Shrubb, Cliff

Cliff’s framebuilding experience started as a boy with Claud Butlers in about 1950 and continued through to building full-time for himself, working in between for several companies outside of the cycle-industry repairing and servicing timing clocks. In fact Mario Vaz told me he can remember working at Holdsworth’s many years ago when Cliff used to come and service their clocking-on clock.

One of Cliff’s most unusual commissions was the frame for Dave Le Grys’ unsuccessful attempt on the world pedal speed record in 1985. A motor-paced bicycle that featured two chainwheels in series to achieve the necessary high gearing to challenge the 150mph record. The frame was built from tandem tubing with the 2nd chainwheel half-way up the seat-tube braced to the rear-triangle with a 2nd set of chainstays to ensure rigidity of the rear-triangle under the high forces involved. It also has an eccentric tandem-style bottom bracket for adjusting chain-tension, it being a fixed wheel, and the tow-bar at the front incorporates a quick-release mechanism for letting go of the pacing car. Interestingly, at a time when many high-level racing cyclists were still using “tubs” it uses clincher Mavic Module E2 rims and wire-on tyres – possibly these were thought less likely to come off the rim in case of a puncture at high-speed.

There are several Youtube video clips of the bike paced by a specially prepared Tom Walkinshaw highly modified V8 Rover SD1 up the then unopened M42 available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkJA6Fi6CaU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmpxJWAJbFM

Cliff also built an unusual space-frame tandem to the design of Don Woodford. It utilises motor-bike hydraulic disc-brake, and very large diameter seat-tubes, with custom-seat-pins that also contain the pump and tools.

A lot of Cliff’s machines have been built for time trials and racing – he has produced quite a few unusual space-frame and low-profile time trial machines such as the two solos shown below.

For the tandem rider he built an all Campagnolo Super Record racing tandem with the rear bars fixed under the top-tube, presumably to gain a a super-aerodynamic position for the stoker.

Most of Cliff’s photos are of later machines – does anyone have any pictures of his earlier frames?

Cliff is now retired and spends most of his time either out on his bike, driving his 2CV, and building the occasional frame or doing frame alterations and repairs. His life story is no less unusual than some of his frames……

Cliff’s first real experience of cycling came at the age of about 10 when he and some friends went on a 4-day cycling expedition to Brighton from his home in South London, in the days when children were allowed to roam unsupervised without fear of abduction. His aunt lent them a tarpaulin to camp under and their first night was spent about 8 miles from what was actually Reigate, but which they had misheard as “Ramsgate”. They were told off by the farmer for camping in his field but a lady took pity on them and gave them some fresh eggs for breakfast. Their return journey night was spent camping beside the train tunnel vents at Pyecombe.

Cliff’s first job was in the drawing office at an engineering works called Palmers in Mitcham where he remembers the post-war austerity clearly as the less fortunate manual workers worked in the open under just a tin-roof with only a brazier burning for warmth.

He then progressed to Claud Butler’s works in Clapham in about 1950, aged about 16, where he was first put on frame-repairs. He later progressed to their production line. Here he remembers the tubes were cut and mitred on a milling machine and later blanked out with a press-type machine. A Danish chap then built the front diamond, someone else put in the chainstays and tacked in the seat-stays. It was Cliff’s job to braze-in fully the seat-stays and to put in the brake and chainstay bridges.  Cliff remembers this as being a boom period for Claud Butler’s, as there would have been as many as 750 bicycles per order for export to the USA.

Cliff then went on his National Service in both the UK and Egypt, where he was in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), returning to Claud Butler’s for a few months before they went bust. Cliff says this was brought about not only by a sudden drop in demand for bicycles – termed “The Lambretta Era” but also the poor management of Claud Butler.

He then went to work for IBM for about 5 years, installing and repairing clocking-in machines and fire-alarm systems, until one day he and his mates got talking and decided they would drive to Australia – in two 2CVs !! (as you do ).

He moved into 81a Whitehorse Road, one of Allin’s old shops where “Cobbie” had made frames. A side-line of Allin’s had been to repair wind-up gramophones and Cliff remembers when he moved into 81a the workshop was full of old gramophone springs. Cliff thinks that Ching Allin’s dad had been in business with Freddie Grubb before the war and that Farmers Bank had gone bust and Grubb went off on his own leaving Allins with some debt (can anyone else add anything else to this ?)

When the lease on 81a ran out Cliff went to work in Pearsons of Sutton for about 13 years as their mechanic, building, altering and repairing frames from home in his own time before retiring.

If anyone has images and/or details of older frames or machines, please contact Webmaster, or David at:
dvines1971(at)btinternet.com