Previously up there with the best in its class, last year’s frame updates changed everything: the rear end now rides too harshly. Older models also had better forks that were less prone to bobbing when pedalling out of the saddle. The geometry places you centrally on the bike, but the super-stiff, box-section rear triangle transfmits far too much trail information to the rider.
There were always going to be victims in our new format test, and the Claud Butler was one such bike.
It does nothing ‘wrong’ as such, but the stiff frame and bouncy forks mean it just misses
the cut.

MBR RATING: 6/10