Vintage Falcon road bikes

[The_Cycling_Scientist]

When you consider nearly every town had a factory employing a lot of people who cycled to work ,especially in the 1960's it makes you wonder where they all went . In my town when the workers went home the traffic came to a standstill as they would all pour out in a huge mass. A bit like the Tour Dr France .

Some scrap man probably had a field trip and is now sat laughing from the yacht he bought after weighing so many low end bikes nobody wanted......

 

[southcoast]

I have very long lasting memories of seeing a purple and black Black Diamond in the cycle sheds at school in the 60's . It is strange just how that colour scheme could have had such an effect. It made me think " I want one ! "
I was toying with the idea of respraying mine in that colour scheme .

There is a purple Falcon on ebay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1982-Fal...120911?hash=item441fe8b68f:g:K7IAAOSwVttbFrwK

 

[The_Cycling_Scientist]

There is a purple Falcon on ebay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1982-Fal...120911?hash=item441fe8b68f:g:K7IAAOSwVttbFrwK

Funny thing is it's local to me!
Two Purple Falcons in Cambridge... That's got to be a rare thing. Can't afford a second one!

 

[southcoast]

Some scrap man probably had a field trip and is now sat laughing from the yacht he bought after weighing so many low end bikes nobody wanted......

I think a lot of the bikes that where used to cycle to school and work bitd had chromed steel components. The bikes were used in all weathers and when these parts rusted, often the bikes were thrown away!

 

[Warny]

That purple 5-speed in Cambridge looks good! Here's my Falcon Cotswold that I picked up a couple of months ago. It's a mix of components, both old and new. I've put a Gran Sport deraillheur on the front, not done too much else to it. Paintwork could be better, it looks like a pinkish colour where it hasn't faded! Comfy and smooth ride though

 

[southcoast]

A lot of Falcons seem to have migrated to Cambridge.

 

[mjr]

A lot of Falcons seem to have migrated to Cambridge.

Maybe they're after some Flying Pigeons which have taken up residence.

 

[Illaveago]

I thought that I would revitalise this thread as I am expecting the arrival of an old frame .
It is a Club Special ! .
No I'd never heard of one before !
What drew my attention to it was , apart from the name and the colour was the ornate lugs which turned out to be Nervex Serie Super Legere. The frame tubes are Reynolds 531
Trying to find information about Falcon bikes on the net is a bit of a nightmare as there doesn't seem to be much about . I can only find little snippets here and there .
What I have been able to piece together so far from looking at the pictures of it is that it seems to be quite old . Possibly early 60's. It has the metal Falcon head badge held in place with brass studs. The Falcon crest transfer is placed within black banding on the seat tube . It has Designed by Ernie Clements and Club Special on the cross bar. The Reynolds 531 transfer also seems to be an old style.
The closest picture of a bike which resembles it I discovered last night was of a 1947 / 49 Ernie Clements.
So that is as far as I have got so far. I will leave you all in suspense until my frame arrives.

 

[midlife]

Just out of curiosity, have you read the book by one of the clements bros. "A bicycle ride through my life". Shows the omnishambles that was Falcon lol. Its a hard read though as the writing style doesn't flow....

 

[southcoast]

Falcon brochures seem few and far between and the ones that do exist often have a vague description of the bikes. I have a few of their brochures but nothing that old. There is however a brochure on this page showing a Club Special.

http://theflyingwheel.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_7269.html

 

[Kempstonian]

I have a Falcon frame:

It was a complete bike when I got it but at 23" its slightly too big for me, so I used the parts on another bike. I think this is a Black Diamond but it had lost all its decals except the head badge, which I removed in order to have the frame powder coated (its in the photo resting on the BB).

This is the bike when I bought it:

Now I've had second thoughts about the powder coating. I don't think I would recover the cost of it if I sold the frame afterwards, or even if I rebuilt the bike. I'd like to maybe swap it for a smaller frame of some sort and maybe build a bike I could actually ride!

 

[midlife]

Looks like it was a Black Diamond in its former life. The Carlton Flyer style lugs were typical of one. Should be some chrome on the forks though.

 

[Kempstonian]

Looks like it was a Black Diamond in its former life. The Carlton Flyer style lugs were typical of one. Should be some chrome on the forks though.

Yes, I thought that too after seeing some brochures on the internet. Looks like it has been repainted, which is most likely the reason no decals exist now. The head badge is a foil one so they might have got it off and reglued it afterwards.

 

[Illaveago]

Falcon brochures seem few and far between and the ones that do existed often have a vague description of the bikes. I have a few of their brochures but nothing that old. There is however a brochure on this page showing a Club Special.

http://theflyingwheel.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_7269.html

Thanks, that is it !
I will study them to see what differences there were between the models .

 

[Illaveago]

So the frame is 15 shillings down from the Olympic frame .