I came across this bike on FB Marketplace and initially thought I would pick it up for spare Sturmey Archer parts and the chance to play with a Dynohub, and maybe learn something about cleaning up a rusty frame. I went to see it, literally in a barn, and could read the Claud Butler decals, so I paid $50 and brought it home. It was filthy and rusty, as pictured, and the lack of lugs surprised me. AW and GH6 hubs on chrome steel wheels, dead tires were 26 x 1 3/8, mismatched brakes, and a replacement handlebar and pedals round out the package.
So, I gave it a good look-over and started digging around for info:
The chainguard decals say: "Made exclusively for (Colson logo) by Claud Butler of London, England"
Colson was an American bicycle maker from Ohio, but mostly kids bikes; they may have imported this model to fill out the range.
Serial number of 2144 533 would seem to indicate a 1953
The 1953 catalog doesn't show a bike that looks much like this frame, more town bike than racer
I can't see any tubing decals, but a small one at the top of the seat tube promises rust protection
I did find one other example of this bike (this one with a derailleur):
https://bikeindex.org/bikes/29899
And here's the owner showing it to a bike club:
So, with all that, I wonder how I should proceed. I've got the hubs working reasonably well and moved the metal pulley to another bike, so I got my money's worth. It's a 21" frame, too small for me, but I would enjoy the project during this summer and fall of limited activities. I've never dealt with so much rust, so that would be a whole new mess of elbow grease. A relatively gentle first cleaning makes me think the frame is structurally fine.
I'm a relative newbie, having fixed up a 1973 Raleigh Sports just for fun (it came out beautiful - always noticed at the neighborhood brewery) and a Bianchi that I parted out, so I'm open to any thoughts from folks who know better than me.
Here's what I've got:
Still wet from a first wash
