advice please on upgrading an old Claud Butler tourer

[Darragh]

Hi,

I have an old Claud Butler Dalesman Tourer (Reynolds 531 frame). I bought it second hand a few years ago and I've since used it on a tours around Scotland. As I can't quite afford a Thorn Sherpa yet, I thought I might upgrade this and make it a bit more reliable. Basically I think it could do with a new set of wheels. The rear wheel started to wobble last summer when I loaded it with about 12-14kg. I had it trued but the mechanic said it was coming near the end of its life. It is a six speed, the shifters are on the down tube. The current rims are Wolber super champion 700c.

 I'd like a set of wheels and freewheel that which are quite robust and durable. I'm not quite sure what's the best solution and would appreciate advice and where to go to find suitable parts.

Many thanks,

Darragh

[Danneaux]

Hi Darragh,

You're in the same fix as many of us with "older" bikes. Until my Sherpa, my newest bike was the '89 Miyata 1000LT with index shifting and cassette freehub; all my others use friction shifters and freewheels (the tandem is has indexed shifters and a freewheel).

The trouble is, freewheels are no longer widely available in a range of sizes. I would suggest considering a freehub/cassette combo if you're going for a new set of wheels, but be mindful -- you may well need the shop or a framebuilder to respace the rear triangle across the drops and then reset the dropouts so they are parallel. A 9-speed hub will give you the option of running a 9-sp cassette or -- with a spacer -- an 8-sp. You'll likely need a new chain as well if yours isn't compatible.

Your bike is (in my opinion) a nice one (by memory, I'm guessing it might even be white in color?), and should have some good touring life left in it. Given you're shooting for a Sherpa to replace it, I think I'd set my sights on some good and reliable but basic components to keep costs down so your "hope chest" can grow a bit.

Along those lines, a good setup would be a pair of Alex Adventurer 700C rims, 36-14g DT spokes laced 3x, and some basic Deore hubs. I'm sure others will weigh in with equally good combinations and I'm happy to suggest others as well.

I built up a set of wheels like these for a friend in a similar situation, and he has found them basic but satisfactory and durable for touring on his 700C touring bike. They're not particularly light, but they are reasonably stout. He weighs close to 200 lbs/91kg/~14st, carries 55lb/25kg loads on everything from paved roads to gravel and some light summer dirt-trail use, and I haven't needed to retrue them yet. He's pleased, and it salvaged his older bike for a few more years. I did have to spread the rear and reset the dropouts to make sure they were parallel, but it was a minor cold-setting operation and it checked out as true and even to centerline on my framebuilding fixture. Rather than upgrade his shifters and derailleurs to index, he was content to leave the old friction-shifters and mechs in place, as he was already used to them and this kept costs down as well. Like you, he's looking for a "dream bike" of his own but it will be a couple more years before his custom-bike becomes possible. Meantime, he can still have fun.

If your front wheel is still basically sound, you may be able to get by with just a new rear wheel if you really wish to minimize costs. The money saved could fund a lot of enjoyable tours in the meantime.

Darragh, there's a lot you can do cheaply to keep your present bike going, and -- provided it is otherwise sound -- keep you on the road and touring safely and happily for some time to come.

Best,

Dan.

[Cambirder]

I used to have a Dalesman, which came equipped with lovely Campag drive chain which is probably why it got stolen 

You can still get screw on hubs, SJS do a complete rear wheel for around £25 which would be a nice cheap simple solution.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/700c-%28622%29-rear-36h-unbranded-road-wheel-with-screw-on-freewheel-black-prod26599/

[davefife]

This is not a problem.  5, 6, 7 and 8 speed freewheels and screw on hubs of quality are still available!  Indeed I fit many and always have a selection in stock, even the "megarange 34t"; screwon hubs and freewheels were still being manufactured/fitted well into the period when cassettes were becoming the norm.  I am sure that SJS do freewheels as well.  No idea where you are Darragh and if your tours of Scotland are local to where you live?  I am in Fife and would be happy to discuss options I may be able to provide.
Do keep your dalesman on the road   I still use my 1979 531 road bike, and had a 501 claud butler tourer back in the 80's that took me round Ireland on a 3 week tour.
best
Dave

[Danneaux]

5, 6, 7 and 8 speed freewheels and screw on hubs of quality are still available!

Oh! What welcome news for me, too, Dave. The "shortage" I alluded to might just be on this side of the pond. I may well be contacting you down the road for some freewheels to keep my fleet going. Many have nice Phil Wood freewheel hubs, so I would like to keep them intact if possible.

Best,

Dan.

[Darragh]

Hi all,

Thank you very much for all the helpful advice, much appreciated. Dave I'm not local to Scotland at the moment but I do go up there quite regularly. Where about in Fife are you?

Yes, it's a lovely bike (green actually Danneaux) and quite attached to it. I'm looking forward to taking it on a good tour this summer.

Thanks again guys!

[davefife]

Dan, no worries, one of my wholesalers lists screw on freewheels as "for those addicted to having no need to change to cassettes"!  As you know - Your Phil Wood hubs are of the highest quality, no need to worry.  The difficult to locate freewheels are the close ratio 6 and 7 speeds with the cogs of a thicker  steel and no changing ramps, you get these as a premium price. Narrowing chains and indexing levers led to thinner metal and ramped cogs in the twilight era of freewheels.  I also try and keep non ramped pre index cogs so that replacement onto a good freewheel body is possible.

Screw on hubs disintegrate differently to cassette hubs, attributable to the position of the bearings, the bearing location closer to the drop out on cassette hubs being a big improvement.  Ultimately though failure on both types is due to bearing race cracking on the hub and its fit with the hub body separating.

Darragh, Aberdour on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, opposite Edinburgh - heres who I am www.davesbikeshed.co.uk  let me know if you plan to drop by, all contact details on the site. Dave

[sdg_77]

Darragh - I have an old Claud Butler which I have owned from new over ~26 years,  a Sierra in 531 tubing.  Only the frame is left from the original bike as the original wheels gave up on a tour of Orkney with my daughter in a child seat and the other components generally wore out.

Claud is now on his 3rd back wheel and is used mostly for commuting to work and as a winter bike as he has practical mudguards and a dynamo hub. 

If you like the idea of a Sherpa you might want to try bar end shifters to replace your down tube versions.  I recently went back to dropped bars on Claud and put bar end shifters on to help me decide to go for a Sherpa or not.  I used the Dia Compe ones from Wiggle but I imagine you can get them elswhere too. 

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dia-compe-bar-end-gear-shifter-set/

Oh - after riding Claud for a few weeks with the bar end shifters,  we bought two Sherpas ... hoping to have a first proper ride tomorrow 

hope that helps
sdg.

[Darragh]

Another question for you guys in the know on upgrading an old tourer...

I'd tried putting on wider mudguards so that I could fit 700c x 32 tyres, but the fork doesn't give enough clearance to allow the wider mudguards although there is enough room at the rear to do this. Which means that I am restricted to 700c x 28 tyres.

So I am wondering if it's a good idea to look for a fork that would give me enough clearance to fit wider tyres with mudguards. And if so what specification of fork am I looking for (the original is a reynolds 531)? Or is there really little advantage in being able to have wider tyres and should I just stick with 700x28? Or should I leave off the front mudguards, keep the original forks and have wider tyres?

I'd like to be able to go on slightly rougher paths if possible, although mostly I'm cycling on decent roads.

Many thanks

Darragh

[Danneaux]

Hi Darragh,

I have faced a similar situation many times, and found many solutions to allow me to safely and successfully use fenders where there wasn't ready clearance. With some careful advance planning, a person can put fenders on almost any bicycle and fork combo.

My biggest concern is to make sure the fender clears the tire vertically with sufficient clearance to prevent any jamming of debris between tire and fender; safe clearances vary by use and application, and I prefer more for use on dirt and gravel roads and trails than I do for my pavement-dedicated bikes. The "safe" distance really depends on a given tire/fender/clearance and intended use, but I prefer >5mm for pavement bikes, and 1cm-1.5cm for bikes used in rougher conditions. My tandem is used with road slicks on rough surfaces, and the fenders clear the tires vertically by 2.5cm and it still looks good, thanks to the deep side skirts on the fender that fill the visual gap while allowing great tire clearance.

If -- as in your case -- the fender is too wide for the fork blades (and vertical clearance is still sufficient), the fender can be notched to clear the blades (think: hourglass shape). In more difficult cases, the fender can be split, so it either ends at the rear of the fork crown, or has a split extension forward of the crown, with nothing beneath the crown but the tire. I did this on a friend's Colnago with tight clearances once, and it worked a treat. With untrimmed fenders, it was pretty well topped-out at 23-25mm tires. With a split fender, I could easily get slim 32s to fit for him (vertical clearance was never the problem, it was the width that was at issue with the fenders too wide as everything tried to fit between the blades). My pal at the time was very pleased to get an all-weather bike. Fender profile makes a difference, too; arch-roofed designs are a bit more flexible laterally than square-profile designs but can also curl under at the sides.

This is all illustrated nicely with a short photo-essay from Harris Cyclery: http://blog.harriscyclery.com/low-clearance-rear-fender/ The example shown involves tight clearances at a rear monostay, but the principle is the same as what I have done at the front.

It is pretty easy to modify fenders for width, and lots cheaper than a new fork, which could change the handling. The best tool for the job is a high-speed die grinder or Dremel Moto-Tool, but with care, one can do an amazingly decent job by whittling away with a sharp knife, sanding any rough edges with a piece of sandpaper wrapped around a piece of broomstick.

Hope this helps,

Dan.