Claude Butler

[MartinYorkshire]

I could be entirely wrong but I always thought these things were halfords junk like Apollo and Carerra. A while back I was offered one in near original condition and I told the guy to take it to the skip.

BITD they seemed to be very mundane products sold from halfords or the poorer end bike stores.

Am I really that wrong, is there actually a market for these now?

Amazing really.

Martin

PS. I might be predjudiced, I always had negatives vibes towards halfords. I just found out they now sell GT, so thats another option out the window for my potential retro build.

PPS. Does this make me a bike snob?!

 

[barry2017]

They're like so many other brands. Claud Butler were once arguably the best mass-producer of bikes, but the money men came in.

They did produce some nice mountain bikes though. I have one, don't know what model it was but it is a really well made frame, very evenly brazed (I've seen it stripped of paint, so I know). And someone on here has an Anateus, Reynolds 653. Lovely.

 

[Easy_Rider]

Claud Butler have certainly lost their image now but up to the mid 90's I think they still had a very good reputation, maybe one peg above Dawes in my mind (and that's the Dawes of the past too not now).

drcalros' Anateus very nice indeed, build thread here http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=80682

Crud's Cape Wrath, the last of the steel frames. I had a ride of this and it was very nice and light. Now dismantled though.

 

[mikee]

always liked their alloy framed bikes ,nothing special a generic asian
frame and low endish bits hung on them ,but a nice ride nonetheless
think the grattans catalouge bit did their image more harm than halfords tho

 

[MartinYorkshire]

I think you guys hit the nail on the head. I started all this stuff back in around 1993 and I always remember the brand as what would probably be described these days as "chavvy". Sorry Claude Butler owners..!

I suppose some brands do well and others perish in the maelstrom of marketing hype. One thing I read recently which made me think about this was the purchase of Klein by Trek. I always liked Trek bikes but Klein always seemed a significant cut above. BITD a well heeled person might own a trek, but if they owned a Klein, you knew they were serious about their biking.

As for Grattan, its soft core for shy people. They'd have done better in partnership with Razzle perhaps?

 

[xerxes]

I remember Dawes and Claude Butler from the early 80's when they made road bikes, before mountain bike scene really started in the UK. Both were well respected for their touring and audax frames, if not so much for racing and time trial frames.

This was back in the day when there were little independant frame builders all over the UK making lugged steel frames. Therefore, if you could afford it, you'd get a frame made to measure rather than off the peg. Here in SE Kent at every TT meet you would see dozens of Ashford based, Mike Price built frames.

When the mountain bike scene started, bicycles became very popular but the emphasis moved away from road bikes and handbuilt/made to measure frames and many of the MTB frames were (and still are) made in the far east. Around the late 80's a lot of the little independant frame builders went to the wall and I think long established brands like Raleigh, Claude Butler and Dawes were perceived as a bit staid compared to more innovative brands like Marin, Specialized, Treck, Cannondale etc. Eventually, they shifted their frame poduction overseas and the brand down market.

Now it looks like there's only a handful of lugged steel frame builders left, but it is nice to see that they are still appreciated.

You can't do this with carbon fiber or TIG welding.

 

[IDB1]

Claud Butler, in the 70's (when I were a lad), were well-respected iirc. . .

Handbuilt racing bikes I think??

See a few of their mtb's popping up on ebay now.. can't say I'm remotely tempted...

 

[longun]

great bikes

halfords have always sold good bike iirc ,they dont always have them on display due to higher costs but have always been able to get them

 

[lewis1641]

i think they started on the downward spiral at the start of the aluminium revolution of the mid 90's with those massively oversized, green and black splatter frames. they were terrible bikes with really poor spec and heavy wheels.

rewind a few years (say pre92) and they were producing good quality brazed reynolds frames, hand mabe in my home town with decent components and good wheels.

i really want an early 90's spectre in original trim. my realistic dream bike when i was 11/12

 

[baca01]

those massively oversized, green and black splatter frames. they were terrible bikes with really poor spec and heavy wheels.

my very first mountain bike. Bought second hand with a few choice upgrades when i was 15. Claude Butler Magma.

ended up being with me till i was 22, by which point it was way to small and only the frame was original.

Finally got nicked from the back of the pub i was working at in uxbridge. Still miss the old girl and would do anything to get her back.

:cry: