Claud Butler Dalesman, old skool cool or waste of space?
Discussion
Getting right back into this cycling malarky but getting a little frustrated with the ground conditions round here (Rugby). It's seriously wet at the mo and any off road trips seem to end up with me having to push the bike through a complete quagmire at some point. Cleaning takes ages (it's a new Trek EX7 so I'm still a bit precious about it!) and whilst I don't mind if it's been a long weekend ride, a quick evening blast hardly seems worth getting it filthy (and storage issues mean it needs to go away clean!) and I'm tempted to stay on-road until I find some better evening routes or it dries out a bit. And fantastic as my bike is, even a decent full susser is rubbish on road compared to a bike designed for it.
So I was thinking about digging out my old road bike which has been lamenting at my mum's place ever since I moved out about 15 years ago. It's a very old skool Claud Butler Dalesman, about 1989-ish and was built up rather than being off the shelf.
Gunmetal grey Reynolds 531 tubes, Araya rims, wide flange hubs, polised ally Shimano 105 non-index groupset, Cinelli bars, grab-on grips etc...you get the picture! When it was new it was quite a beasty and a great long distance bike. Altough the Dalesman frame is a tourer, it was set up with skinny wheels, no mudguards etc.
As it's been sat for such a while it will almost certainly need new cables throughout, tyres, bearings and a chain, and a swap to SPDs and probably a decent saddle. I seem to remember it was undergeared as I could happily push top on the flat so it might need a new chainset too, although having turned 30 a few years ago and drank a few beers along the way may well sort that out anyway!
So, that's a good £100 or so before I've even started, question is will it be a "retro cool" bike (I just LOVE that Charge Plug!) or just a waste of money and I'd be better off spending the money on road tyres for the Trek or getting a 2nd hand more modern roadie if I really feel the need?
Any thoughts?
So I was thinking about digging out my old road bike which has been lamenting at my mum's place ever since I moved out about 15 years ago. It's a very old skool Claud Butler Dalesman, about 1989-ish and was built up rather than being off the shelf.
Gunmetal grey Reynolds 531 tubes, Araya rims, wide flange hubs, polised ally Shimano 105 non-index groupset, Cinelli bars, grab-on grips etc...you get the picture! When it was new it was quite a beasty and a great long distance bike. Altough the Dalesman frame is a tourer, it was set up with skinny wheels, no mudguards etc.
As it's been sat for such a while it will almost certainly need new cables throughout, tyres, bearings and a chain, and a swap to SPDs and probably a decent saddle. I seem to remember it was undergeared as I could happily push top on the flat so it might need a new chainset too, although having turned 30 a few years ago and drank a few beers along the way may well sort that out anyway!
So, that's a good £100 or so before I've even started, question is will it be a "retro cool" bike (I just LOVE that Charge Plug!) or just a waste of money and I'd be better off spending the money on road tyres for the Trek or getting a 2nd hand more modern roadie if I really feel the need?
Any thoughts?
Edited by Hard-Drive on Friday 22 February 17:33
cheers, its my p&j at the moment!
I live in manchester which is pretty much flat so hills are not a problem, I wouldnt recommend it if you live anywhere with lots of gradient though. I've ridden single speed (still with a freewheel) for about 6 months and love it, nothing to go wrong, no gears that need adjusting, more efficiency etc.
I've been trying fixed for the last week and its ok, but I dont really see why some people rave about it so much. Its good because it stops you being lazy, helps you learn to spin better, and is even simpler than SS, but the danger associated and the fact you cant freewheel down big hills puts me off a bit. I'm gonna give it another few weeks and see how it goes, might go back to SS.
I would definitely recommend giving SS riding a go, you can buy a conversion kit from DMR for about £35, ditch all your old gear components and go for it.
Let us know how you get on!
I live in manchester which is pretty much flat so hills are not a problem, I wouldnt recommend it if you live anywhere with lots of gradient though. I've ridden single speed (still with a freewheel) for about 6 months and love it, nothing to go wrong, no gears that need adjusting, more efficiency etc.
I've been trying fixed for the last week and its ok, but I dont really see why some people rave about it so much. Its good because it stops you being lazy, helps you learn to spin better, and is even simpler than SS, but the danger associated and the fact you cant freewheel down big hills puts me off a bit. I'm gonna give it another few weeks and see how it goes, might go back to SS.
I would definitely recommend giving SS riding a go, you can buy a conversion kit from DMR for about £35, ditch all your old gear components and go for it.
Let us know how you get on!
Nice one.
Well, I picked up the Claud from my mum's place but it's in a bit of a state after 10 years! Certainly needs a total strip down and a respray and quote a few new parts.
Tyres are also history but at 27x1 they are proving impossible to find...27x1 1/8 is the closest I can find. So my options are go for that, or change wheels to 700c, but I guess I might need new calipers in that event. Perhaps I'll just go for the bigger tyres (as it's only a tiny bit bigger) and try and keep as many of the original components as possible.
It's fairly flat near me but there are one or two short sharp hills which could ruin single riding...and I'd certainly want to try a fixie before going down that route...although it sounds cool.
Main problem with freewheeling is my freewheel...it freewheels both ways at the moment...not good!
Well, I picked up the Claud from my mum's place but it's in a bit of a state after 10 years! Certainly needs a total strip down and a respray and quote a few new parts.
Tyres are also history but at 27x1 they are proving impossible to find...27x1 1/8 is the closest I can find. So my options are go for that, or change wheels to 700c, but I guess I might need new calipers in that event. Perhaps I'll just go for the bigger tyres (as it's only a tiny bit bigger) and try and keep as many of the original components as possible.
It's fairly flat near me but there are one or two short sharp hills which could ruin single riding...and I'd certainly want to try a fixie before going down that route...although it sounds cool.
Main problem with freewheeling is my freewheel...it freewheels both ways at the moment...not good!
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