CLAUD BUTLER BIKES... how good are they?
aznulrizal
Posts: 24
i've identified Giant and Specialized as the manufacturers that i keen of for my very first road bike. This may sound silly... but i tend to fall for the nice graphics/colours of the frame, and Claud Butler ranges are funky enough to get me tempted. the lower tube are also wide and gives the impression of similar frame design as offered by SCOTT and CANNONDALE. Probably that explains why i would not consider Trek as you the graphics design are kinda dull (no offence to Treks' owners out there!!)
Does anyone know the background of this manufacturer. The models are called with several 'italian' names like San Remo and stuffs but i was told that CB are Britain based company. if they are good enough to be categorised as proper racing bikes... how come JEJAMES don't stock them??
Does anyone know the background of this manufacturer. The models are called with several 'italian' names like San Remo and stuffs but i was told that CB are Britain based company. if they are good enough to be categorised as proper racing bikes... how come JEJAMES don't stock them??
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I have a 2005 Milano, which I picked because I prefered the look over the other brands. My CB done me for several thousand miles and I had no complaints with it. I think in the price range, the bikes are pretty much all the same.0
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I have a Claud Butler Vicenza which has an aluminium frame with carbon forks and carbon rear triangle and Campagnolo Xenon equipment. It cost me £500 rather than the £700 list price (from Evans) and has been absolutely fine.
The brand gets no coverage in any magazines so you won't have a cool bike if you get one. However, to me it's a frame with a load of standard components bolted to it so providing the frame is sound (which mine seems to be) I think that it is solid (but not fashionable) bike.
Gav.Gav2000
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him ever'where you go.0 -
Nice avatar Gav!! Is that Vertigo?
(sorry for the hi-jack!)0 -
JST wrote:Nice avatar Gav!! Is that Vertigo?
(sorry for the hi-jack!)
No, it's my Meyers Manx II buggy. It has a 1641 twin carb engine and Wolfrace wheels. It's great fun to drive once your bum toughens up to the fibreglass bucket seats.
Is that your buggy on your avatar? Does it have a hard top?
Gav.Gav2000
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him ever'where you go.0 -
Claud Butler are a brand name of Falcon Cycles (who have been around for years). They make very good bikes for the money as well with high specs compared to others on the market. As an example I bough a CB MTB (Cape Wrath D27) and the spec of it with hydraulic discs, richey rims, truvativ crankset, Shimano Deore gearing, etc, was well under £500 where as if I had bought the same bits on a Specialized, Kona or Marin, it would have cost me at least twice as much. I know that this is not a road bike, but I have been looking at the CB road dikes recently and test rode the Levante and was VERY impressed with it.0
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I have a CB road bike. Unfashionable? Maybe. But a good bike to ride and value for money? Most definitely.
http://www.falconcycles.co.uk/CORP/cb/index.html0 -
I've a Claud Butler tourer (hibernating in shed, hardly used nowadays) bought in 1998 when CB was an independent company. For the job it was made for it was a good price and in the days when I rode it regularly – before 2001, when I began acquiring road race & MTBs – I thought it was reliable, comfortable and not particulary heavy for a steel-framed bike.
Since they were bought I believe the bikes themselves are now made in China, so the "Britishness" is questionable, though to be fair most cheaper-priced products from other bike companies probably are made by workers paid a bowl of rice a day too.0 -
Well, Spcialized is not exactly American either. All their bikes are outsourced to Taiwan, and a large Taiwanese factory has a share holding (I think it is Merida, but I might well be wrong). There is a reasonable chance that one of Giant or Merida makes the CB frames too.
Fortunately, Taiwanese wages are reasonable, just cheaper than here. This is largely to do with currency and the cost of living.0 -
I have a CB San Remo Triple which i bought a few months ago and have knocked up around 800 miles on. I ran it in a 56 mile race in pouring rain and its all good so far. I upgraded the tyres right away to Gatorskins.
Its a solid entry level bike for around 300 squid. I like the fact that it is not a Giant/Trek/Spesh etc. I intend to run it into the ground getting fitter and better and then buy a bike that will then suit my riding and fitness.
Its a 300 quid entry leveller and so I am I!0 -
aberfeldyweather wrote:Its a solid entry level bike for around 300 squid. I like the fact that it is not a Giant/Trek/Spesh etc. I intend to run it into the ground getting fitter and better and then buy a bike that will then suit my riding and fitness.
Its a 300 quid entry leveller and so I am I!
That was exactly my idea, albeit I got a Carrera from Halfords. Normally the only things worth changing on the cheap bikes are the tyres, the rest of the cheap bike tends to be the same stuff as the more expensive bikes albeit with a different name.0 -
Got a 2006 san remo of ebay brand new half price (£150) excellent first road bike after 12 years of delinquent behaviour on fat tyres!!! :twisted:0
