Falcon Explorer 12

[biggs682]

Just picked up this Falcon Explorer 12 from our local auction house for principal sum of £10 plus charges so £12 in total .

Looks very lightly used and in a dusty but clean condition so should clean up ok . Rear hub looks to have a 91 date code .

Made with Reynolds 500 tubing so better than gas pipe and painted in a 90's colour scheme for sure .

Plan is to run it as my winter commuting machine whilst i do some work on my Marin commuter over the next couple of weeks and then it will get some longer distance rides .

Going to run it through out the winter doing as many miles as i can on it . First job will be to take off the light brackets , change the tyres for some others i have in the garage which hopefully will offer better protection . Other than that it will be maintained as required by yours truly .

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Sheer extravagance!
Looks like it would make an excellent runabout for really important things like going to the pub on. I rather like it, a lot of bike for the money. Falcon are a bit underrated, IMHO, some of their stuff used to be pretty decent quality. Reynolds 500 cro-moly not to be sniffed at, a definite bonus at a Tenner! Very similar in design to my Raleigh Pioneer, I'd be surprised if it doesn't ride well..

 

[biggs682]

Thanks @SkipdiverJohn

 

[uphillstruggler]

there is something great about the simplicity of that style of bike.

I passed on a similar claud butler recently, although I spent £20 on it, so it now seems over priced

those mudguards are worth more than a tenner

 

[biggs682]

those mudguards are worth more than a tenner

My thoughts completely

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

there is something great about the simplicity of that style of bike.r

I like them a lot myself, especially if they're lugged steel with horizontal top tubes.
Two of my own favourites, both with Reynolds frames. Tenner bought the Pioneer 501, and pushed the boat out to £20 for the Gemini 531.. It's a tough call which one I like best...….

I cannot understand why people buy horrible modern BSO's when you can pick up some real quality 80's and 90's bikes for the price of a few pints. My Gemini was like @biggs682 Falcon; filthy from storage but very lightly used, still on its original 1988 Michelin World Tour tyres! The Pioneer was not in such pristine condition, but a great bike nonetheless.

 

[DCLane]

It'll do for a winter run-a-around. My Pioneer's in use today as this morning was a little frosty.

 

[biggs682]

Just had two laps of the cul de sac and it all rides and worksw fine so will be doing some commuting miles tomorrow .

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It'll do for a winter run-a-around.

Not just over winter. Good runabout for any time of year. Colour scheme should ensure minimal thief appeal, so ideal for use in risky locations where you wouldn't leave anything expensive unattended. Bikes like this with low secondhand values are worth more as keepers rather than sellers.

 

[biggs682]

Had half an hour on it tonight just checking the basics and doing some alterations so long as tyres are still hard in the morning i will be commuting on it

 

[biggs682]

Tyres were hard so commuting duties today .

 

[Gravity Aided]

Looks like a great machine! Is that an electrical cabinet it's parked against? Make sure you don't exceed the number of cycles per second.

 

[biggs682]

Looks like a great machine! Is that an electrical cabinet it's parked against? Make sure you don't exceed the number of cycles per second.

Yeah it's one of the many green boxes that seem to be cropping up all the time

 

[biggs682]

Yippee 11.35 commuting miles done and in all fairness I was impressed and the butterfly bars were very comfortable .

 

[Gravity Aided]

You could wrap those, and they'd be even nicer.