A 1952 Claud Butler Olympic Sprint on the Road!
 

Hello all,

I shared this 1952 Claud Butler Olympic Sprint frameset out of excitement sometime after receiving it from a fellow enthusiast in England last year and it's been sitting quietly since... Now I have finally built it up! The frame has bi-laminated construction with an oversized (1 1/8") top tube and road/path ends. The build is nearly to spec with the Claud Butler catalogue from 1952 and it operates quite smoothly after a couple of tweaks... However, after confirming that the bottom bracket was properly set, it was hard to reconcile that the rare and handsome 7" Chater Lea crank arm with the chainring is slightly askew, as the pedal moves inward a bit during the downstroke. It felt very awkward right at first but it's not extreme and I adapted after a few minutes of riding and now I don't notice it. The setup is quite proper for period time trials if you ask me, keeping me low over those curved bars that offer practically nowhere for resting the hands except on the drops!

This is my first experience riding with an inch-pitch block chain, and it does generate a bit of extra rattling noises that I think can be played out with some chain tensioning... I'll be working on that as I feel the desire.

The Presto stem and Brampton B8 pedal cages need to be re-chromed but I will ride the bike as is for a while to consider whether I want to strip and repaint it as well. This is not the original paint and there are numerous scuffs, plus at least the fork crown would have been chromed originally as well. For now I'll just enjoy it and focus my attention on finishing up two more builds... Cheers!

-Gregory

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1091ec0035.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aceb8478a9.jpg
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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2f44e7c978.jpg

And the relevant literature from the 1952 Claud Butler catalogue...

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e148b3a213.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d7c1704264.jpg

That is awesome!

Really beautiful bike. My first ride on a track bike was a 60's Claud as well, although not a Bi-lam. The block chain will get quieter with time as it beds-in and as you said, tweak the chain tension. Your chain shouldn't move up and down more than about a half inch. The axle retainers will allow you to fine-tune with ease.

Beautiful lug work

Lovely bike all round! 💚

Howdy,

Thanks for the compliments, folks, and for the good advice clubman about the chain. I plan to ride the bike on a usual 36-mile route Friday morning to really see how it feels. Cheers!

-Gregory

Very nice, & very vintage-ey. 👍 I agree, awesome lugs there. 😍

Beautiful build.

Nice! Enjoy in good health