Billy Griggs
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | William Luther Griggs |
| Nickname | "Mr. Bill" |
| Born |
September 16, 1968 Anaheim, California, United States of America |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 79.4 kg (175 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) |
| Role | Racer |
| Rider type | Off Road |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1981-1982 | BS Bikes |
| 1983 | CW Racing |
| 1984 | Schwinn Bicycle Company |
| 1984-1985 | Mongoose |
| 1985-1987 | Redline Engineering |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1987-1990 | Redline Engineering |
| 1990-1992 | Haro Designs/Cycles |
| 1992-1993 | Iron Horse |
| 1994 | Haro Bicycles |
| 1997-1998 | Shimano |
| 1998-2001 | GT Bicycles |
William Luther Griggs (b. September 16, 1968 from Anaheim, California U.S.) is an American "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996.
His nickname was "Mr. Bill" which was a play on his name and an allusion to a late 1970s Saturday Night Live skit called "The Mr. Bill Show." Billy Griggs had a more successful career than most, winning two World Championships during his amateur days, but did not quite make it to the top in pro although he would consistently make the mains.
Note: Professional first are at the national level unless otherwise indicated.
*In the NBL it is "B" Pro/Superclass/"AA" pro depending on the era; In the ABA it is "AA" pro.
**In the NBL "A" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" pro.
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever-changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.
SBMX: So you're saying you had no bicycle to race?
Billy Griggs: "I had a bike to race but it wasn't what I would consider a race bike. It would be fine for a novice or a beginner. I was riding a fully short stock frame. I tried to ride a Sting for a while but I just didn't like it. They understood that and they let me try a different frame they made. But you know I prefer Flight crank and day over one-piece cranks, and the other frame they made was too wide in the rear section for Flights, they just hit the frame, and so I didn't want to ride that bike. It was also too short in the front end by three inches easy, it was really a small bike."
SBMX: Yet you won quite a few races on Schwinn bicycles.
B.G.: No I didn't, the bike I had was made by Voris Dixon.
SBMX: It said Schwinn.
B.G.: That's just it, it said Schwinn, but that's as far as it went. I had to put Schwinn stickers on it because I had to fool everyone with it.
SBMX: Were you fooling the people at Schwinn?
B.G.: For a while. At first they didn't mind it but then when the Schwinn dealers started asking for that bike and they couldn't supply it, then the problem started."
SBMX: So did Schwinn leave you or did you leave Schwinn?
B.G.: They called me up and gave me a choice: Either put a Sting together or a bike we make and stay on the team, or don't do it and I wouldn't be on the team anymore.
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Wikipedia