1985-ish Claud Butler Majestic

Southwestslacker1 · Nov 2, 2019

Here’s one I got a bit carried away with. I got this ‘well used’ Claud Butler Majestic, best guess is 1985.

The intention was a quick tart up and use for a pub/town singlespeed or fixed.
Best laid plans and all that, I’d freed up soma Sora 3500 bits from an upgrade to my winter bike so I decided to put in a bit more effort.

I stripped the frame and thought I’d crack out the blowtorch and add a few bits for style and functionality. On went bottle bosses, shifter bosses and pump pegs. I also moved the chainstay cable stop from above to below the chainstay and drilled and tapped the bottom bracket for a plastic cable guide.

The colour is a generic ‘metallic light blue’ car paint from fleabay with decals from H Lloyd and a nice thick 2-part clearcoat. Built up with a mix of new and used more modern parts, it’s not a faithful restoration but I think is in the spirit of the bike.

The plan was for some mudguards and a slimline rack to polish it off as a commuter/tourer. Only managed about 100km on it so far but it’s very pleasant.

Jamiedyer · Nov 3, 2019

Wow! Stunning!
That has come up so nice, and your choice of colour suites it so well with the black running gear and cables. I'm really liking the colour and the matching pump just sets it off.
I imagine if you could still get a good steel Claud Butler then that is most likely what it would look like. The braze ons you added are perfectly suited to it and look they should have been there originally.
Great job all round, from paint to finishing.
Need a ride report once you get a few more miles on it

Jamie

Crambie · Feb 13, 2020

Nice blue and you don't see too many people doing their own frame mods.

sherlylock · Feb 20, 2020

Recognise that frame!! Can't believe the transformation - looks fantastic dude, and doing your own frame mods - impressive (would love to have a crack at that).

For reference - what it looked like when I bought it.....

How did you strip the frame?

Nob · Feb 20, 2020

Ugly looking bars on the rebuild........but nice build overall

Southwestslacker1 · Feb 26, 2020

Re:

Stripped the frame with a combination of a wire brush on a drill, and a homemade sand blasting box, very long winded. I’ve stripped and painted a couple for friends too bit always make them pay the £30 for the local sand blaster, worth every penny!

Was really happy with how it came out, although I had to move it on as the opportunity for a titanium Van Nicholas dream bike came up and I couldn’t refuse.

1985-ish Claud Butler Majestic

Southwestslacker1

Retro Guru

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