Cycling UK Forum

Just picked up a moulton for my collection and the chap also gave me 5 or six bikes all been stored very badly and are very rough. Other than the moulton which i shall restore. there are couple of hercules. But in the collection is a British eagle 531 tubes nice lugs. cantilever brakes triple chain-set Shimano kit a rear rack. quick release alloy wheels. i may keep this one and restore it anyone know the model.Gear Leavers on the down tube andy.

Likely a British Eagle Touristique. There are a few threads on here about that model ,here's one :-

viewtopic.php?t=4126

Assuming it is a good fit, you can't go far wrong with one of those.

I seem to remember that CJ tested one for Cycle Touring magazine many years ago, he reckoned it was as good or better than its Raleigh,Dawes and Claud Butler rivals.

Also, you have that rare beast, a Welsh built bicycle!

I had my 1984 *Coventry* Eagle Touristique resprayed a few years ago. Lovely bike. Well worth restoring if the frame isn’t too far gone. Mine has Deore DX hubs with a Hyperglide & Uniglide compatible freehub and I’ve been able to squeeze on an 8-from-9 Hyperglide cassette without respacing the rear drop outs. Maybe you could let us know how you get on.



Edit: you can see what state my bike was in here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33060

jimlews wrote:Assuming it is a good fit, you can't go far wrong with one of those.

I seem to remember that CJ tested one for Cycle Touring magazine many years ago, he reckoned it was as good or better than its Raleigh,Dawes and Claud Butler rivals.

Also, you have that rare beast, a Welsh built bicycle!

Thanks for the reply i have tried to take pictures but it was o dark will post one tomorrow yes i have googled British eagle and i hope it is that model. My second welsh bike the other i am restoring is a Charlie Alexander and my moultons got plenty to do. thank you for the response. andy

lovely firstly for the Moulton. I have 2 space frames and started off with an F frame which died and is still missed.
I also have a Touristique which I bought new in 1988. They are lovely bikes. Slightly more sporty than an equivalent era galaxy and ideal as a fast tourer which can also carry camping loads

If the chsinset is original then I'd say it was post 88 as mine came with a double stronglight. I remember the changers were shutout (possibly) but the brakes were modolo cantilevers which were a bit rubbish tbh.

Well worth bringing back into service as they are lovely bikes

keyboardmonkey wrote:I had my 1984 *Coventry* Eagle Touristique resprayed a few years ago. Lovely bike. Well worth restoring if the frame isn’t too far gone. Mine has Deore DX hubs with a Hyperglide & Uniglide compatible freehub and I’ve been able to squeeze on an 8-from-9 Hyperglide cassette without respacing the rear drop outs. Maybe you could let us know how you get on.

Coventry Eagle Touristique.jpeg

Edit: you can see what state my bike was in here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33060

Thank you for posting i did do a search on here and read your story brilliant. when i had a good look at it i thought it was worth saving i shall post pictures of it as collected in the morning.

The pictures of the eagle as rescued the more i look it's not to bad

The brakes are Shimano BR-AT50 cantilevers (fitted with aftermarket brake blocks) which are essentially the same pattern as the first generation XT cantilevers but simplified and with a polished finish on the arms and steel (instead of alloy) toe-in adjustment washers. In a way they are better than the equivalent XT ones because the steel toe adjustment washers don't crack in half like the alloy ones often do. These brakes were commonly fitted on mid to late '80s touring bikes. The frame you have seems to have narrow-spaced bosses (although maybe that is just the way the arms are sitting in the pictures), about 60-odd mm apart means 'narrow' and about 80mm means 'wide'; when set on narrow bosses the BR-AT50 operates as a wide arm cantilever (the same brake set on wider spaced bosses works as a mid-arm canti BTW).

Why am I telling you this? Well

a) there are only a few modern cantis that fit narrow spaced bosses; since MTBs most bosses (even on touring bikes) use the wider spacing and
b) BR-AT50 when configured as wide-arm don't have an adjustable MA; changing the straddle height makes very little difference to the MA
c) BR-AT50 when configured as wide-arm only work very well with brake levers which have a high MA; about 4:1 is correct. Most period correct levers (with exposed cables) have the correct MA but if you are looking for replacement aero levers, most of them have an MA that is too low.

Hopefully you will be able to resuscitate the BR-AT50s; the arms will polish up well; the main problems will probably be rust on the steel hardware and possibly the brakes will be seized on the bosses.

Note that the brake arms will have a two-letter date code on them and this will allow the bike to be dated.

The cranks were only available like that until about 1988 (IIRC, but of course they could have been NOS) and should be checked carefully; they quite often crack in hard use.

cheers

That fluted seatpost must be letting water in, set so low.

RE Shomano brake arms, worth using if possible - I have the XT version, the only original moving part still on my tourer (1983) as I can't find better ones (I tried tecktos similar design, didn't fit my bosses).
Set post and other things. If looking stuck/stiff, I'd gently heat seat post/BB cups/cranks/ring bolts/rack bolts/other threads to dry out moisture (so thats warm, not blasting it), then repeated plus gas or WD40 (orange can, not the usual blue can) applications over time prior to working on it.
If you heat the cranks, remove crank bolts first.
Do not oil gear levers if you want to use them (friction, oil and all that).

Thank you all for the tips i have never had a bike with this type of brake so good information for me. i may have some time tomorrow to get at it. andy

Just an up date. I left the bike soaked in release oil. for a week or so i had some time today. it is now striped of all its components, here is a picture in my blast cab. The paint where it is in fine fettle is stuck on there but it has lifted with rust in several places. Its going to take some time to blast it off.