1982 Claud Butler Majestic

[Jonners]

Hi folks,
New Retrobike joiner, first post, first 'new' (to me) bike in nearly 25 years! Go easy...

A couple of years ago my employer ran a 'cycle to work' scheme. I wondered whether or not to take the plunge, but was concerned about spending the large amount of money that is required for a modern road bike and associated kit when I wasn't certain that cycling was going to be for me.

As I'm a big fan of 'old stuff', I quickly decided to look for a 'classic' bike instead and use it as a rolling renovation to learn about bike maintenance. In the end I settled on a 1982 Claud Butler Majestic with a 24.6" frame which cost me less than £200 on a well-known online auction site and was collected on my way home from a work trip.

New tyres 'n tubes were a no-brainer. The original mudguards were cracked and damaged so have been replaced with Bluemells guards, and the non-original saddle was replaced by a brown leather Brookes B17.

After 3 broken rear spokes I replaced the wheel but retained the original hub - after finding the correct tool - as it ran much more smoothly. Both hubs were cleaned and regreased. I bought new straps to replace the perished leather toeclip straps, but at the moment I'm running the bike with MTB pedals.

The bike is now mechanically pretty sound, but after 40 years the paintwork has a certain patina! I'd like to touch it up, so if anyone can give me some top tips about a suitable enamel paint I'd love to hear from you.

Some of my bike-mad work colleagues raised their eyebrows when they first saw it, but their banter soon stopped when I told them how much it had cost me! My wife also did a double-take recently, but that was because she had misread the 'Eroica' logo on my new cycling jersey as having a 't' in the middle...

Jon

 

[Dicky71]

A nice practical bike for riding to & from work without having to apply a 2nd mortgage. How tall are you? You might consider levelling the saddle to avoid back issues. As for the wifes comment, it might be wishfull thinking.

 

[Jonners]

Dicky, I'm 6' 3" so I think the 24.5" (my typo in the original post) is only just big enough! I started with a more level saddle angle but felt as though I was constantly trying to slide forwards, or as though I needed to position the saddle a little further back than it would go. That's possibly an indication that I could do with a slightly larger frame, but I'm certainly no expert. Tilting the saddle back slightly gives me a comfortable riding position with no back discomfort, even though it looks slightly odd.
Jon

 

[Ciclista59]

A great looking bike. Dicky71's comments on avoiding back issues are important - I'd also be concerned with damaging your "nether regions" with a saddle in that position - it might be worth Googling that one as there has been significant research into the subject. There are some quite alarming reports! Playing around with the saddle position starting from level would avoid this and help find a position where you don't feel as if you are sliding forward. Good luck.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

A period SR Sakae micro adjust seat post should give you some more adjustment. Agree with the saddle position comments, I end up with the nose just higher than the rear. I use a spirit level first to make sure its level and on a level surface.

 

[jim haseltine]

A saddle that's a long way from level means there's something wrong with the bike setup. Nose down usually means that the stem is too low or too long (although steep saddles seem to be something of the fashion at the moment) while nose high points at the saddle being too high. You feel like you're sliding forwards because your legs are having to stretch to reach the pedals and your body is moving forwards to try to compensate. I'm 6'3" (or was in my younger years, probably shrunk a bit now) and ride a 23" - with long cranks too. A quick and dirty method for finding approximate saddle height is with support to try spinning the cranks backwards with your heels on the pedals and dropping the saddle until you can do it without having to stretch or rock. After that you can fine tune it by what feels comfortable.

 

[Jonners]

Thanks for the very helpful comments, folks; as you're all obviously much more knowledgeable than I am on the subject I'll follow your collective advice and see what I can come up with. All appreciated.
Jon

 

[Imlach]

Welcome to RB, nice bike. Know nowt about road bikes. I have a fair few leather saddles on various bikes, quite a few of them I tilt backwards. Never caused me any issues, always been comfortable.

But I'm inclined to give @jim haseltine 's tip a go.