Are these two tandems the same bike??
 

I'm looking to buy a Sunbeam Royal tandem 'Model U'. c1938. It's supposed to be quite rare but it looks far too much like the BSA T71/72 tandem for my liking and not so special. What's going on?? Any ideas?


TIA:)

This website / looks to be the source for the picture. And scrolling down there's the bike's serial number...that should tell the tale. If it were today I'd say they're both made by the same Chinese factory, but I don't think it worked that way in the 1930's.

In the 1930's ... the frames could have been sourced from the same framebuilder. Or one doing "own-label" bikes while in parallel selling frames to the other as "private label," which the other company built up + sold under their own badge/brand.

I notice that one is a derailleur and the other looks to be an internal hub. That would not rule out a common source for the frames, or even the same company. Or it could be a rebuild/retrofit of one of these bikes over the years.

Are you sure it's not a scam? The picture is from OldBike but that particular bike isn't listed in the for sale section.

Thanks for the replies. It's not a scam I just used generic images to show the likeness of both bikes. It seems to me that the so called 'rare' Sunbeam Royal tandem is in fact a fairly budget BSA tandem rebadged as luker suggested but I too didn't think that sort of thing happened back then. It was more an era of each British company trying to show what they could do better than the next. Guessing I'm wrong?

From what I've found so far (may be wrong) the bike was sold under the Sun brand in 1938 and then in 1939 BSA released it for sale.

I guess the important question is.. Does it de-value the Sunbeam based on the reasoning that the BSA (British small arms co.) was a more of a budget bike?

Could be that the Sunbeam is in fact "rare" ... quite literally speaking, something can very logically and correctly be called rare resulting from limited DISTRIBUTION, as opposed to exceptional craftsmanship or any other characteristic of the product.

<<Does it de-value the Sunbeam>>
I'm of the view that there is no "absolute" determination of value; rather, it is something that each person determines for themselves. I know some people who enjoy+buy things that are rare in the sense of limited distribution/availability, just unique; others enjoy things cuz they are well-made, or the like. If you're looking to the Sunbeam to appreciate over time or even to hold it's monetary value... well, I'd say only time will tell the answer to those... speculation is, well, speculation.