I've owned a number of these frames, and find that they generally ride very well, and are perfectly suitable for longer rides. Having said that, I also owned a Mercian 1973 Super Vigorelli, and now own a 1951 R O Harrison Madison track bike, each of which was built with track angles, fork rakes and close clearances, i.e., full-blown track racing models, BUT with brake clearances, and both machines rode/ride superbly, with no sign of "twitchiness". I suspect that this quality is built into those machines intended for road racing, where instant directional response is required in the peleton, but since I've never raced on the track or road, I stand to be corrected!
A pal of mine rides singlespeed almost exclusively, and he diefinitely prefers road/path machines. He rides to and from Veteran-Cycle CLub events where possible, and it's not unknown for him to ride 50 or 60 miles from home, take part in a 25 to 30 mile ride, and then ride back again.
Neil Foddering Weymouth, Dorset, England
> Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:37:52 -0800
> From: shrew13@yahoo.com
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR] Road/Path ride characteristics
>
> All of the recent discussion about Dawes has fanned the flames of my love for older English bikes. I saw a Claude Butler road/path frame on Ebay (item # 270524556254) that made me wonder about how these vintage road/path frames ride.
>
> I've seen numerous emails and articles about how bikes of this sort were used for fixed gear time-trialling, but also for commuting, touring, and generally getting about. My immediate thought was that someone using a single bike for all of these things would not want what I generally think of as a twitchy modern track bike - steep angles, high bottom bracket, etc. The bikes I've seen like the Claude above seem to have geometry more like a typical road frame.
>
> So I realize that there the UK has/had a number of custom builders that would build anything a customer requested. But was there a general geometry pattern followed for most of the multi-purpose road/path frames? And does anyone who has ridden one care to comment on how they handle? Are they comfortable for leisurely 20-50 club rides, or will they leave you simply worn out from steering corrections like a modern criterium geometry does me. And yes, I used to ride with a guy that rode Paris-Brest-Paris on a criterium bike - I just would choose not to!
>
> And a final question: do bikes/frames like this make their way to the US often? I've seen a few on wooljersey, but it seems like most I've seen are for sale in the UK (which makes sense given where they were built, I just cringe at the cost of shipping!)
>
> Thanks all!
> Kurt Henry
> Bracing for another round of winter weather here in
> Lancaster, PA