Further thought: Can you see evidence of two holes on the head tube where a metal badge had been fitted? Even filled in holes? The metal badges stopped being fitted around 1978 when Clements sold out to Elswick Hopper and became a director of that firm. I am guessing here that the new management fitted the foil badges as a cost saving measure.
Vintage Falcon road bikes
- Thread starter southcoast
- Start date
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Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
They are an exact match colour wise so it seems as though they were on the frame when it was originally sprayed .Very niceare the forks original?
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
I haven't looked up inside the steerer tube but I will do .
From what I have seen from stripping the paint off the lug work has been done really well with no file marks or gaps where the braze was missing . Even the gold lining of the lugs was done really well. At one point I thought that the gold was braze showing through but it washed off with more cleaning .
It is an enigma !
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
Are those not Bocama lugs? They look exactly like the ones on my 1979 SuperPro.
I have also noticed that the rear brake bridge has the reinforcing, again just like the SuperPro. This latter feature only seems to appear 1979 ish or later. To have that means it is not low in the hierarchy of Falcons.
I am also puzzled by the seat tube treatment because again about 1978 the seat tubes were fitted with the square capital letters spelling out "FALCON" vertically, with a flying falcon at the top and bottom (apart from the Tourist / Super Tourist which had two rings and a duplicate foil type head tube badge on the seat tube, facing forwards). The white panel treatment was either a 1960s style or a mid/late 1980s style.
What is the internal diameter of the seat tube? (27.2 = 531 butted, 26.8 = 531 plain gauge, 27 = Accles & Pollock Cr-Mo). Was there any transfer on the seat tube?
I have also noticed that the rear brake bridge has the reinforcing, again just like the SuperPro. This latter feature only seems to appear 1979 ish or later. To have that means it is not low in the hierarchy of Falcons.
I am also puzzled by the seat tube treatment because again about 1978 the seat tubes were fitted with the square capital letters spelling out "FALCON" vertically, with a flying falcon at the top and bottom (apart from the Tourist / Super Tourist which had two rings and a duplicate foil type head tube badge on the seat tube, facing forwards). The white panel treatment was either a 1960s style or a mid/late 1980s style.
What is the internal diameter of the seat tube? (27.2 = 531 butted, 26.8 = 531 plain gauge, 27 = Accles & Pollock Cr-Mo). Was there any transfer on the seat tube?
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
I assumed that they were Prugnat but I'm only going by what I have gathered from the net . I measured the seat tube with my Vernier and it measured it as 27.2
The brake bridge reinforcement doesn't have the recess so it is an earlier type .
All I can find is a small piece of clear vinyl at the top of the white panel on the seat tube where it meets the metallic blue. As it is covering these colours it shows that the blue and white were there originally . The way in which the white bands have been masked out would suggest that bands would have gone on top to finish them off . The gold lining was done to a high standard . The bottom bracket lugs and brake bridge where it meets the seat stays were also lined .
The brake bridge reinforcement doesn't have the recess so it is an earlier type .
All I can find is a small piece of clear vinyl at the top of the white panel on the seat tube where it meets the metallic blue. As it is covering these colours it shows that the blue and white were there originally . The way in which the white bands have been masked out would suggest that bands would have gone on top to finish them off . The gold lining was done to a high standard . The bottom bracket lugs and brake bridge where it meets the seat stays were also lined .
Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
Look like they could be either
Bocama
Prugnat
Haden
From what I see on the "net"
Bocama
Prugnat
Haden
From what I see on the "net"
OP
OP
southcoast
Über Member
I think we can safely say it’s a 79 or 80 Falcon and resembles a pro more than any other model.
We could theorise about the discrepancies and never really know the answer.
The seat tube measurement is significant. By the end of the 1970s there were very few models made by Falcon in 531 butted tubing. In the 1976 catalogue (just a couple of years before your frame seems to date from) only three models have 531 butted:
model 76 San Remo Equipe (which has the distinctive seat cluster),
model 84 Cote d'Azur
model 88 Super Tourist de luxe (chrome ends to the forks).
The model 84 Cote d'Azur had been made on and off since 1963 and the model number continued in 1983, renamed the Alpine.
For my money, the lug type, the detail at the top of the seat stays, and the rear brake bridge detail put it in the 1978/79 ish era. Falcons are notorious for finishing their models slightly differently (I have photos of between 400 and 500 Falcons between the 1960s and the early 1990s and there are all sorts of frame decoration anomalies in there, so yours would not be unusual to have the white panels on seat and bottom tube.
That is about as far as I can get! Without doubt it is a nice good frame which deserves a top quality rebuild and repaint. Do go for stove enamelling if you can.
model 76 San Remo Equipe (which has the distinctive seat cluster),
model 84 Cote d'Azur
model 88 Super Tourist de luxe (chrome ends to the forks).
The model 84 Cote d'Azur had been made on and off since 1963 and the model number continued in 1983, renamed the Alpine.
For my money, the lug type, the detail at the top of the seat stays, and the rear brake bridge detail put it in the 1978/79 ish era. Falcons are notorious for finishing their models slightly differently (I have photos of between 400 and 500 Falcons between the 1960s and the early 1990s and there are all sorts of frame decoration anomalies in there, so yours would not be unusual to have the white panels on seat and bottom tube.
That is about as far as I can get! Without doubt it is a nice good frame which deserves a top quality rebuild and repaint. Do go for stove enamelling if you can.
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
So who if anyone on cycle chat bought this last night , I know it wasn't me
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193778242215
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193778242215
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
It wasn't me ! I've got enough to get on with . 
Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
Nor me. Shipping would be too expensive.It wasn't me ! I've got enough to get on with .
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
Thanks .
I think I'm leaning towards San Remo Equipe as it is a 22 1/2 inch frame. It also sounds good .
I will spray it myself . I used to be a sprayer. I will also just spot prime and spray over the existing paintwork so in the future someone else may want to strip it back to the original finish .
Last edited:
It wasn't me but it's a lovely old fame. From the 1960s when they put braze-ons for the rear derailleur cable. Lovely Nervex lugs too.So who if anyone on cycle chat bought this last night , I know it wasn't me
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193778242215
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Must admit I did bid but not enough
