1993/4 Claud Butler Cape Wrath 653 stalled..for now

So…. A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, back when we all thought we’d spend the summer riding bikes, drinking beer, and SOCIALISING!!! I spotted a 653 tubed Claud on eBay with a .99p starting price, but collection only…. :roll:

After some time trying to negotiate having it delivered with the only result being I somehow pissed the seller off , I went for plan B..
Namely asking Legrandfromage if he’d put a bid on for me, (it was in his neighbourhood) which I would immediately reimburse and then bring the frame to MM20… I thought it might be worth a punt as although being too small for me at 18” and no longer having its forks I thought at least I could check the frame details for my Cape Wrath Timeline… so .99p won the frame and Mark duly picked it up..

Covid 19 Enters stage left and all our simple plans were scuppered… so it got left in LGF's shed… after a while, realising we weren’t getting together anytime soon I released LGF of any obligations and suggested he gave it away for Karma.. nobody wanted it! :shock:
Then a few weeks ago, myself, my kids and my sister took a ride along a stretch of “The cinder trail” an old railway line running from Scarborough to Whitby… this was easy riding on a glorious day and something that attracted the attention of Mrs Peachy.. She asked if I could build her something suitable for this sort of riding (slightly rougher than gravel as its got some muddy bits and slightly bumpy bits.
I of course jumped at the opportunity to get the love of my life off-road.. so a quick PM and some cheap postage later and we have the start of a new project..

A very sorry for itself 18” Claud Butler Cape Wrath :facepalm:

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

Disc tab original?

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

The History Man":15ollhe7 said:

Disc tab original?

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Oh dear lord no!

Those bits of scrap iron were first on the list....

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

The Cinder Trail is great fun, covered some of it on the coast to coast, I somehow managed to fall off on it!

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

Rod_Saetan":3nt2cq7o said:

The Cinder Trail is great fun, covered some of it on the coast to coast, I somehow managed to fall off on it!

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Its a lot more family friendly in the past few years with lots of repair work... what caused you to come off? the view?

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

Ok, so what year is it?..
:| . I’m not exactly sure, so lets start with what we do know and see if we can come to a reasonable assumption..

We know that 653 was introduced to the range at the end of 1991 when production started with the all new Antaeus, advertised in 1992, but for 1993 the Antaeus mk2 arrived made from Aluminium 7005. It’s a reasonable assumption I think that the 1993 Cape received the 653 treatment as although I don’t have the ’93 catalogue to check, the Capes of 1994, 95 & 96 all had 653.

Next is the Reynolds decal itself, the one on the ’92 Antaeus says “653 Magnum tube set” whereas the ’95 & ’96 had a simpler graphic “653 Magnum” this frame has the older decal as per the ’92 Antaeus…

Something else of note is the weight of the frame and the shape of the rear triangle..
First the weight, 2.6kg…400g heavier than the 653 Antaeus (2.2kg) but 400g lighter than the 531 magnum tubed ’92 Cape Wrath (3kg) and the rear triangle is exactly the same as the afore mentioned ’92 Cape, so I wondering if the ‘93/’94 cape was a missing link, a 653 main tubed frame with the 531 rear triangle from the previous two years.. :?

Anyway, one thing I do know is the ‘93/’94 Cape had the thin walled slanted/italic graphic text… so I’d better get with drawing that…

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

Next question…. What am I going to do with it?

Well, the frame will get a full restoration, I’ve already removed the rough arse disc conversion so it will be off to the bead blasters for a dip and a blast today, ready for some Black gloss powder-coat, originally I think it would have been stove enamelled, put PC will be fine for this I think, then once I've finished the artwork it will be over to Gil for some new stickers…

As for what’s going to go on the bike, I need to consider what the wife wants from it.. comfort and simplicity basically, so there will be a nice fat couch on a dampened seat post..


Shimano Nexus 8 speed twist grip hub gear (inc hub brake & chain adjuster)




1.95 Panaracer mach SS gravel/road tyres


And the crowning glory.. some cosmetically rough-ish but working Pace RC35 carbon front shocks with a shimano disc brake, just to give her some real comfort and confidence.

Re: 1993/4 Cape Wrath 653 (Retromod/Gravel/Cruiser)

Ok, so the rear’s built up, but apparently there’s no time for truing as we’re off out before the North & East Yorkshire get locked down again!!! I’ve been advised that I can “p**s about with bikes to my hearts content then but not now!” :shock:

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That’s a different project is nice way

Looking forward to a few more progress shots

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Retro Spud":3gkwyy0m said:

That’s a different project is nice way

Looking forward to a few more progress shots

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Cheers Spud.... i think it’s going to be a little odd, but I’m hoping I can pull it off without it looking ugly...

Drum rear, disc front... :shock: :facepalm: