1965 Claud Butler - Gentle Restoration

[Rothchild]

Just thought I'd share a few snaps of my first proper vintage bike restoration / service, a 1965 Claud Butler 'European' with (as far as I can tell completely original spec).

The bike came to me having had one owner from new and obviously much loved. As far as I can tell the only parts that aren't original are the tires and cable housings, my restoration will add to that new (replica) brake hoods and replacement bar tape. Otherwise the plan was to keep it all original (patina and all), just to give it a thorough deep clean and full service.

Before:

 

[Rothchild]

Re:

Just a few more bits to do now, waiting for the new brake hoods so I can cable up and deciding whether to put the bottle cage back on or not.

After:

 

[Markone]

Very nice!

 

[Old Ned]

Oooh, that's a bit spooky! I was only looking at CB ads in old Sporting Cyclist mags this morning featuring details of this model. The ad said it had Weinmann centre pulls but the illustration showed Universal like yours. Personally I prefer the look of the Universals - but where are you sourcing the lever hoods? I obtained some several years ago on e-bay from Italy - and they weren't inexpensive!

I like the colour BTW!

 

[Rothchild]

Thanks both!

Ned, I've gone for the expensive italian replicas on the brake hoods. Those and the nice metal derailer cable thing are going to represent a significant proportion of the value of the bike when I'm done!

The brake calipers are very nicely put together, a really solid bit of engineering! Earlier models apparently had Mafac items but yes, this is all Universal (and i've no reason to doubt they're not original).

The colour is nice although it's a bit faded on the other side, to a not unpleasant sort of bluey turquoise, it's only apparent if you're really looking though.

 

[Rothchild]

The hoods turned up today and are looking pretty good, I've got them on and I'm tinkering with getting the brake routing sorted out, I went and found the 1965 catalogue to get a sense of what the style was for setup, and wadayaknow Ned, the '65 model was sold as having universal brakes.

http://www.nkilgariff.com/CBcats/Cat_65/european.jpg

Before I tighten this all up and add bar tape I'm after tips about the angle of the bars and where the levers go, I think I've got it close to what's in the catalogue (it's moved on since I took the picture here, as they were obviously too low).

Is there a rule of thumb that folk would follow on a bike like this, like drops parallel? brake hoods parallel? Looking at the catalogue image is doesn't seem like either of those is actually the case but if there is a reference I can work it to that would be helpful.

 

[The History Man]

I shall call peachy for you.

 

[Peachy!]

Not sure if I can add anything to help....

I’ve only ever set my levers for me.. not really bothered with what’s supposed to be “correct”

Nice clean-up... I’ve got a set of those Universals put away for my Torino, I’ll be interested to see how they work for you.

 

[The History Man]

Re:

I was once told tips of bars point to rear axle and levers should be quite high for top upright position riding as you only get on the drops when in anger.

Your bike though.

 

[Rothchild]

Thanks, I think they're headed in the right direction now. Still not entirely sure about the cable routing over the bars (especially the rear) but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Just hoping the weather dries up a bit so I can give it a test run without undoing all my cleaning work!