Vintage Falcon road bikes

[nikel66]

I've had a look over over it and it doesn't seem to have a number stamped anywhere (unless it's under the BB cable guide).

It's a strange collection of parts, although i guess bits and pieces have been changed over over the years.

Exage wheels 700c, Alesa alloy rims
Chang Star brake levers, no name callipers
Tourney RD
Ugly no-name crankset
Shimano FD AX50 FD
Falcon branded handlebars
ITM stem
Shimano band on shifters
Hyperglide 7 speed cluster

Seatpost is about 25.8mm so I'm guessing Hi Ten frame?

 

[Illaveago]

I've had a look over over it and it doesn't seem to have a number stamped anywhere (unless it's under the BB cable guide).

It's a strange collection of parts, although i guess bits and pieces have been changed over over the years.

Exage wheels 700c, Alesa alloy rims
Chang Star brake levers, no name callipers
Tourney RD
Ugly no-name crankset
Shimano FD AX50 FD
Falcon branded handlebars
ITM stem
Shimano band on shifters
Hyperglide 7 speed cluster

Seatpost is about 25.8mm so I'm guessing Hi Ten frame?

Hi and to this site. We are a friendly lot who like seeing pictures of bikes. You might not be able to post any just yet but it does help with identification.
What colour is it? I think I have seen some red ones for sale on the bay at times.
Mandobob is the chap who is a Falcon expert. I have 5 Falcons, 2 Black Diamonds, a Professional, and 2 which I've forgotten their names at the moment.
Falcon bikes are nice to ride and have quite an interesting history.

 

[biggs682]

@nikel66 welcome
We need pictures

 

[nikel66]

Hi there and thanks for the warm welcome! I'm not able to post pictures yet but I will when I am able.

The bike is red and the paint (?) layer is very thick, which makes me wonder if it may be powder coated.

I've read all through the forum - all 33 pages - and found the history and information about the brand very interesting.

 

[biggs682]

Hi there and thanks for the warm welcome! I'm not able to post pictures yet but I will when I am able.

The bike is red and the paint (?) layer is very thick, which makes me wonder if it may be powder coated.

I've read all through the forum - all 33 pages - and found the history and information about the brand very interesting.

Just keep replying and before long you will be able to post pictures

 

[nikel66]

Looks like I can post pictures. Yay!
The "Shane Sutton" stickers look crooked which seems a bit sus to me.

 

[nikel66]

 

[Illaveago]

Hi there and thanks for the warm welcome! I'm not able to post pictures yet but I will when I am able.

The bike is red and the paint (?) layer is very thick, which makes me wonder if it may be powder coated.

I've read all through the forum - all 33 pages - and found the history and information about the brand very interesting.

Welcome to the club. I have 5.
The puzzle starts now. All of our bikes have a history waiting to be discovered, that is part of the enjoyment trying to find out what they are at times. My blue Rotrax frame which turned out to be a Falcon Professional. The fact that previous owners had just sprayed over the original finish helped to identify it. Falcon produced a Team Equipe which was painted in a similar colour to yours. It could be that Falcon decided to do some as Shane Sutton specials as a marketing trial.
Unless you can find a catalogue which features your model in it it will be difficult to say what equipment it had originally. It could be that parts have been replaced over the years as they wore out. It could also be that someone has stripped the bike and sold off the parts for profit as it happens to many bikes. I try to prevent that, could be why I have too many.
They are nice bikes to ride and have an interesting history. It is amazing how the name Clements pops up in connection with other bike manufacturers. Coventry Eagle, Viking , Orbit.

 

[Mandobob]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and new to Falcon bikes. I picked up a 'Shane Sutton Special' today but can find precious little information about this model on the interwebs. Is anybody here able to tell me a little bit about it please?

Shane Sutton was a professional cyclist riding for the Falcon Cycles pro team, which was very successful over three decades. He rode for the team in 1985 and 1986 and also in 1990 and 1991 and in 1990 he won the Milk Race.
A bit like car manufacturers at the time, Falcon would produce a special model, based on one of their bikes but painted and with transfers on a paticular theme to boost sales. The Shane Sutton Special was one of these and was red because in 1985 and 1986 the pro team raced on red bikes built by Terry Dolan (later of Dolan Bikes which exists still today). Your bike was never in the catalogues but is almost certainly based on the Team Equipe which is in the 1986 catalogue. I am attaching a specification sheet from that catalogue which you can download.
I had one of that model which had the frame number F89700001. I am guessing that it was built in July 1989 from that number but Falcon numbers are pretty difficult to interpret. Could you let me have your frame number to add to my Falcon frame number database please?

 

[nikel66]

Welcome to the club. I have 5.
The puzzle starts now. All of our bikes have a history waiting to be discovered, that is part of the enjoyment trying to find out what they are at times. My blue Rotrax frame which turned out to be a Falcon Professional. The fact that previous owners had just sprayed over the original finish helped to identify it. Falcon produced a Team Equipe which was painted in a similar colour to yours. It could be that Falcon decided to do some as Shane Sutton specials as a marketing trial.
Unless you can find a catalogue which features your model in it it will be difficult to say what equipment it had originally. It could be that parts have been replaced over the years as they wore out. It could also be that someone has stripped the bike and sold off the parts for profit as it happens to many bikes. I try to prevent that, could be why I have too many.
They are nice bikes to ride and have an interesting history. It is amazing how the name Clements pops up in connection with other bike manufacturers. Coventry Eagle, Viking , Orbit.

Thanks for this. It's quite a lot of fun trying to figure out the bike's history and learning about bike manufacturers. I had heard of Coventry Eagle, but only quite recently. I hadn't been really known of Falcon until recently too but that could be because I live in Australia and haven't come really across them much.
Thanks for the guidance and encouragement!

 

[nikel66]

Shane Sutton was a professional cyclist riding for the Falcon Cycles pro team, which was very successful over three decades. He rode for the team in 1985 and 1986 and also in 1990 and 1991 and in 1990 he won the Milk Race.
A bit like car manufacturers at the time, Falcon would produce a special model, based on one of their bikes but painted and with transfers on a paticular theme to boost sales. The Shane Sutton Special was one of these and was red because in 1985 and 1986 the pro team raced on red bikes built by Terry Dolan (later of Dolan Bikes which exists still today). Your bike was never in the catalogues but is almost certainly based on the Team Equipe which is in the 1986 catalogue. I am attaching a specification sheet from that catalogue which you can download.
I had one of that model which had the frame number F89700001. I am guessing that it was built in July 1989 from that number but Falcon numbers are pretty difficult to interpret. Could you let me have your frame number to add to my Falcon frame number database please?

Wow thanks for sharing your knowledge. It's been very helpful. The catalogue page is also a wonderful resource and very much appreciated.

I haven't located a frame number yet but I plan on stripping the bike and giving it all a good clean and regrease. I'm hoping there's a number hiding under the BB cable guide. I'll be sure to pass it on if I find it - it may take me a few weeks though.
Thanks again

 

[Mandobob]

Thanks for this. It's quite a lot of fun trying to figure out the bike's history and learning about bike manufacturers. I had heard of Coventry Eagle, but only quite recently. I hadn't been really known of Falcon until recently too but that could be because I live in Australia and haven't come really across them much.
Thanks for the guidance and encouragement!

Coventry Eagle was a long established (1897) bicycle maker in Coventry. After bomb damage to some of its premises in WW2 and a shortage of skilled labour in Coventry, in 1959 they bought a small company in Birmingham, Roberts Cycle Industries (RCI) for access to labour and premises. Two years earlier, the successful cyclist Ernie Clements (Olympics 1948) had joined RCI and had started the Falcon marque. Thus Falcon was bought as part of the deal. In 1968 Coventry Eagle moved to Barton-on-Humber in Lincolnshire into some premises that Elswick Hopper had surplus to their requirements. They traded as Coventry Eagle there, making Falcons among other bikes, until 1971 when Ernie Clements took over control of the company and renamed it Falcon Cycles. This continued until in 1978 Clements sold his shareholding to Elswick Hopper in return for an interest in that company and a directorship with it. Clements eventually left the company in 1982 and in 1991 Townsend (Casket) PLC bought the company. In my opinion th e great days of Falcon ended about then when their professional racing team won the Milk race with Shane Sutton in 1990 and with Chris Walker in 1991. After that the association with road racing and producing those bikes fell away.

 

[nikel66]

Wow thanks for sharing your knowledge. It's been very helpful. The catalogue page is also a wonderful resource and very much appreciated.

I haven't located a frame number yet but I plan on stripping the bike and giving it all a good clean and regrease. I'm hoping there's a number hiding under the BB cable guide. I'll be sure to pass it on if I find it - it may take me a few weeks though.
Thanks again

Hi Mandobob

I've pulled the bike apart but unfortunately couldn't find a serial number anywhere.

The frame has a reasonable heft to it, and I noticed it has some kind of metal pipe added to the inside of the seat tube near the bottom bracket. 🤔

At the moment I think I'll put the project on ice for the holiday season.

Thanks again for sharing all your expertise!

 

[Illaveago]

Hi Mandobob

I've pulled the bike apart but unfortunately couldn't find a serial number anywhere.

The frame has a reasonable heft to it, and I noticed it has some kind of metal pipe added to the inside of the seat tube near the bottom bracket. 🤔

At the moment I think I'll put the project on ice for the holiday season.

Thanks again for sharing all your expertise!

It looks like part of an old aluminium seat post. To check from below would require the Crank and bottom bracket to be removed. You could measure how far down it is and possibly work out how long it is.

 

[biggs682]

It looks like part of an old aluminium seat post. To check from below would require the Crank and bottom bracket to be removed. You could measure how far down it is and possibly work out how long it is.

Exactly what I thought as well