my dad's going to sell his old claud butler bike, and i was wondering firstly if anyone on here would be interested or could suggest a rough price estimate and/or a site that might be worth trying to get a decent price for it and for it to go to a good home. he emailed me the description and pics this morning:

Frame: 22 ½ inch Reynolds 531 steel tubing painted in mauve
Wheels: 25 inch aluminium narrow rims with Pelissier hubs
Front mech: Shimano Exage 300LX with three chain wheels
Rear mech: Shimano 600 with six gear wheels
Headset: Tange
Saddle: Middlemore traditional leather
Brakes: Traditional centre pull

any thoughts, anyone? didn't put this in the classifieds as i'm after feedback, though if anyone wants to make an offer then get involved. he lives in oxford and it would probably be collection only.

cheers!

That's lovely. Ebayers should usually give well give over £100 for it, possibly quite a lot more(£250 tops maybe?). A model name (Dalesman?) and size would help, and is it 700c or 27" wheels(tyres will be marked as 622 for 700c, 630 for 27")? Retrobike website would be a good place to ask too, if only to confirm model and age for a better description. I'd be interested, except I already have a classic Dawes 531 tourer. Yours is prettier, mind.

I've not watched this sort of thing on ebay but I'd be flabbergasted oif you got £250 for it. I'd have thought £50-100.

It's ~20 years old, isn't rare or collectable, has redundant technology (screw on freewheel, non indexed/sti shifting, wasn't particularly expensive in its day.

The frame will ride well though 😀

Interesting shade of 'Mauve'

Actually, is it mauve? am I being stupid?

it might be a bit of an old man's choice of word, but i believe that is a mauve!

and cheers for suggestions, chaps, i'll pass them on.

If its got slidey dropouts, it might be worth splitting and selling as f&f for the fixie brigade. If its a brooks saddle, its going to be worth £25+ for a start. Good luck with it.

As above, try on Retrobike and maybe LFGSS.

Oh, have you seen this one, has all the trimmings but looks similar.

eBay Dalesman

Oh, have you seen this one, has all the trimmings but looks similar.

eBay Dalesman

cynic-al, I hope your gast has been suitably flabbered.

Having been around this site for a while I would have thought you would know better than to underestimate people's propensity to buy any old tat for high prices especially if it has some niche value (albeit the OP's bike looks nice).

Flatboy, I'm really impressed that your dad is Claude Butler, I thought Claude was just an imaginary figure like say, Captain Birdseye.

cynic-al, I hope your gast has been suitably flabbered.

Its not had any bids! 😯

Flatboy, I'm really impressed that your dad is Claude Butler, I thought Claude was just an imaginary figure like say, Captain Birdseye.

haha, no he's the real deal. i feel genetically blessed. 🙂

Seriously, it might well be worth splitting it up, cleaning the parts and selling them individually on fleaBay.

Or…

A mate of mine was given a very similar bike and turned it into a very chic-looking fixie: Sawed off all surplus bosses, gave it a home respray with rattlecans, polished up all the chrome, new bar tape etc. Sold it on fleaBay for well over 300 quids.

Its worth about £50 maximum

mb idle dream on. Younger bike, better spec and condition, sti, significant extras and NO BIDS

531 sticker on the seatube means its only got one tube made of 531, the rest is steel pipe like the kind used to make inbreds

£100ish, but the value is in the frame so if you could use the other parts elsewhere do that and just sell the frame. Try Lfgss, retrobike and ctc

Blimey, I read that as your dad IS Claud Butler.

Put it on retrobike.

Terrific bike! Following my old Raleigh Chopper my Dad re-vamped his Claude Butler and I used it through-out my late teenage years (probably why I can't wheelie now!) He's used it for Youth Hostelling around Ireland in the late '50s early '60's.

I reckon it would make a comfortable tourer – not sure on price

531 sticker on the seatube means its only got one tube made of 531

I don't think so! The sticker can say "main tubes" and in any case, who has ever seen a frame with the Reynolds sticker on any other tube?

Al, the one linked on Ebay has one on the downtube :lukeb:

I rather like it and will happily give your father £60 collected for it subject to some indication that it might fit me. That's if your father would like to save hassle. 🙂

jonDOTrollasonAThotmailDOTcoDOTuk.

OK OK my point was I've only seen one sticker of that type on a frame, never more IIRC.

I may be wrong, but that doesn't make you right! 😛

**** me someone paid £285 for that. I must dig out my 25 year old £100 Peugeot.

Ebay, if you dont mind knowing its going to be broken into little pices, and made into a fixie.

Can't see the pics, but if its nice I could do with a new commuter to replace the 30lb lump of french crap (peugot equipe) that im hauling round Reading at the moment.

I'm mid way through a long-term/money-pit restoration of a Falcon Strada from the 80's/90's, so you know it woudl get a good home!

cynic-al, its more likely to be a cassette freehub if its exage600 from the 80's, the difference to modern ones is the little ring is the lockring, screwing onto threads on the freehub, rather than being a seperate collar.

thanks for yet more responses. mr dummy, i'm sure he'd be glad to let you have it, but i know he wants a bit more for it than that even before i said i'd investigate on here and elsewhere. i'm sure you'd give it a good home, though. 🙂

That's a lovely bike – ebay with shipping for a good price. I'd have thought it'd easily make a couple of hundred (£100 reserve?), mostly because it's in such a nice colour.

And give it a really good clean and polish – bits look in very unworn condition under the storage grime.

spoon pelissier hubs are way older than the exage 300 on that bike (as is most of the spec) and screw on I bet my bottom dollar.

Trust me, I am old enough to know!

It is not mauve.

No worries, good luck with the sale. 🙂

I really want it 🙁

I'll take your word for it, all my exage kit has been the redundant shimano cassette stuff, PITA because at least a screw on could be converted into a singe speed.

oh, tinas, hadn't seen you might be interested as well. if you are, and i'm sure you'd treat her nice!, then make an offer and i'll report it to the old man.

Spoon – I think our wires are crossed. Exage would have cassette hubs, can't remember if they would have been screw on or lockring fitting (modern freehubs fit fine though). The Pelissier are screw on I think.

went out for dinner with my dad last night. i mentioned to him people's thoughts on here and also that some people had expressed an interest. he basically said that he is definitely going to get rid of it, and if somebody off here would be interested and makes a reasonable offer, then he'll probably go for it.

just to reiterate, it's sold as seen in the pics, based in oxford.

let me know on here and i'll pass on any offers. cheers. 🙂

pnwb

If anyones interested I've bought it, given it a thorough service, shod it with new tires (specialized borough Cx rear, and shwabble CX tire up front for comfort) and brake pads (clarks) and currently commuting to work and back on it. And it's supprisingly lightweight as well.

However…………
As I dont do any touring and don't live anywhere near a hill, having a tripple ringed touring bike seems a bit un-justified.

So if anyone wants it I've spent a little over £170 in total, offers?

Will also chuck in a topeak alloy pannier rack, but haven't got any of the mounting kit for it.

That dalesman will have done well as its a proper touring bike and it is from about the right period when the frames were the same as the dawes galaxy (can't remember which company made them).

Fixies seem to be hugely popular and if the buyer isn't an idiot and keeps brakes when converting it he/she will be able to make a fixed without buying anything other than a sprocket for a few quid.

If it was mine i'd hope to see at least £150 maybe £200