Jamie's Claud Butler rebuild

Jamie brought us this bike for a swap from drops to an upright handlebar. It's a common conversion for us, but we also loved the backstory about and the end result! Here's what Jamie had to say:

It was my dad’s bike that he rode from Birmingham to Rome and back in 1992. Before that, he’d done several long tours through France and Spain, but this was his last big trip before I was born the following year.

The bike had been sitting in the shed ever since, and I’ve wanted to fix it up for years.

For the restoration, my main priority was comfort for riding around Montreal, which is why I opted for swept-back handlebars. I did consider keeping the drop bars for the sake of preserving the original look, but I’ve never liked drops so it didn’t make sense for me.

Overall, my philosophy was to do the bike justice—choosing quality components where needed while keeping as much of the original as possible. I was adamant about keeping the old seat even though it’s a bit tattered. When I eventually go on a longer tour, I like the idea of sitting on the same seat my dad used all those years ago.

Photos by Troy