Vintage Falcon road bikes

[Illaveago]

I have been building up my frame from my spares collection. I had to slim down my 27.2 mm seat post to 27mm to fit. The only front wheels which would fit between the narrow front forks were a pair of large flange tub wheels, all of my other wheels the axle spacing was too wide.
The bike is beginning to resemble what it once might have looked like.

 

[Illaveago]

I have been going back through past posts comparing wheelbase sizes . I have noticed that my fame seems to have shorter rear chain stays . The rear tyre I have fitted is a Vittoria Rubino 25x 700 and the gap between the tyre and the seat tube is tight so that I can't get a finger between them . This frame continues mto throw up anomalies.

 

[Illaveago]

Some more confusion ! I had trouble fitting my 27.2 mm seat post into the frame and have slimmed it down to approximately 27mm which now fits into the frame . This was a bit disappointing as it ruled out Reynolds 531 butted tubing . I have been looking up chromolly tubing , Reynolds 501 would fit into that category but from what I have read it states that this is seam welded. I have looked down inside the seat tube and there is no sign of a seam !

 

[midlife]

Shorter chainstays made the bike faster, a well known fact in the 70's . We had the rear wheel at the very front of the rear dropout held by a few mm of metal to metal contact.

Meant removing the dropout screw knurled knob so the screw was entirely inside the dropout..

Edit... The frame is likely chromo, drawn iirc. Other UK manufacturers also used " space age" tubing like Viscount / lambert. Always fancied a frame in Ishiwata

 

[KneesUp]

Thanks for sharing. Good luck in your search to find another one.

Well it's been 20 years or so since mine was stolen. And about 10 years maybe with an alert of findthatbike.co.uk - and I now have another Falcon Strada. This was a road bike from the upper mid range, so nothing madly special, made by a company with falling sales, and only a few years before they were bought out by Tandem, at a time when everyone wanted one of those new MTB things (which will never catch on ...) so I guess they didn't sell many, so it's been hard to find another.

Pictures to follow. Off for a ride.

 

[Illaveago]

My Falcon Professional had its first road test yesterday. I was determined to get the bike ready so that I could ride the bike after spending so much time and effort into cleaning and researching in to what it was. I had bought some new leather bar tape and fitted it along with new cables. Some parts are only temporary just so that I could ride it.
My ride was a bit hurried as I didn't have much time before I had to go out. My initial thoughts were that it is too highly geared. It rides well and seems fast but struggles a bit climbing. I haven't checked the number of teeth on the sprockets as i had just borrowed a wheel from another bike. I haven't fitted the front changer as it was just a quick test and some more work needs to be done to finish the bike off.
Initial thoughts are that it feels light and nimble, the saddle is a right pain and will be changed. I may have to put a thin shim between the handlebars as they rotated under braking. I was surprised how well the Weinmann brake worked. A crank fell off just before I got home. I could feel the left pedal feeling funny long before it fell off so I was prepared for the final outcome.
I am happy with how my bike looks. The majority of the paintwork is the original finish which was covered under coats of paint. I have repaired several areas which were rusty and repainted the white panels which would have been on there originally. It looks nice and is different . I need to buy some more parts before it is finished.

 

[biggs682]

Looks good and those first few assessment rides are worth it in the end.

 

[Illaveago]

Looks good and those first few assessment rides are worth it in the end.

That's where I was feeling it !

 

[Illaveago]

Looks good and those first few assessment rides are worth it in the end.

To think how it looked originally compared to how it looks now . It has come a long way .

 

[biggs682]

To think how it looked originally compared to how it looks now . It has come a long way .

Certainly has

 

[midlife]

Always nice to see a Falcon back on the road the better frames always had a nice ride. The front shortie mudguard is on back to front, I was never sure why they were made, a Raleigh bean counters dream though lol.

 

[Illaveago]

Always nice to see a Falcon back on the road the better frames always had a nice ride. The front shortie mudguard is on back to front, I was never sure why they were made, a Raleigh bean counters dream though lol.

The mudguard is an ally one I made. I fitted it to give some protection to my transfer.Yes it didn't fit properly but I left it on for my ride .

 

[mh503]

Happy to have stumbled upon this thread, lots of great Falcon info. Here is a picture of my Majorca, which I believe to be early 70s. The catalogs show the Majorca as being a 5-speed but maybe there was a 10-speed option? That or the rod-operated Simplex front derailleur was added after the fact. Not a high end bike by any means but I love the color

Also came across this facebook listing for a nice looking San Remo.

 

[Illaveago]

Happy to have stumbled upon this thread, lots of great Falcon info. Here is a picture of my Majorca, which I believe to be early 70s. The catalogs show the Majorca as being a 5-speed but maybe there was a 10-speed option? That or the rod-operated Simplex front derailleur was added after the fact. Not a high end bike by any means but I love the color

View attachment 696785
Also came across this facebook listing for a nice looking San Remo.

View attachment 696786

Hi and .
It's nice to see new members and pictures of their bikes. That is a pretty emerald green .

 

[Mandobob]

Happy to have stumbled upon this thread, lots of great Falcon info. Here is a picture of my Majorca, which I believe to be early 70s. The catalogs show the Majorca as being a 5-speed but maybe there was a 10-speed option? That or the rod-operated Simplex front derailleur was added after the fact. Not a high end bike by any means but I love the color

View attachment 696785
Also came across this facebook listing for a nice looking San Remo.

View attachment 696786

That's a really nice Falcon. In good condition for its age. I am away in France at the moment but will check it out against my records when I get home next week. The rod operated front derailleur could be original, but he chainwheel may not be. It looks either early 70s or very late 60s to me. Do you have a frame number for it please? I have a modest database of Falcon frame numbers and I may be ablate help with a date and / or model.