Claud Butler fixed

[ignatzcatz]

As there is a dedicated fixed wheel machine thread I thought I would bore you all with the tale of my particular example of single speed machinery. I was at a bike jumble when I spotted a very sad, very bent and battered old Claud Butler. What caught my eye was the fact that the frame was lugless indicating a degree of age, old age that is and it was about a 21" frame size, perfect for my little legs. It was or rather had been a road frame but I immediately had other ideas for it. I paid 20 quid for the relic and when home go to work on it in earnest. The forks were bent from excessive kerbing so they went in the bin. The rear ends were mangled and the gear hanger had been hack sawed off. So a quick clean and off it went to the shotblasters. It came back in surprisingly good shape with only a bit of rust on one of the rear stays, so I started to un-braze the gear bosses on the down tube, the cable eyes on the top tube and the pump pegs or what was left of them. I also un-brazed the old Benelux rear ends and started to fit a pair of track ends which I had purchased some while back, with the ends squarely located I also brazed on a seat tube boss for a 5 mil cap screw fitting and with the torch to hand lead filled the rusty rear stay. With everything filed down and looking good I started the spray job which I did in 2 pack Porsche India red. The period decals came from Mr Lloyd and I finished it all off with a couple coats of clear. In my jumble/old parts box I dug out some nice Dawes Mirage forks which still were nicely chromed so a quick rub over with fine wire wool and they were good to go. These forks have the sweetest rake and they looked very good on the sprayed up Claud. Time for some parts and the wheels are Fiamme sprints on large flange Airlite Hubs. The rear hubs gave me a bit of grief due to their bearing positioning which is in a sort of concave placement. I had to braze up some long cones in order to correctly adjust the hub bearings. However, job done and there was no similar problem with the front hub. I had a Campag track chainset with 165mm cranks and I had this fully polished 'cos I like a bit of bling, and got the rear 17 tooth cog chromed to match. The chainring is 42 teeth so it gives me a very useable 67" gear which is OK for most hills and not too severe when descending. Bars and stem from the parts box and a chromed Campag seatpin and Brooks swallow saddle which actually is very comfy. Campag track pedals and Campag brake and lever rounds out the parts department. It is a nice handling, fast bike that I really enjoy riding, and here are some pics . . .

 

[MartinB123]

A very well done from me! Excellent skills there.

 

[ignatzcatz]

Thanks for the kind comment Martin, I should have put this report into the fixed wheel section but obviously I'm better with spanners than with computers! Look out for my next fixed machine which is well on the way to completion, it's a 1933 Hobbs with some nice period kit. Cinelli stem, Balilla brake, Stronglight cottered cranks . . .

 

[bagpuss]

Re:

Cracking restoration . It is rewarding when you save an unloved old frame.
I had a similar Claud given to me, a number of years ago. It was in right sorry state. Cracked seat tube just above the bb . Saved the forks but not the frame.
Claud Butler International by rebalrid, on Flickr

Claud Butler .Busted by rebalrid, on Flickr

 

[ignatzcatz]

I was out for my weekly intervals session on my old Harry Quinn which was my road race bike. Halfway into a sprint I felt the whole bike go all wobbly, like I'd punctured both tubs. Of course I slowed down and checked the bike but at first couldn't see anything being wrong, then I noticed the down tube was about an inch out of kilter to the bottom bracket. The down tube has rusted out down toward the bottom bracket and had become partially detached. I made it home, slowly, and stripped the bike down and threw the old Harry Quinn frame into a corner of the garage to await the next trip down to the tip. Well that never came and the old Quinn got overlooked for a few years only to be discovered when I was re-roofing my garage. Now this actual frame has heritage being the bike once owned my Phil Thomas who was UK Pro road race champion back in 84 or 85 I believe. Also by now I had gained some skills by restoration work on vehicles so I put this to use on this old Harry Quinn. I made a clean cut of the down tube where the existing tubing was the thinnest and most corroded then cut an approx. 10cm length of tubing and by bending the old down tube to one side 1 was able to insert this tubing into the old down tube. Prior to this I had cleaned up the tubes as much as I could then I fired up the oxy acetylene and mega brazed it all together. It was a bit of a sod to file it all smooth for paint in the tight area around the bottom bracket but it came good in the end and I eventually was able to paint the frame in Porsche gunmetal with red panels and got some of Mr. Lloyds superb decals to finish the frame off. I built the frame up in a semi classic style with '80s Campag kit including rare Delta brakes and anniversary hubs and is only used now for Sunday club runs but at least it's saved and didn't end up as land fill. Here's some pics . . . (and this is what you should have done to that rare Claud Butler!!)

 

[bagpuss]

Re:

I wish I had the metalwork skill set to do what you have done.
The Claud was shown to more than one frame builder . Given the distortion around the bottom bracket it was considered beyond economic repair.
I also had a pre war Bates that was really battered . I sold it as a forlorn project and someone took it on :!:

Here is the Claud that I did save.
Claud Butler 1950's by rebalrid, on Flickr

Your HQ is stunning.Please post up some pictures here.

Entry for the bike of the month now.

2006_Claud Butler 1950 by rebalrid, on Flickr

 

[Midlife]

Neat looking Harry Quinn , narrow band 4 hole front mech too . Is the number on the Harry Quinn registry?