn Cycle Truck
This isn't a Grove per se, it's my 1960s era Schwinn Cycle Truck restored to a modern day daily driver. I bought this at the famous Hershey in the Fall Automotive Flea Market, which is a great place to find old bikes. It was fairly complete, original, and rideable, with a rare XL basket. The bike was missing the front wheel centerstand and hinged basket lid, along with a few other minor parts commonly discarded during the working life of these bikes. Randy Moore did the brazing work to repair 30+ years of industrial abuse, and Bill Grove fabricated the diamond plate base for the basket and built a super-stout fork. I had it powdercoated a custom blue-purple mix, with a black basket. The basket would have been virtually impossible to paint, powdercoating was the better solution. The bike uses a Nexus 7-speed coaster brake hub laced to a DH rim, with a 20 inch freestyle wheel up front. The bike weighs about 90 pounds, and the basket was original rated to carry 150 pounds. With Grove's baseplate and fork I suspect the bike could carry well over 300 pounds now.
How else would one carry a fullsize wombat? In 2006 Jaquie Phelan stopped by for a couple of days to taste the trails of Maine, so I brought the Cycle Truck out to play.
|
