British Eagle Touristique?

For discussions about bikes and equipment.
User avatar
troutmask
Posts: 60
Joined: 14 Jan 2007, 1:34pm
Location: Birmingham
Contact:

Post by troutmask »

I think it will make a good Audax bike. Over the years I have had a Revel Elite (which back in the 80's was described as a "Fast tourer", a Dawes galaxy along with a couple of traditional road bikes. The Touristique frame and forks rides very much like the Elite rather than the galaxy but has slightly stronger forks with braze ons for front panniers. I have put a very strong (DT 7.1 Rims to XT hub) wheel on the back but am planning on putting a racier DT 1.1 Rim on the front to replace the aged original. Without much luggage it is already a lot faster than my old Dawes but with luggage it still plods steadily along. A very good compromise between an out and out Audax and a traditional touring bike.
I have done quite a few miles on it already and it is very comfortable, climbs well and goes great. The Argos paint job certainly seems the business and they are very helpful with bits on bobs (they fitted new adjusters on the rear drop outs, straightened the forks and fitted new guides under the BB).
Mine came with a Biopace crankset as well. I replaced it with an old 170mm mountain bike one with new Stronglite rings.
wotnogears

Post by wotnogears »

Hi all, I'm pleased to hear that others have a good opinion of this bike as I bought one off ebay a couple of years ago for a hack. It was in a tired state, but a new BB, wheel bearings and a few other works bought it back to life, although a paint job would still help (I patched it up with hammerite!).

Since then I've used it to commute for a while and also on some much longer rides as it is so much more fun than my expensive but sedate tourer.

The components are date coded for 1987, so it must be c.20 years old now and depending on the system, the frame number (3*0001) suggests it could be number 1! (The first that day, month, year, ever?)

When funds allow, I'm going to get the paint job done, but in the meantime can anyone suggest where to go for brake-blocks for the Modolo cantilevers please?
graham joyce
Posts: 109
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 8:10pm

Post by graham joyce »

This brings back memories for me as i used to work for the government agency that provided the grants and built the factory for British Eagle in Wales. I used to visit the factory regularly and bought a Touristic frame 'ex factory' to replace a damaged frame. I built the bike but it was never used. I let it go at the York Rally auction for about £175 - somebody got a bargain. They did make some half decent MTBs for a while and imported frames from Taiwan for assembly in Wales. I remeber that Barry Hoban was Director for a while in the early days. He took over from Ernie Clements, I think.
I still have a Ernie Clements road bike built in the Wales plant. It has Campag Record throughout and sprints. It was built for a trade show and I bought it direct. It has been used twice in 25 years ! I may be interested in selling it if anyone wants a quality classic British road bike in 'as new' condition (met blue/chrome)! SEE PICTURE
In their last few years they were owned by a company from Leigh (Lancs) called Townsend, I recall.

Graham[/u][/b]
94inchandy
Posts: 12
Joined: 19 Mar 2011, 6:17pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by 94inchandy »

british eagle was a company working out of newtown powys, it was run by barry hoban (9 times TDF stage winner)and helen simpson (tommy`s wife) we where a small company, i was one of the mechanics that worked for the company, we had nothing to do with falcon we had more links with the clement`s brothers as the company was formed by the brothers
Ayesha
Posts: 4192
Joined: 30 Jan 2010, 9:54am

Re: and here she is..finished!

Post by Ayesha »

troutmask wrote:Image


Earlswood Lakes?
Gearoidmuar
Posts: 2347
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 7:35pm
Location: Cork, Ireland. Corcaigh, Éire má tá Gaeilge agat.

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by Gearoidmuar »

My first touring bike was a coventry Eagle touristique and the second a British Eagle Touristique. I later had a great MTB, a British Eagle Shadow made of 531. My son now has it.

I've since put a Dawes Galaxy to the sword and now have two other tourers..
Elizabethsdad
Posts: 1158
Joined: 15 Jan 2011, 7:09pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by Elizabethsdad »

I have a British Eagle Ranger languishing in the garage. It is an old bike of mine that had been stored in a loft for some years. I retrieved it last year and stripped it down and cleaned it up. I built it back up earlier this year with new cassette, chain, crankset, tyres and brake bolcks. It runs OK though the twist grip shifters are a bit stiff and I think the front deraileur needs a bit of final adjustment. Mostly keeping it out of sentiment, but also as a spare bike that I could loan out as well. Sometimes I think I should sell it but probably wouldn't get back what I spent on new parts for it.
colin54
Posts: 2517
Joined: 24 Sep 2013, 4:34pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by colin54 »

I've added my two pence worth to this ancient thread about Touristiques here in the pictures of bikes section;
may be of use in the future to someone .
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3832&p=1645457#p1645457
Nu-Fogey
keyboardmonkey
Posts: 1120
Joined: 1 Dec 2009, 5:05pm
Location: Yorkshire

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by keyboardmonkey »

I’m always interested to read about comparisons between the British Eagle Touristique and the Coventry Eagle Touristique. I bought the latter model in 1984 for £260. The paintwork - according to someone on Flickr who left a comment on one of my photos - was typically poor; he worked in the factory. The paint finish on my bike - ‘pewter’ the colour was called - was certainly disappointing.

A couple of people have told me I actually have a ‘Randonee’ model - my bike doesn’t have braze-ons for a front pannier rack - rather than a Touristique (the British Eagle model came later - with this upgrade?). Whatever. It was definitely stickered as a Touristique and for many years I had a magazine review from the time that confirmed it. (Prior to having the bike resprayed it bore the Reynolds 531ST sticker but - annoyingly - it came back from the shop with a 531C sticker and an explanation that they couldn’t source the correct one at the time.)

In the 80s and early 90s I did a bit of cycle camping and Youth Hostelling as well as a few 200km Audax events.

I’ve posted before on here asking for advice when thinking of binning the bike (it was VERY rusty). I’m so glad I didn’t. During lockdown I reached for it again as the most dependable and versatile bike in my little fleet.

Coventry Eagle Touristique (paintwork by Elllis Briggs)
Coventry Eagle Touristique (paintwork by Elllis Briggs)
Some pics on Flickr showing the restoration (a few things have changed since then)...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleseve ... 0991005096
WOT
Posts: 59
Joined: 22 Aug 2019, 9:43pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by WOT »

My best bike until recently here is a photo of my touristique taken earlier this year.
Attachments
204B3682-83FA-4DEA-AEF1-F31FE26D4326.jpeg
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by Jamesh »

Colin what you doing!
Dragging ancient thread up to tempt me!

Nice looking bikes and there is one for sale down the road....

Cheers James
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by Jamesh »

94inchandy wrote: 11 Oct 2013, 6:12am british eagle was a company working out of newtown powys, it was run by barry hoban (9 times TDF stage winner)and helen simpson (tommy`s wife) we where a small company, i was one of the mechanics that worked for the company, we had nothing to do with falcon we had more links with the clement`s brothers as the company was formed by the brothers
Wow small world....

Barry Hoban daughter is a cleaner in a holiday complex we go to in Devon, next time we are down I'll ask her for more details. He lives in Christchurch nr my parents and I might see if I can visit him...

Cheers James
User avatar
gazza_d
Posts: 452
Joined: 30 Oct 2016, 8:20am

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by gazza_d »

Nice to see some love for these.

I have a touristique which I bought new in 1988 for £300.
Full 531st. Then it came with a strong light chainset and modulo rocky cantilevers. I can't remember what the rest of the drive chain was.

They are a lovely lively ride which is a bit sprightlier than ​the equivalent Galaxy. It was in the shop (Chris Thompson's in Darlington) next to a Galaxy, and Chris suggested/recommended the touristique and I never regretted it.

Mine originally was a metallic grey although it's now bright red. Mine only ever had braze-ons for a rear rack and 2 bottle cages. I added mounts for a 3rd cage when it was resprayed.

I haven't ridden mine much since I started riding moultons about 20 years ago although the old lady comes out occasionally. She did a good few months of commuting duty a few years ago and is still quick.

If anyone is into classic tourers and gets chance to own one then you won't regret it.. I'll never sell mine though
hemo
Posts: 1438
Joined: 16 Nov 2017, 5:40pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by hemo »

Currently an unmolested original on ebay at the mo £1.01.
colin54
Posts: 2517
Joined: 24 Sep 2013, 4:34pm

Re: British Eagle Touristique?

Post by colin54 »

My highly paid resident expert ponders the issue of wheel-flop, and the intricacies of steering geometry in the smallest framed Touristiques, 'flop' has never bothered him; he's always just put an arm down if things got too wobbly.
[attachment=0]P1150549.JPG[/attachment
I keep telling him that the arm thing doesn't work for humans, but all he does is smile and says; ' Avez-vous anuvver cuppa '.
Edit ; The above makes slightly more sense if you read from here -
viewtopic.php?p=1645457#p1645457
- on down to the foot of the page in the thread,
where I bored at some length on the subject of The BE Touristique.
Attachments
P1150549.JPG
Last edited by colin54 on 25 Jul 2022, 4:14pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nu-Fogey
Post Reply