Claud Butler Professional 1997

Re: raleigh

phoog":316wi0fb said:
tim2":316wi0fb said:
Very suprised to see the Raleigh badged bike. When this Claud was made this frame was made in the factory in Brigg. It was not contracted out or bought in from far east. The only way there could be a Raleigh version is a total copy( which I am unaware of from that time) or its a respray/ rebage job;. Certainly Falcon never supplied any frames to Raleigh.

is that 100% ? I'm pretty sure that the CB one I had was made in Thailand (supplied with a made in Thailand sticker under the BB) I'd always assumed they were generic as I'm pretty sure I've seen a few with differing makes
a really really good frame . . . one of the best I've ever ridden

The Professional frame with the web type lugs was Brigg built in the Falcon frame shop. The factories in Thailand tended to Tig weld frames there was no lugged frames made in Thailand for CB. There were bikes assembled there but not this model. The logistics of getting small volumes of tube sets from Reynolds to a foreign maker and then shipped back again did not make commercial sense when this bike was in production and the Brigg frame shop was still making a lot of frames. It was only the advent of tig weld alloy that eroded the steel market and lead to the demise of the Falcon frame shop some years later. The frame number stamped in the bb will identify it as Brigg built. Falcon imported low end steel frames and later some of the basic Reynolds frames tig welded but the high end low volume was all built at the Brigg facility. If you have a lugged Reynolds steel made in Thailand Claud Butler professional please send some photos and a frame number as I would be keen to know its origin. Terry Bill of Reynolds supplied all the tube sets and the frames were built under the guidance of Pete White who was in charge of the frame shop at the time and had a full Reynolds 753 build cert. Puggy and Banger were in charge of making them straight and fault free.
It is quite possible you have seen similar frames to the Pro since this lug set could used by other makers, it was not exclusive to CB. The geometry would be different though. I am not aware or have ever seen any evidence that CB ever made any for other brands under contact. Capacity was stretched at the factory to meet their own demands.
 
picked up this '96 Reynolds 653 tubed frame at a reasonable price after falling in love with the retro/mod lug design, it had been totally stripped of paint then clear coated giving the appearance a kind of gun metal colour, to do it justice I built it up with Campag Chorus 10spd including a period Record chainset, Cinelli bars and stem plus a Rolls saddle.....the ultra short wheelbase means only 700/20c tyres fit CB 3.JPG CB4.jpg
 
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picked up this '96 Reynolds 653 tubed frame at a reasonable price after falling in love with the retro/mod lug design, it had been totally stripped of paint then clear coated giving the appearance a kind of gun metal colour, to do it justice I built it up with Campag Chorus 10spd including a period Record chainset, Cinelli bars and stem plus a Rolls saddle.....the ultra short wheelbase means only 700/20c tyres fitView attachment 634013View attachment 634015
Small world - that's what I sold on to you Griff!
 
picked up this '96 Reynolds 653 tubed frame at a reasonable price after falling in love with the retro/mod lug design, it had been totally stripped of paint then clear coated giving the appearance a kind of gun metal colour, to do it justice I built it up with Campag Chorus 10spd including a period Record chainset, Cinelli bars and stem plus a Rolls saddle.....the ultra short wheelbase means only 700/20c tyres fitView attachment 634013View attachment 634015
Looks excellent, a great build!
 
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