CREPELLO wrote:Well from the link above I've deduced that the frame is probably post '89, indeterminate 531db main and non butted cro-mo other tubes. The non butting is probably an aid for a load lugging machine. Could lighter 531C main tubes and non butted stays make a good combination I wonder? Or is stiffness gained more from a stiffer main triangle than from the stays?
That just tells you how old the sticker is, not how old the frame is. I don't ever remember the dalesman having such a plain and boring paint job as that. If the rear end is 122mm then this might suggest a much earlier frame with revisions.
The Super Dalesman from ~1985 on had those braze-ons, though; maybe it is one of those. There are 1985 and 1986 catalogues on Nick Kilgariff's site.
http://www.nkilgariff.com/ClaudButler.htm
On reflection it is possible that this is an early Falcon-manufactured bike; the Claud Butler brand changed hands several times around that time; first to Marlboro and then to Falcon.
Come to think of it I owned a 1988 CB bike and it had a rather plain paint job with Vinyl decals (no clear coat over them), a BS sticker etc. The paint job was white with another colour coat over that in places. The paint was thick but chipped easily at the dropouts; the Blue topcoat was almost the same colour as yours. An earlier Falcon I owned had a similar paint job to that, too.
So I'm going to change my mind; maybe it is an original paint job, just missing some vinyl decals by normal standards. If the paint is original, sound but chipped I'd fill the chips, flat it off, and then (except for the decal areas) give it a topcoat of come kind, ideally one that touches in easily.
I'd suggest you look at the manufacturing dates of the parts on it. Shimano bits have a two letter date code on them. It isn't proof of course but it might tally with some other information.
BTW under Falcon ownership (and contrary to mentions on some websites) 1987-1992 the CB range DID include MTBs; that is what my 1988 CB was.
cheers
Well, I know what you mean, but polished up like the one in the link above, French Blue is quite a fetching colour and as it approximates very well with Humbrol French Gloss Blue, touching up should be a doddle.
It does sound very similar, , white undercoat, vinyl stickers etc, although some stickers are clear coated (incl the 531), the main CB stickers aren't, I don't think.