British Eagle Cannon

[grogee]

Alright team, recently I bought a British Eagle Cannon for £30 off the Bay. I would guess it's somewhere between 93-96 vintage judging by the parts and style - please educate me if you know better.

I mainly just wanted it for the surprisingly good bits on it eg Shimano STX and some nice deep-dish Vuelta wheels. I have now stripped it and I'm wondering if the frame is worth saving or Plan B is to cut the tubes up to make 'cheater bars' for spanners etc.

There are no markings on the frame other than the make/model/serial no so I'm assuming it's gas pipe spec. Bit weird though that the bike would be sold with reasonably nice parts on it. Interestingly the V-brakes and levers are a 'no-name' but are nicely made with variable lever ratio and pivots on the noodle guide.

I'll add some pics to this thread once I've been back into the garage.

 

[hamster]

V's are likely a later addition?

It's pretty easy to assess the frame - weigh it!

 

[grogee]

OK well here's the detail & pics. Can anyone identify the brakes/levers?

Short of dismantling another bike, I don't have anything to reference the frame against in terms of weight. What is 'good' and what is 'bad'?

Frame only (no headset or BB): 2675g
Fork only: 1070g
Frame & fork: 3745g

 

[grogee]

According to This Forum a '94 18" Kona Lava Dome frame only is 4.4lbs = 1996g. So the Cannon is cast iron, which is fitting given the name. Cheater bars it is! Grinder is revving as I speak.

 

[grogee]

Reason I asked was because I know there were a few non-dross British Eagle bikes, eg the Boss (dons tin foil hat). The one pictured here is 531 tubing. Weirdly though it's also bolted rear hub! Not sure the lads at BE really knew what they were doing.

 

[hamster]

Not sure the lads at BE really knew what they were doing.

Quite. That frame has quite nice cast dropouts and the welds and detailing seem OK. But obviously cruddy tubes.

Still, it might actually make a decent commuter / pub bike - the geometry might be OK.

I tried a BOSS once, the handling was odd and it felt like the thing was trying to kill me.

 

[grogee]

You weren't the BOSS of it, that's why it tried to kill you.

My mates and I always referred to British Eagle as 'British Legion'. Always had a whiff of old people not knowing what they were doing. No disrespect to the real BL who obviously do lots of great charity work. But we were 15 and didn't know any better!

 

[Greg McKenzie]

Just to add I still own one of these British Eagle Cannons which I had brand new in 1995. Paperwork says it was made in the factory at Newport Wales. I use it now and then and it still has all original equipment fitted except for a front tyre. The V brakes are original and levers are marked as Gstar with Shimano gears. Think i paid around £200 for it back then. It's strong enough if a bit heavy but does what I need so never seen the need to change it for something else.

 

[Greg McKenzie]

Picture from a few months back.

 

[Greg McKenzie]

Etc