Another ID help request.

[Steve1733]

Try as I might...and I've tried, I'm struggling with putting an age and model name to this bike.

Here's what I know.
It's a Claud Butler built for 10 speed.
It has two sets of markings on the BB which read ID TD11 3UGDU and 002246 which is also stamped on the steering tube. There is also a hole for oiling.
The original colour is a Lilac/Mauve.
Brazed on lamp holder, cable stops and, under the top tube, pump pegs. There is no provision for a bottle cage.
Reynolds 531 forks. No mention of Reynolds on the frame.
Metal head badge.
Weimann 750 vainqueur 999 centre pull brakes.
Shifters are Sachs Huret as is the front derailuer.
The bars are engraved either side of the stem and say "Falcon Cycles" on one side and "Sakae Custom" on the other.
The transfer on the seat tube has black, yellow, red and blue bands at both the top and bottom of it as did the one on the top tube. The name Claud Butler is on the down tube.

From the research I've done I'm leaning towards it being from the mid 70's and I think the bars and Sachs Huret equipment have been changed from the originals. I'm restoring the bike and here's where I'm at.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.
Steve.

 

[biggs682]

first place to look if original wheels check the stampings on the hubs should be 2 sets of 2 digits ie 05 81 and that would equate to 5 th week of 1981 so good place to start and then if brake calipers are original they normally have a date ring with 1 - 12 in a circle and the last 2 digits of actual year in the middle .

i would guess around late 70's as well

 

[Steve1733]

Bingo! After cleaning up the brakes I've discovered it's from 1976.

Now, along with the numbers in the circle are the letters o n d which could represent the last three months of the year? From the date in the centre of the circle on each brake, there's a line pointing towards the letter o so I'm to say the bike was made in October 1976.

All I have to do now is scour old catalogues to try and nail down the model.

 

[Ed no-more-lemons]

Quite similar to this Super Electron Five?
The only inconsistency I noticed is that neither this bike nor my other Electron has an oil hole to the bottombracket. I havn't yet fully researched these bikes but the other dates at around '75 or '76 and is a ten-speed cotterless. Both have a five digit frame number beneath the bottombracket.

If you haven't seen this it may well help
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/ClaudButler.htm,
there are also some catalugue images available on Flickr.

 

[Steve1733]

I can see similarities, but mine doesn't come with the piece string (sorry couldn't resist). Looking at the head badge on yours it appears to be riveted on either side? Mine is riveted top and bottom. Minor detail I suppose unless badges were riveted on the left and right on some models.

I spent a lot of time reading the website you mention before making this post. It's very informative and since finding out the date of my bike it may be a "Cavalier" which was reintroduced in mid 76. I say this because that model came with safety levers on the brakes. That is the case with mine, but that's assuming they are the original ones. The bike is a bit of a mongrel so they may have been added by some previous owner.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Brakes with suicide levers were common to low-end spec bikes of that period, I'd suspect they were original as nobody would add such hopeless features! The light boss and tha fact that it's only the forks which are 531 again suggest a basic model.
I gave away a similar frame some years ago ( that was given to me and was waaay to big) and the name Olympic sticks in my mind.
Nice project anyhow!

 

[Steve1733]

The lack of a Reynolds decal on the frame lead me to believe it was a low end model. Good point about no-one fitting suicide brakes so they probably are the originals. This leads me further towards it being a "Cavalier" as it's the only C.B. which is advertised with this feature that I've found up to now. They didn't make many of them presumably because the suicide feature was effective!

 

[Ed no-more-lemons]

Brakes with suicide levers were common to low-end spec bikes of that period, I'd suspect they were original as nobody would add such hopeless features

At the risk of sounding controversial, I may well fit the suicide lever bars from my Avater to one Electron as I find them useful/ familiar at low speeds in an upright stance.
Steve your handlebars are almost certainly a later addition IMO. As I think Claud Butler Holdsworth always fitted their own branded handlebars stamped GB on the left and with an outline of Britain on the right. Also from looking at comparable CB's they do not usually seem to have 'suicide levers' (I've a feeling they were not introduced until the very late '70's, and even then whether Claud Butler used them I'm not to sure).

I have tried to find some images of the Cavaliar, to have a closer look at the lugging butting up to the headset races. As I have noticed more detail here on the higher end models. The Electron has a plain band here at both the top and bottom of the headset tube(as my photo should show).
Incidentally my headset badges are riveted top and bottom and the frame is surprisingly light(yet to weigh it) without wheels. Even if the tubing is not that good, they still make for a nice ride. Good luck with ID'ing your CB.
Nb this looks good
http://s957.photobucket.com/albums/ae60/cannondaleking1/Claud Butler cavalier/?action=view&current=DSC_00122.jpg

 

[Fab Foodie]

At the risk of sounding controversial, I may well fit the suicide lever bars from my Avater to one Electron as I find them useful/ familiar at low speeds in an upright stance.
Steve your handlebars are almost certainly a later addition IMO. As I think Claud Butler Holdsworth always fitted their own branded handlebars stamped GB on the left and with an outline of Britain on the right. Also from looking at comparable CB's they do not usually seem to have 'suicide levers' (I've a feeling they were not introduced until the very late '70's, and even then whether Claud Butler used them I'm not to sure).

I have tried to find some images of the Cavaliar, to have a closer look at the lugging butting up to the headset races. As I have noticed more detail here on the higher end models. The Electron has a plain band here at both the top and bottom of the headset tube(as my photo should show).
Incidentally my headset badges are riveted top and bottom and the frame is surprisingly light(yet to weigh it) without wheels. Even if the tubing is not that good, they still make for a nice ride. Good luck with ID'ing your CB.
Nb this looks good
http://s957.photobucket.com/albums/ae60/cannondaleking1/Claud Butler cavalier/?action=view&current=DSC_00122.jpg

Controversial is OK, but there are much better solutions available now than 'Suicide levers'

Take a look at the bike in the middle of this pic, particularly the handlebars ....
http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Claud_Butler-76/1.JPG

Which could mean it's a Cavalier .... bracket on the forks and 'Safety levers' plus it's a 'new model' in 76.
http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Claud_Butler-76/2.JPG

In the very early 80s commuting in London, CB Majestics/Majestiques + Karrimor Green panniers were the primary weapon of choice. I'd love to find a Majestique as restoration project. They must have made loads.

 

[Ed no-more-lemons]

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!
Presumably handlebars stamped "Falcon Cycles" made by Sakae would not have been supplied to the CB factory.
Looks like a nice example http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180957025005?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 here, although probably not much restoration to do.
Ok another sweeping statement/question, don't most vintage 60's/70's Claud Butler bikes come with 531 bracketed forks. The Electron certainly did.

 

[Steve1733]

I read on here that there was a glut of 531 forks in the 70's so I guess they would have used them up on the lower end range of bikes.

Just a bit more information about the bike taken from an e-mail I received in November of last year from the wife of it's previous owner, who states.

"Bought 3rd hand in 1980. About 45 years old and it has travelled through Canada, France and all over UK. Hubby was lucky enough to get a Large framed Claud Butler from Edinburgh freecycle 3 years ago and rebuilt that".

I'm glad I was able to retrieve this e-mail and now I intend to contact the previous owner to see if he can remember the model name of his old C.B.

 

[biggs682]

I can see similarities, but mine doesn't come with the piece string (sorry couldn't resist). Looking at the head badge on yours it appears to be riveted on either side? Mine is riveted top and bottom. Minor detail I suppose unless badges were riveted on the left and right on some models.

I spent a lot of time reading the website you mention before making this post. It's very informative and since finding out the date of my bike it may be a "Cavalier" which was reintroduced in mid 76. I say this because that model came with safety levers on the brakes. That is the case with mine, but that's assuming they are the original ones. The bike is a bit of a mongrel so they may have been added by some previous owner.

re yours not having string that de values the bike by a huge margin , so leave it in back garden and i will be around later to take it off you foc