Claud Butler Criterium - mid 90s

[philtalksbx]

Time for another project so with a bit of time on my hands I scanned eBay and picked this up last weekend.

It's a Claud Butler Criterium and looking online at catalogues it places around 1994/5/6 vintage. It was listed as spares/repair and at a modest price after a bit of haggling my expectations were managed. Tyres were flat, brittle and cracked, some rust on the top tube and generally dirty and a bit scruffy all over.

On closer inspection, the bottom bracket and headset were sound, Exage 300EX groupset changed and indexed well and the seat post released first time. It is fitted with SPD single sided pedals. There tyres held pressure so I took it out - a total revelation, it rode beautifully and so I lubed the chain and went out a bit further - 18km around Oxford with my son on his 1x9 Raleigh (a past project). Brilliant - a comfortable ride, smooth and rattle/creak/crunch free and even a Strava PB into the bargain on a local flat road.

It may not be a true classic nor the lightest in the world at around 27lbs and the brakes are shocking, but there is definitely something in there.

First steps were to swap the brake pads for some more modern ones in the parts bin, order some bar tape (the acid house purple camo stuff has to go!) and brake cables plus a Stronglight compact crankset (the 52/42 that's on there now would be a bit of a stretch up some of the local hills) then set to with the cleaning products.

Next is to ride it around Oxford looking out for metallic blue cars to sidle up alongside and try to colour match for a rattle can to do some spot repairs on the rusty bits - not thinking of a full strip and spray just yet. The long term plan will evolve over time I'm sure, and I'll post more as bits come and go and it progresses over the summer.

 

[AndyRM]

It's nice that. Light touch restoration is a great way to go.

 

[philtalksbx]

I sort of wanted to go the whole nine yards but it rode so well and with the weather what it is I didn't fancy losing it for a month or so.

 

[Cycleops]

That's nice that is. All you really need is new cables all around, tyres, general lube, dump that awful bar tape and you'll be set.
Looks rather big for you if you've adjusted tha saddle height, it's my size so if you can't get on with it....

 

[philtalksbx]

Saddle height is as received. Here is the reset in a sunnier place after the first decent ride, or was that just my grin?

 

[philtalksbx]

It was the saddle height that worried me most - if it was that low and jammed it would be an awful job to get it out. Thankfully it freed straight away and got moved to a more reasonable height. The frame is 23 inch which for me at 6'1" seems to work nicely.

 

[philtalksbx]

Waiting for some deliveries, hopefully tomorrow, so got down to some basic cleanup tasks. I'm going for white bar tape and cable outers to set off the blue paintwork. The hoods would clearly need some attention...

A sequence of degreaser, followed by a soak and scrub in soapy water and then a crafty sneak into the laundry for a run through the washing machine gave me these..

Now that's better. They'll never last like that but it's nice to know what they once looked like.

 

[philtalksbx]

Update time after a few days waiting for parts and another few days to get the right parts - another story, my fault, but SJS returns service is great and they turned my second order around in double quick time 👍 so here we are.

Claud is now sporting white bar tape and (off) white hoods with white cables looks smart with the blue I think. First time with white tape, will I regret it?




I also went for a 38 tooth inner ring to help me up some of Oxford's occasional climbs. I may still go for a wider range cassette as well as it doesn't quite go where my compact-equipped modern bikes do.




It now rides really well so fine tuning is the order of the day, although some more modern 25mm tyres will probably sneak in sometime soon. There is a bit of judder from the front wheel under braking. It gives quite a thump each revolution. I started looking at wheels and got bored the other day so bought the book and built a Musson special from scrap stuff in the garage to learn a new skill and do the repair work a bit more carefully.


The front wheel is now pretty straight and doesn't have any serious bumps or anything. The headset doesn't move on the rock test but I may go back to that later. I wonder if the modern pads combined with the cantilever callipers are doing some strange grab/release/grab thing? More investigation needed, and of course any suggestions more than welcome.

 

[philtalksbx]

Oh, and a crusty Brooks B17 is on the way via eBay - any recommendations on creams and restoration treatments?

 

[Gunk]

I’m in

 

[Gunk]

Oh, and a crusty Brooks B17 is on the way via eBay - any recommendations on creams and restoration treatments?

wash it first with soap and water and a nail brush, let it dry out and then use saddle soap

 

[philtalksbx]

A frustrating day on the refurb front. The front wheel braking judder was diagnosed on the wheel stand - a dent on one side near the valve hole, I guess from an encounter with a pothole or kerb.

Lots of delicate (and some less so) work with an adjustable spanner on the rim and it is sort of straight. The bump/dent is less than 0.3mm but being so localised will still be felt under braking - and is when tested. The rims are Mavic CXP10, so not the greatest, and I think I may start looking for a new set of wheels or (gulp) think about learning to build one from parts.

The frustration came from an experiment with 28mm tyres. I have a pair of Specialized Armadillo in the garage. I hate them really. Every time I have put them on something I take them off again pretty quickly. I don't like the ride, don't like the grip and they are a pain to get on and off, yet for some reason I keep them as spares.

The Claud has some old and pretty shot 23c tyres so I wondered how it would feel with 28s, even if only these. After a lot of huffing and puffing the front wheel went on fine and looked pretty good. I then did the rear and fitted it. Ahhh...

It rubs on the underside o0f the caliper at a couple of points on the rotation. Only just, but not something that a bit of "adjustment" would fix. So back to the chores of taking them back off, refitting the old Michelins and going back to the starting point. Did I mention the tyres were shot? So it seems are the old tubes - the rear exploded after fitting the tyre over it and the front tyre looks like it has a decayed weak spot and now bulges slightly at one point at 100psi.

It all seems like such a good idea at the start, but these are things one has to discover about old bikes. I am chuffed with the wheel truing stand though. With the addition of an inexpensive DTI from Amazon it is better than I imagined it would be. Maybe self-building is the way to go.

 

[philtalksbx]

Oh, and the Brooks B17 arrived early last night. Needs a bit of TLC so started down that path this morning.

Ready for soaking....

Having read lots of articles and posts on the subject I went for the cable ties with an insulation layer to stop it marking too much. This is a cut up milk carton. I'm leaving it until tomorrow and will start the cream treatment.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The frame is 23 inch which for me at 6'1" seems to work nicely.

I'm surprised it's that small. I would have guessed north of 24" due to the tall head tube. Maybe the wheelbase is a bit less than I think? Plenty of daylight behind the seat tube though, so it's not super-racy.

The Claud has some old and pretty shot 23c tyres so I wondered how it would feel with 28s, even if only these. After a lot of huffing and puffing the front wheel went on fine and looked pretty good. I then did the rear and fitted it. Ahhh...
It rubs on the underside o0f the caliper at a couple of points on the rotation. Only just, but not something that a bit of "adjustment" would fix.

The model name "criterium" should have set the alarm bells ringing!
I got caught out when I got my Dawes Jaguar, which is a bit sportier than Dawes tourers. The tyres on it were Hutchinson HP22, which were skinny as hell and also totally rotten. I didn't have the balls to attempt to ride them at 100 PSI as they would have probably exploded, and I'm usually pretty relaxed about shabby tyres. Tried to be too clever and shoehorn 32mm Marathons on. Worked OK at the front, but the rear was rubbing the frame. No big deal, I got some Marathon 28's instead and kept the 32's for another project.

 

[philtalksbx]

And so to today's update.

A deal too good to resist on eBay Brough me some Mavic Aksium wheels in the solver finish. I know they aren strictly age appropriate to the frame but I'm treating this as a decent steel frame that needs some nice components to ride well. Even better if I can get them for sensible money. I wasn't sure about the tyres to begin with, they are 23mm Specialized Mondo Pro II. That's not a tyre I was familiar with but they went on without levers and I'm warming to the red, white and blue look they bring. Let's leave them there for a bit and see how they go.

The Brooks saddle has had a week of soaking and Proofiding and is in a much better state than when it arrived. Still needs to be sorted for level and tension but that will take a bit of riding to get just right.

There are now a few options for what happens next. Point one, ride it - with the new smooth wheels that is a priority. I'm tempted to upgrade the running gear and I think I am settling on going 8 speed, perhaps with Dura-Ace 7400 series. This is a strictly budget build that has involved a fair bit of reconditioning, and I've been very lucky picking stuff up so far, but if anyone has some that they are keen to move on at sensible prices, please let me know. Otherwise, patience and eBay will continue to be my friends. Exciting times.