Hi, newbie Julian here.
I’ve read and read posts here… I’m hoping that you can please help me identify the model of my Claud Butler?
I’m stuck, I just don’t know enough, I hope that your expertise can unstick me.
A little background.
The bike was my Dads.
I remember it as a kid, hanging in the garage (late 60s-70s).
I also remember it was different back then; it was grey, had rusty steel wheels and spokes, derailleur gears and I think I remember some little frame brackets with pulleys.. for the cables to the conventional rim brakes.
It also had drop handle bars with blue fabric tape on them and a narrow brown Brooks saddle.
It was also fitted with an alloy pump (or could have been white).
I have a vague memory of my Dad telling me how as a school boy he used to ride really close to the back of busses with his front wheel almost touching the rear bumper and when the bus braked his wheel would rub on the bumper and slow him down too.
If he left more of a gap then he would sort of crash into the back of the bus.
He would have lived in West Sussex then, in Yapton, 3 miles North east of Bognor Regis.
Of note, this area is a coastal plain and so flat and good for cycling. He bemoaned moving to hilly Dorset where the cycling was a pain.
In 1948 he was working for Sir Alan Cobham at Tarrant Rushton airfield (where he and my Mum lived in a Nissen Hut with my eldest brother who was about 3 at the time).
Dad was born in mid-August 1923.
This little bit of history goes to explain why I think that this might be the bicycle that my day had as a school boy.
(Increasingly I think this is unlikely. It could also be something he purchased much later, perhaps in the 50s).
Anyway, I think it might be a “Continental” model, not sure which one.
Things I do know:
It is a 22” frame with 41” wheelbase and 26” wheels. Inflator mounts are 16” between cones.
Handle bar stem has AVA stamped on it with a 2.1/2” extension. The stem top clamp seems to be the older style.
The frame lugs seem to be “CB Continental” style.
The rear fork is of the “CB Forward serrated” style.
The mudguard mounts can be seen in the picture are some way up the forks and have slots.
The frame has an in-build chain oiler (nozzle tap missing).
Missing paint all over the frame reveals it seems to have been originally entirely chrome plated.
The chrome forks are round section and have a sharp curve at the bottom.
The have mudguard mounts shown in the picture and a mount for a front light.
Seat post is new, previous alloy one fractured. The diameter is 26.8?
Pedals are BOA and have 55w stamped on the inner ends.
Finally, the frame number is 862567.
June 1948?
rw Bamberg says he might have a 1948 “Track Iron”… serial number 862426.
Swanny: his similar model: 872689 July 38/48
Peachy has frame number: 82595
Losgaintir: 841852
Any help would be gratefully received
I’ve read and read posts here… I’m hoping that you can please help me identify the model of my Claud Butler?
I’m stuck, I just don’t know enough, I hope that your expertise can unstick me.
A little background.
The bike was my Dads.
I remember it as a kid, hanging in the garage (late 60s-70s).
I also remember it was different back then; it was grey, had rusty steel wheels and spokes, derailleur gears and I think I remember some little frame brackets with pulleys.. for the cables to the conventional rim brakes.
It also had drop handle bars with blue fabric tape on them and a narrow brown Brooks saddle.
It was also fitted with an alloy pump (or could have been white).
I have a vague memory of my Dad telling me how as a school boy he used to ride really close to the back of busses with his front wheel almost touching the rear bumper and when the bus braked his wheel would rub on the bumper and slow him down too.
If he left more of a gap then he would sort of crash into the back of the bus.
He would have lived in West Sussex then, in Yapton, 3 miles North east of Bognor Regis.
Of note, this area is a coastal plain and so flat and good for cycling. He bemoaned moving to hilly Dorset where the cycling was a pain.
In 1948 he was working for Sir Alan Cobham at Tarrant Rushton airfield (where he and my Mum lived in a Nissen Hut with my eldest brother who was about 3 at the time).
Dad was born in mid-August 1923.
This little bit of history goes to explain why I think that this might be the bicycle that my day had as a school boy.
(Increasingly I think this is unlikely. It could also be something he purchased much later, perhaps in the 50s).
Anyway, I think it might be a “Continental” model, not sure which one.
Things I do know:
It is a 22” frame with 41” wheelbase and 26” wheels. Inflator mounts are 16” between cones.
Handle bar stem has AVA stamped on it with a 2.1/2” extension. The stem top clamp seems to be the older style.
The frame lugs seem to be “CB Continental” style.
The rear fork is of the “CB Forward serrated” style.
The mudguard mounts can be seen in the picture are some way up the forks and have slots.
The frame has an in-build chain oiler (nozzle tap missing).
Missing paint all over the frame reveals it seems to have been originally entirely chrome plated.
The chrome forks are round section and have a sharp curve at the bottom.
The have mudguard mounts shown in the picture and a mount for a front light.
Seat post is new, previous alloy one fractured. The diameter is 26.8?
Pedals are BOA and have 55w stamped on the inner ends.
Finally, the frame number is 862567.
June 1948?
rw Bamberg says he might have a 1948 “Track Iron”… serial number 862426.
Swanny: his similar model: 872689 July 38/48
Peachy has frame number: 82595
Losgaintir: 841852
Any help would be gratefully received
