I have a 1980s British Eagle (531ST) with old-school running gear – but haven’t a clue how I plan to set it up yet, or how much to safely rag it off the beaten track . Looking for inspiration here before I head over to the Places With More Beards 😉

Tourer and ragging off the beaten track ? Should be ok I rode a mid 90s Dawes Galaxy on the 3 peaks twice without breaking it .

I think the tubing guages from those days can be noodly with a loaded front end, but they work!

I just bought a 1960s Holdsworth Mistral frame. It was set up ss with forward facing sliding dropouts from new (SA 3 speed hub so i’m told). Frame builder local to me is going to replace the dropouts so I can run gears and cold set the frame so I can run 130mm modern hubs (currently 111).

531 is pretty forgiving so should be able to deal with a bit of rough stuff.

Could be wrong but I think 531 ST (super tourist) frames have thicker gauge down tubes? However – the camping load I typically carry makes even my cromo M-Trax squirm at the back so thinking a more balanced load (ie more up front would help) but have no idea about front racks for bikes without midway braze-ons on the forks.

This thread needs dirty tourist pics…

Well, after a first spin it feels bomproof leaping off kerbs so that’s good enough for me, certainly moreso than the Dahon folder it replaced 🙂

It’s not that different from my mid nineties Roberts.

Steel touring bikes are super comfy, if needs be fit some wider tyres if you are planning on laden off road touring.

I thought mine would be irreplaceable until I bought a Vaya.

Boblo is your man, I think he has something similar.

My Dad does about 20k miles a year all over the world on a 1990s build Mercian 531 tourer.

Steel is real 🙂

I battered an 80s Holdsworth tourer round the long route of the real Leroica in Italy with no problem and thats bloomin rough in places

Malvern Rider – Member
I have a 1980s British Eagle (531ST) with old-school running gear – but haven’t a clue how I plan to set it up yet, or how much to safely rag it off the beaten track . Looking for inspiration here before I head over to the Places With More Beards

Being from that era (actually earlier 🙂 ) I did all my early mountain biking on a dropbar lugged lightweight racer.

The biggest problem was the alloy wheels were a lot more fragile – easily buckled. I got round that by using steel rims which looked really out of place – a bit like sticking Transit wheels on a Ferrari. So if you are using a more modern wheelset, especially a cyclocross, you’re unlikely to have trouble.

The greatest fear was snapping the forks at the lower headrace, especially if your forks were lightweight. We used to stuff a bit of ash up the steerer tube to help prevent that.

The problem being that once your fork was stiffer, a decent impact would go into the frame and crease the top and down tube.

I managed to avoid ever damaging my bike, but it probably explains my wheels on the ground at all times riding style. 🙂

We used to stuff a bit of ash up the steerer

Ah, the old Wiccan fork charm? But seriously, wahgwan?