Can anyone tell me anythng about British Eagle bikes

[SilverC]

Hi,
I'm thinking of buying a British Eagle Touristique bike.

I was after a steel touring bike like a Dawes Galaxy but didn't want to pay the expense. I've seen an 80's British Eagle Touristique for cheap (reynolds 531) but was wonderng if they were decent quality or not.

I can't find anything onlne about the history of the bikes, it's as if they never existed.

Also, can anyone tell me what the sizes were. I'm 5'7". Would a 22" be a close fit?

Thanks

 

[keithglos]

The Tandem Group PLC own many names, including Dawes and British Eagle. I suspect very lttle British content, and it will never fly. So there's a start to research it. Are they all made in the same chinese factory? I have no idea.

 

[SilverC]

Thanks for the info.
Doesn't sound too promising.

 

[pigman]

my mrs had a british eagle 531 racing bike with 105 equipment. It was ok and comparable to any club racer. The tourist ones were in my opinion comparable to dawes galaxies, raleigh randoneurs, CB dalesmans etc. Weren't they made (or maybe just assembled) in uk by some large factory like Falcon?
If the price is right and its one with 531 throughtout and forged dropouts, then it would be good.

 

[Robbied196]

Forget your height, it will only give you a rough approximation, and if it doesn't fit right, you won't ride it.

What you need is your inside leg measurement which needs to be around 1 or 2cm longer than the stand over height of the bike. The distance from the ground to the top of the cross bar. There's all sorts of other tweaks like stem length you can play with but that measurement should give you a frame that fits.

 

[hamster]

The Touristique was a splendid bike. Sadly the name was cheapened afterward. However, at 22" it would be too big for you I think.

 

[David B]

my mrs had a british eagle 531 racing bike with 105 equipment. It was ok and comparable to any club racer. The tourist ones were in my opinion comparable to dawes galaxies, raleigh randoneurs, CB dalesmans etc. Weren't they made (or maybe just assembled) in uk by some large factory like Falcon?
If the price is right and its one with 531 throughtout and forged dropouts, then it would be good.

I think they later came under Falcon ownership and the bikes dropped in quality mostly being cheapo MTBs. Prior to that however, British Eagle had their own factory in mid-Wales (possibly the same one where Barry Hoban's bikes were made??) and produced some good stuff; as others have said the Touristique was a particular highlight of the range. I think Adrian Timmis was sponsored by them at one stage during his career on the domestic road scene, but as Adrian posts on RB from time to time I'm sure he'd be able to verify that if he's read this!

David

 

[Old Ned]

my mrs had a british eagle 531 racing bike with 105 equipment. It was ok and comparable to any club racer. The tourist ones were in my opinion comparable to dawes galaxies, raleigh randoneurs, CB dalesmans etc. Weren't they made (or maybe just assembled) in uk by some large factory like Falcon?
If the price is right and its one with 531 throughtout and forged dropouts, then it would be good.

I think they later came under Falcon ownership and the bikes dropped in quality mostly being cheapo MTBs. Prior to that however, British Eagle had their own factory in mid-Wales (possibly the same one where Barry Hoban's bikes were made??) and produced some good stuff; as others have said the Touristique was a particular highlight of the range. I think Adrian Timmis was sponsored by them at one stage during his career on the domestic road scene, but as Adrian posts on RB from time to time I'm sure he'd be able to verify that if he's read this!

David

The British Eagle brand was one of Frank (? see edit below) Clements 'stable' which metamorphosed into all sorts of other ownerships. They did have the Newtown factory (which was the Phillips bike factory previously) and did make the 'Barry Hoban' branded bikes there. Barry worked for them at one time. Didn't they offer some reasonable MTB's at one time? Probably something else rebranded though.

EDIT - just had a thought that it was Ernie Clements not Frank that was involved. I always get their commercial interests mixed up!

 

[thetfordfentiger]

I bought mine in around 1986 from Fred Bakers in Bristol. I cycled up to John o Groats from Aberdeen and also back down to Near Bath on it. I used it regularly to cycle to work for around eight years and recently got the frame resprayed by Mercian. Only problem I have with it are the Modolo cantilever brakes have worn and difficult to get replacements....

 

[robv]

The British Eagle brand was one of Frank (? see edit below) Clements 'stable' which metamorphosed into all sorts of other ownerships. They did have the Newtown factory (which was the Phillips bike factory previously) and did make the 'Barry Hoban' branded bikes there. Barry worked for them at one time. Didn't they offer some reasonable MTB's at one time? Probably something else rebranded though.

I have a bike from the Britisch Eagle factory in Powys which is branded Harry Quinn Classique. It's mid-80s, so shortly after Harry Quinn sold his company to Clements. A decent Reynolds 531 frame though and still a good ride. I too heard they built Barry Hoban branded bikes as well. The type name Classique on my Harry Quinn may have some relation to the Touristique name.