Claud Butler

Claud Butler (14 July 1903 – 2 November 1978) was a London-based bicycle dealer and frame-builder, who from 1928 created a chain of bicycle-retail shops in London and the Midlands. His company was one of the most successful of the inter-war era but failed after World War II and the resultant boom in motor buses and motor cars. The Claud Butler brand was bought from the receivers by other companies, and they are now produced by Falcon Cycles, a division of Tandem Group.

Claud Butler was the son of a worker in the silk industry who thought his son would follow him into the trade. Instead he developed an interest in cycling after delivering bottles of medicine for a doctor in south London. He joined Balham cycling club, worked for the Halford Cycle Company as a mechanic and then as a salesman, and then on 28 February 1928 opened a bicycle shop at 8 Lavender Road, Clapham Junction. He worried about giving it his own name, which he thought effeminate. He began building bicycle frames and within four years opened branches across London. The first was at Lewisham, followed by 101 East Hill, Wandsworth (SW London), 34 and 34a Lee High Rd, Lewisham (SE London), 71 Grand Parade, Harringay (N London), 241 High Street North, East Ham (E London), and 18 Greyfriar Gate, Nottingham.

He moved his office to Clapham Manor Street in 1932. The branches in East Ham and Nottingham closed during the Second World War.

The weekly magazine, The Bicycle, said:

Claud Butler cycles were known for features such as bronze-weld construction and decorative lugs (techniques pioneered by continental frame builders). He sponsored international racers such as Reg Harris, Eileen Sheridan, Peter Underwood and Dennis Sutton Horn. His bikes were ridden at the 1931 world championship in Copenhagen and then in Italy (1932), France (1933) and Germany (1934). Claud Butler bikes also competed at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932.

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