Vintage Falcon road bikes

[Kempstonian]

 

[Illaveago]

I'm sure now that the paintwork is original, because somebody scraped some off to see the frame number more clearly and the blue is the only paint on there. If it was resprayed it must have been a long time ago. The blue paint does have some black touch ups where I presume there were rust spots. Why the owner didn't use blue paint I don't know but the black seems to be a bitumen like paint, so it may have been to stop the rust coming back?

I bought it as a complete bike but its a 23" which is just too big for me, so I've used the parts elsewhere now.

The frame number by the way looks like G27200. The G is very small compared to the number.

You should be able to wash the bitumen paint off with white spirit. It would have stopped from rusting further .
So your frame has the number in the same position as mine. It also starts with the same number and has the same number of digits.
The letters seem to appear at random.

 

[Illaveago]

Had a re think!
Total change of thought! Using that frame number from August 1967 as a guide I wondered if Falcon used an alphabetical system to date the months but excluding O and I as they look too much like numbers. This way half of the alphabet would count for one year and the other half would be for the following year.
By counting back using that system I have come up with a start date of 1956. A would be January. This from working on the one letter and five digit system.
I wonder if they used the different sized letters to differentiate the years?

 

[Kempstonian]

You should be able to wash the bitumen paint off with white spirit. It would have stopped from rusting further .
So your frame has the number in the same position as mine. It also starts with the same number and has the same number of digits.
The letters seem to appear at random.

I'll try the white spirit - it would be nice to get rid of the black.

Looking at your red Falcon on page 2, and the green frame of PHL67's, I think we all have the same model judging by the top of the seat stays, the lugs and no braze ons (although his does have pump ones)... so I'm now doubting whether mine IS a Black Diamond.

 

[Illaveago]

I'll try the white spirit - it would be nice to get rid of the black.

Looking at your red Falcon on page 2, and the green frame of PHL67's, I think we all have the same model judging by the top of the seat stays, the lugs and no braze ons (although his does have pump ones)... so I'm now doubting whether mine IS a Black Diamond.

I think they could be Black Diamonds. Have a look down inside the seat tube to see if you can see a weld seam running the length of the tube. Mine has as I think it has Truwel tubing . If it hasn't it will indicate that it has Reynolds 531 tubing which would suggest a different model.
Do you still have the parts which came with your bike? If you have the brake calipers you may be able to find a date stamp on the backs of them .

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Aside from weight, the seatpost diameter should give the game away if a frame is 531 DB. AFAIK, both Tru-wel and Raleigh 18-23 hi-tensile steel require a 1" seatpost.

 

[midlife]

The Bike shop I worked in sold Falcon bikes. The numbering system seemed completely random lol. Later frames from the far east had a different system though. The Black Diamond name was recycled for years by Falcon. Rather like a modern Ford Fiesta is different from one's from ages ago.... But the name is the same.

 

[Kempstonian]

I think they could be Black Diamonds. Have a look down inside the seat tube to see if you can see a weld seam running the length of the tube. Mine has as I think it has Truwel tubing . If it hasn't it will indicate that it has Reynolds 531 tubing which would suggest a different model.
Do you still have the parts which came with your bike? If you have the brake calipers you may be able to find a date stamp on the backs of them .

I did look at the calipers a while ago but I don't think they were the original ones, as they have no date stamped on them. I just now checked the seat tube and I think there is a weld, but its hard to see because the blue paint covers up the only part I can see. There is what appears to be a crack in the paint which runs down the tube, so I assume that's where the weld is.

Here's a couple of pics of the bike as I got it (I had already removed the black bar tape):

 

[Illaveago]

I see that yours has side pulls like mine which also doesn't have a date stamp.

 

[southcoast]

I did look at the calipers a while ago but I don't think they were the original ones, as they have no date stamped on them. I just now checked the seat tube and I think there is a weld, but its hard to see because the blue paint covers up the only part I can see. There is what appears to be a crack in the paint which runs down the tube, so I assume that's where the weld is.

Here's a couple of pics of the bike as I got it (I had already removed the black bar tape):

View attachment 492020 View attachment 492021

My guess is it’s about 1978. Any date codes on the chainset which looks like it might be Sugino?

 

[Kempstonian]

My guess is it’s about 1978. Any date codes on the chainset which looks like it might be Sugino?

On the inside of the smaller ring it says SUGINO 40, but I can't see any marks on the larger ring.
The chainring crank has FORGED 171 JAPAN and G-3 on the inside and it is branded Maxy. The other crank has a similar marking except it has I-4 instead of the G-3.

 

[midlife]

Sugino Maxy were a popular 70's alloy chainset, usually had a red plastic screw cap over the crank bolt....which self destructed at every opportunity lol

 

[southcoast]

On the inside of the smaller ring it says SUGINO 40, but I can't see any marks on the larger ring.
The chainring crank has FORGED 171 JAPAN and G-3 on the inside and it is branded Moxy. The other crank has a similar marking except it has I-4 instead of the G-3.

G-3 appears to be March 77 and I -4 appears to be April 79. Have a look at the vintage trek web site and see if you come to the same conclusion.

 

[southcoast]

Sugino Maxy were a popular 70's alloy chainset, usually had a red plastic screw cap over the crank bolt....which self destructed at every opportunity lol

lol yes I think the dust caps were made out of cheese? Also leaving the dust caps off made you look like a real racing cyclist!

 

[Kempstonian]

Well gents, we have a minor miracle! One of my red caps survived! The slot in it is rather chewed up though. I had removed it and put it 'somewhere safe', so its no longer on the crank (which, if I had left it alone, would have made my search for 'Sugino' markings a bit easier).