1946 Claud Butler

[ignatzcatz]

I recently got a tip regarding an old Claud Butler which was purchased new in 1947 by a gentleman who recently had passed away. His son had found the bike in the loft of his late fathers' house and recalled polishing this bike for his father in his younger days. He had expressed a desire to have this bike restored back to its' former glory and this is where I come in to the picture. So I got hold of the bike as I have just completed the restoration of a similar vintage Claud. My Claud was a fixed wheel lugless machine and surprisingly this bike although it being a road bike was also lugless. I checked the frame number and its' indicated manufacture is June 1946 so the heritage certainly rings true. I didn't get much else with the frame, only a right hand crank, the bottom bracket fittings, headset some very tired alloy mudguards but the brakes turned out to be the star turn. They are Doherty brakes. They were made in England around 1950 but I know little else about them. Rare they certainly are and they are in quite good order. The crank and 1/8th ring looks very much like an Agrati make but without the left hand crank I think the finished article will have a Williams set.
So the restoration is under way, shot blasting then I shall spray the frame in its' original apple green colour in 2K, panelling and lug-lineing as per period. Components will come from my 'stores' including Airlite hubs on Dunlop special lightweight steel rims, Campagnolo Valentino rear mech, Brooks B17 narrow saddle, and I may go to GB Coureur brakes as I have a complete set of these and save the Dohertys for something else. I'm not sure on the stem yet but I do have some lovely North road bars to use.
Now the only problem is that the frame is 23" which is to big for my 5'6" stature so I shall either sell the bike or just add it to my collection.
I shall post some pics as I progress.

 

[bagpuss]

Re:

Lovely frame set . It will build into a cracking bike . Always been a fan of quality lugless frames . Few could match the builders at CB s for this art of frame building imho . The bikes of today unless hand built by a top frame builder come way behind in terms of finish at the welds .
What type of fork crown has it got?
I had a similar frame a few years back and wish I had kept it .

 

[Robbied196]

Post war 1947 when paying a skilled craftsman at brazing cost less than buying lugs, less steel, more profit. Times have changed.

 

[bduc61]

Re:

lugless is timeless :idea:

and I wonder about the cost factor - even after the war

in France lugless meant higher framemaker status parallel to higher and better welding techniques ( presently I am restoring a 1946 or 1947 Follis bike with lugless frame and they are much rarer than the lugged ones)

I ll swap a lugless frame anytime giving a lugged one (well equivalent tube and framemaker I meant :mrgreen: )

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Look forward to seeing the progress of this one. Be nice to see some close up photos of the tube joins.

 

[ignatzcatz]

Thanks for the words guys. One thing I have to do before the shot blasting and that is to braze up two holes in the top tube which in the past were drilled to accommodate a hidden cable for the back brake. Not the nicest modification and I should imagine not the best thing to do to retain strength in the tubing.
I only recently finished the restoration of another old Claud. This one I bought from a bike jumble, it was a road frame and a right old state it was with a stuck in seat pin and bent forks. I converted it to track ends and fitted other forks and it all turned out quite nice. It rides really nice. Here some piccys . . .

 

[Velo]

All credit to you,that looks great.another one saved. Regards,Chris.

 

[Cefnbikie]

The red Claud is a lovely bike, with a beautiful finish on the frame and components. It will be very interesting to follow the build of the 1946 Claud. I have a soft spot for lugless frames, and have a late 60s Condor Barrachi (which I have had since 1971) in my loft which I hope to restore before too long. Back in the 60s I did have a lugless Hobbs of Barbican, which had a lot of flex in the frame, and it did not ride too well. I used it for a hack bike for some years. But the Barrachi rides superbly, with excellent handling and comfort.

 

[bagpuss]

Re:

Yep nice job on the CB ,look forward to seeing the new project