Coventry Eagle further info reqd

Maz3722

Retro Newbie
Hi. Newbie here. Currently working on Raleigh quasar rebuild which I was hoping to be my first thread in the road section of retro bike but came across this bike on the roadside last week with a " free to good home " sign. So straight in the boot it went. Will be a project in the new year but in the meantime still could do with finding out a bit more about these Coventry eagles. Frame number attached if anyone out there could shed some more light on this bike. Any ideas on frame material. Some suggestion of Reynolds 453 ? Is this right? Any comments and suggestions welcome. Frame number is M3F43912.
Thanks.
 

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Falcon bought them out & this brand was more of a mass produced bike so nothing of real value from the 70's onwards.
 
Hello and welcome to Retrobike. I used to have a Coventry Eagle, the Strato model. It was my first 10 speed and was a decent low end machine. Mine did not have a serial number stamped on the bb shell. Now from my memory of what I have read Coventry Eagle was a very old company who manufactured both motorcycles and bicycles. After the war they ceased motorcycle production. Ernie Clements (1948 Olympic team member) became involved with them and they launched a range of high quality bikes under the Falcon name. The company was subsequently taken over by Elswick Hopper and either just before or after this Ernie Clements left the company taking the Coventry Eagle brand name with him. He set up a factory in South Wales and manufactured the Coventry Eagle bicycles. Barry Hoban may have worked for them at some point but its certain that they produced a range of bikes under his name. The top Barry Hoban model had Reynolds 531 tubing and Campagnolo Gran Sport groupset. Most Coventry Eagle machines of this era were entry level but some had good frames with 531 tubing. Hopefully someone more clued up will come alone and fill in the gaps. Why do you think the frame is 453? Has it got a decal?
 
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