Cliff Shrubb Reynolds 708 Restoration

[juice.bikes]

Been meaning to get involved in this place for a while so thought I might as well start off with my current project and update with the builds progress. Built by Cliff Shrubb in Reynolds 708 - Rifled like Columbus SLX apparently and Bocama lugs with a Cinelli BB.

Both the headset and bottom bracket were gone, completely so out they went and replaced with a matching headset and a Suntour Superbe Pro bottom bracket. The fork had some writing in permanent marker "Ice Blue 7-2-90" which I assume means the frame was built in 1990 or it went in for a respray then. Serial number is 0438 which is a few down from my gold Lo-Pro.

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Ended up going for a respray with Mario Vaz in Ice Blue which I've left at my old work. Finish is meh but looks decent from a distance. Going to try and order some original decals from H Lloyd along with 708 decals to match in the next couple of days.

Plan for parts is to go Suntour 1x with risers.. lol. Yeah, this is due to building it up for a friend who isn't keen on drops but to be honest 1x riser set up is quite fun/easy to ride even if a bit sacrilegious.


Photos of current state of frame below -

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So currently on the lookout for cheap Superbe Pro bits, if anyone has some kicking about let me know.

H

 

[peetee]

Interesting find. I’m curious to know which incarnation of 708 this is. Details of the tubing are a bit sketchy but of the two tubeset options Touristique and Classic the former had an oversized 28.6mm top tube and the latter has 25.4mm.
Those lugs are like nothing I have seen before. Thin walled as lightweight, quality items should be but with cut outs only on the head tube section and quite long sleeves on the top and down tube sections.

 

[juice.bikes]

I believe its the classic, top tube looks visually identical to my Cliff Shrubb lo-pro which is of 708 Classic tubing and not oversize. They both have the same ping too. One thing that differs is the chainstays, the lo pro has rounder stays while this has more ovalised tubes.

They must have been filled in then thinned down for a cleaner look. Can't seem to find any examples of Bocama lugs from searching online

 

[Chat Noir]

Re:

Here's a page from the 1991 Reynolds catalogue - shows Classic but not the Touristique, never come across tube details for this.

I have a Peugeot 708 Classic, beautiful frame and bike and also a tatty 708 frame waiting for attention as a lock-down special, both from 1993.

Just one observation from the catalogue. There are debates about the correct seat post sizes and this page specifies 26.6 for Metric 753 and 653. My 2 753s and 1 653 all take 26.8 seat posts so my experience is that the seat post is the size that it is and not necessarily what it's supposed to be. Doesn't specify for 708 but mine take 27.2.

Good luck.

 

[kingbling]

My friend Bill had a few frames built for him by Cliff and still has one to this day that he rides regularly he repainted it in 2016 and got the decals from H Lloyd

 

[juice.bikes]

Re: Re:

Just one observation from the catalogue. There are debates about the correct seat post sizes and this page specifies 26.6 for Metric 753 and 653. My 2 753s and 1 653 all take 26.8 seat posts so my experience is that the seat post is the size that it is and not necessarily what it's supposed to be. Doesn't specify for 708 but mine take 27.2.

Good find. I have to agree with what you said above. My Aende in 653 takes a 26.8 seatpost. Both my 708's take 27.2 seatpost perfectly.

 

[juice.bikes]

My friend Bill had a few frames built for him by Cliff and still has one to this day that he rides regularly he repainted it in 2016 and got the decals from H Lloyd

Got any photos of Bills bike? I've been trying to get through to Lloyd for a few days no, no reply via email or call. Ended up buying some other repro transfers from fleabay which are due to arrive on the weekend hopefully.

Would love to get my hands on some original transfers in gold and white.

 

[garanti_construit]

What a beautiful frame.

 

[howlindawg]

That frame ticks a lot of boxes for me;

• Nice clean lugs
  Lovely seat stay arrangement
  Sloping fork crown
  Angled brake bridge

Very elegant.

 

[juice.bikes]

Thanks for the compliments above.

Whats strange about this frame is it doesn't have any routing for cables. The hole isn't threaded btw. Plus I don't really want to use a cable guide clamp so looking into extra sticky tape or glue to stick a plastic guide along the bottom so it looks neater. Unless there are alternatives?