Vintage Falcon road bikes

[Gravity Aided]

I ghot this a couple of months ago. It is a Falcon Olympic. I think it will be a fine single speed

 

[Illaveago]

View attachment 553552
I ghot this a couple of months ago. It is a Falcon Olympic. I think it will be a fine single speed

That was the colour of the Black Diamond I can remember seeing when I was at school back in the mid 60's. It had black shading and chrome effect stickers . It has left a lasting impression on me .

 

[Gravity Aided]

That was the colour of the Black Diamond I can remember seeing when I was at school back in the mid 60's. It had black shading and chrome effect stickers . It has left a lasting impression on me .

It has been heavily ridden by Chronos, but this bike has some corroded derailleurs I may want to polish up, the claw hanger attachment just leads me toward the single-speed option. The Pryma saddle is already on the Schwinn Passage, my full sized touring bike. I also have a compact frame tourer, a Raleigh Sojourn, which has one of those Chinese leather saddles on it. It has a ding in the downtube, it has a few issues, but my current single speed frame is a bit too large for me, so this one, a bit too small, should work out fine. I have white deep V single speed 27" wheels set up, as well as a chainwheel made for this set-up.

 

[rogerzilla]

298 Super Pro if memory serves

Here's my pink Falcon San Remo

View attachment 395435

I love the way you carefully arranged and composed that shot 😄

 

[Kempstonian]

Any pictures?

Yes...here it is:

 

[midlife]

That's a black diamond'y frame with those curly lugs, not sure if they were looking back at the Carlton Flyer style?

 

[Kempstonian]

That's a black diamond'y frame with those curly lugs, not sure if they were looking back at the Carlton Flyer style?

Yes, I forgot to mention that I had tentatively identified it as a Black Diamond. It was a complete bike but I stripped it for the parts. I was in two minds about sand blasting & powder coating it (which is why I took the head badge off), so I decided to do nothing and decide later.

 

[midlife]

Yes, I forgot to mention that I had tentatively identified it as a Black Diamond. It was a complete bike but I stripped it for the parts. I was in two minds about sand blasting & powder coating it (which is why I took the head badge off), so I decided to do nothing and decide later.

I've said this before probably, but we sold Falcon bikes, in the bike shop I worked in back in the 70's,

Unwrapping one was like Forrest Gump, you never knew what you were going to get

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Unwrapping one was like Forrest Gump, you never knew what you were going to get

I'm sure all the subsequent Falcon owners 45 years later really appreciate all the headscratching and uncertainty. I prefer the boring bike variety myself, where you can tell exactly what it is because it's the spec you expect and not a mish-mash. Raleigh and Dawes seem quite consistent other than the odd wrapover Tru-wel frame with Raleigh decals.

 

[avecReynolds531]

It’s amazing what a lasting impression things can have on one at that age. Probably why we like vintage bikes, always looking for things we wanted when we were younger. Your red Falcon looks nice. Why not look for a purple bike and keep your current one original. Can’t have too many bikes.

+ 1
Always liked the red & black Falcon Black Diamonds when I was a teen - seeing the bikes now, it's amazing how it takes you back in a powerful nostalgia.

I also remember seeing a sparkling new Majorca like this:

and the cromo decal was a real mystery at the time.

Thanks for an interesting thread. I've been reading the history of Elswick Hopper in Barton-upon-Humber and it covers Falcon years too.

 

[Illaveago]

Looking good Dredging the memory but it could be an Olympic?

PS here's a later "Falcon" with all chrome rear triangle.


http://theflyingwheel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/falcon-proffesional.html

Ah! The frame in the picture is identical to mine apart from mine doesn't have any chrome , braze ons, different lugs, bottom bracket!
It does however explain the white section on the seat tube ! I was wondering why the panel is placed so high upon the frame and not central. So from the picture it would suggest that my frame was painted similarly but with another white panel on the down tube .

 

[Illaveago]

Here is what I have uncovered so far . It seems like it had several panels painted in contrasting white . The remnants of some clear vinyl can be see at the top of the seat tube where the white finishes and the metallic blue starts .

 

[Illaveago]

I'm sure all the subsequent Falcon owners 45 years later really appreciate all the headscratching and uncertainty. I prefer the boring bike variety myself, where you can tell exactly what it is because it's the spec you expect and not a mish-mash. Raleigh and Dawes seem quite consistent other than the odd wrapover Tru-wel frame with Raleigh decals.

I'm having a similar problem in trying to sort out what my new frame is . They seem to have changed their frame material over the years.
The front and rear dropouts are different . The front is Campag and the rear is Shimano . I wonder if their stores was a Lucky Dip ?

 

[Gravity Aided]

I'm having a similar problem in trying to sort out what my new frame is . They seem to have changed their frame material over the years.
The front and rear dropouts are different . The front is Campag and the rear is Shimano . I wonder if their stores was a Lucky Dip ?

Or choice of fork?

 

[Illaveago]

Or choice of fork?

The fork is in the same colour so it would suggest that it was the original one .