A Cast of Falcons

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, or so they say.

I recently acquired a Falcon Rapier frame and wheel set from ebay with the original aim of making it work and selling it on. Unfortunately it had a pig of a stem stuck in it and having got fairly intimate in the course of its removal I have decided to have some fun with it instead.

It seems to be a fairly standard quality steel frame that I'm guessing is from the 80s, it carries a 'built for Elswick Falcon' sticker, and is quite tatty in places. Unless anyone can advise me otherwise before I get stuck in with the wire brush, I am planning on sanding the paint off, giving it a funky paint job, and using it as a city beater.

As part of this I will obviously be requiring a new stem. If anyone has one knocking around I will gladly take it off you for the price of postage and a couple of pints of beer!

Not long after, I noticed my mum's old bike could also do with some attention. She doesn't ride it anymore, but it has been passed around friends and family over the years and has now been adopted by my sister. She will be returning home in three weeks, and I have decided to give it a once over as a sort of welcome present!

On closer inspection, it turns out that this bike, also a Falcon, was built for my mum at Overbury's in Bristol in or around the 70s. The headbadge carries 'Designed by Ernie Clements' and the remains of the Reynolds 531 stickers are just about visible. It seems to be in pretty good condition and mainly just needs a good scrub and regreasing. I was pleasantly surprised when the seatpost came out effortlessly, although having just spent the weekend wrestling with the previous stuck stem, I have not dared unscrew the headset yet, for fear of what I might find.

Getting to the point...at some point someone has decided to remove the downtube shifters and bodge a rather offensive Shimano sis thumbshifter onto this otherwise handsome bike. Neither my mum nor my sister particularly like taking their hands off the bars to change gears, so I am looking for suggestions as to what might be a more sensitive alternative to both the DT shifters or the plastic thumbie?

Also, there were a plethora of wrap around cable stays and the like holding all the cables in place. There are no brazed on cable stops on the frame itself, would this be how the cables were originally fixed?

There are more questions to come, but I fear I am approaching my word limit.

TLR -
What is the most practical / sensitive alternative to downtube shifters or plastic thumbshifters?

What is the correct way to cable a bike frame without any cable stops on it?

Should I sand and repaint my Falcon Rapier?

Has anyone got a spare stem?

Thanks in advance for any response and apologies for the longish rambling post. Pics to follow...

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here are some pics of the Rapier

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And the Overbury's bike. Sorry for the poor quality pics

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I've got a real soft spot for Falcons (currently doing up a 70's Falcon Olympic). and the two you have there, though not in the best of shape are still nice looking bikes.

With regard to shifters for your sisters bike, you could perhaps use stem shifters? something like this:



And as for the Rapier, if you're going to use it as a beater bike, I personally would clean it and ride it as is! Personally I would also change the saddle and bar tape, but that's just my preference (not a big fan of the colour of those charge saddles)

Sorry I cant help you with a stem! but I look forward to seeing how both these bikes clean up.

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Hi mate, thanks for the reply. That looks like an good solution, cheers. Although it would still require taking one hand of the bars, but that might be ok, seeing as its not down there on the downtube. I'm also wandering if there exists an alternative thumbshifter that is just more in keeping with the rest of the bike?

Regarding the rapier, my main reason for painting it would be because I've never done it before, but would like to give it a go, and I see this as a sort of not too valuable sacrificial frame, that won't matter too much if I mess it up, and will benefit if I can do an ok job! Just thought I'd post on here beforehand to see if anyone has any info about it as I can't find much on the net. Also, my description of it as a city beater might have been a bit misleading. I already have a commuting bike which gets me around town nicely, but is not really suitable for longer trips, so this would be my 'road' bike if you like for anything over 10 miles or so on smooth ground!

Agreed re the bar tape and saddle. The photos above were from just after I received it, and had just tried to set it up before realising there was a problem in the stem. If you look in the background of the other pics, you can see the current, very dismantled state it is currently in.

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I suppose an alternative solution could be bar end shifters as opposed to stem shifters, slightly more in keeping and you don't leave the handlebars to shift? I don't have much experience with bar end shifters, but loads of people do on here and can give you a better steer.

I have no issue with people repainting bikes by the way, apologies if it came off that way! I just like falcons as they are. But I've repainted a number of frames rattle can and powder coating, out of the two I would suggest powder coating for durability. Rattle can is fun if you love sanding.

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Haha, not at all! A fair point by all means. But this is definitely being treated as an experiment, so it's gonna be rattle can all the way I think. Tempted to try and sand it down and then do a clearcoat, but have read about mixed success stories at best with that. Anyway, probably won't get round to it for a few weeks now, as life gets in the way. Will keep you updated though. Cheers