Claud Butler puzzle

alanr13

Retro Newbie
I bought a second hand Claud Butler in 1982. I think it was refurbished and resprayed in the late 1970’s because it has a Suntour Vx derailleur which, I think, came out in 1977. I have been trying to date the frame from the site with the old CB catalogues, but it never seems to quite match up. The numbers under the bottom bracket are very indistinct and badly stamped. But these are the features of the frame:
Campag front and rear ends ( which only feature in the catalogue as an option from the 1967Cordon Bleu).
Semi wrap-around seat stays. Lugs look like Nervex, but the head lugs are quite plain
Has a brazed on front lamp boss but no pump pegs
Has brazed on cable tidies (but NOT cable stops) on TOP of the top tube and cable tubes under the bottom bracket.
Photos attached. Can anyone help identify this frame? Thanks Alan
 

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Under BB guides and the matching under chainstay stop place it firmly in the 80's if they are original to the frame... As do the top tube guides but it still has nutted brakes. The Reynolds sticker is from a much earlier period, how curious.
 
Thanks Old School
Well spotted the 531 transfer. This is definitely older and no clue there.
The nearest spec I can find in the CB/Holdsworth catalogue is the 1981 Italia- Campag ends, gear cable stop under the chainstay etc. But this does not make sense. I bought the bike s/h early in 1982-I brought it home and was giving it a going over whilst listening to the Falklands invasion on the radio. The frame had no decals, but had nice gold linework around the lugs and chrome ends ( chrome on steel-always a disaster!) and seemed to have been a respray-so why would this be on a year old bike?. The fittings are a mixture- Super Champion Gentleman rims on nuovo small flange hubs; Sakae HB's on a Milremo stem, Brooks professional saddle; Weinmann brakes with quick release; nice Campag pedals with Christophe toeclips; Maillard 5 speed block (14-32!);Tange BB set.
Any more ideas you might have would be most welcome. I am beginning to wonder whether it is an earlier frame that has been upgragded -or perhaps nt CB at all!
 
Re:

If it had been refinished, the cable guides could have been aan add on do you think?
 
It's probably a Holdsworth-built Claud Butler from the mid-60s to early 70s with later braze-ons for the brake cables. Perhaps an Olympic Road frame, which appears to have these lugs. Other CB models may also have a similar lug style but the pictures in the catalogues are too indistinct to say for sure.

CB certainly used under-bracket cable guides in the early to mid 1950s, but they were tubular, rather than the cutaway style shown here, but it is quite possible that these are Holdsworth versions.

As already mentioned, you can find the frame number on the steerer tube, which would help identify the year.
 
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