New member, new bike and lots of questions!

Hi all.

As a little project to keep me occupied I decided to search for a suitable 'do-er upper', I wasn't especially bothered about the bike being the of especially great quality, rather something I could learn on without spending a great deal of cash.

Scouring eBay, Gumtree etc. turned up this Falcon 'Pro Circuit' made from Reynolds 501, seller was asking £50 and accepted £30 which I'm happy enough with. Despite an impressive amount of gunk on the drivetrain the bike rides well enough but after I'd ridden it around the block and taken these pics the stripdown process began.
















I've access to a spraybay through work so a compete respray should cost about £30, I'm planning on a pastel blue with red graphics, I'm contemplating of using my surname in place of 'Falcon' although I'm not sure of this yet, it certainly sounds like a Euro bike brand!

Thinks I definitely need are new tyres, headset, bar tape and saddle.

One thing I have noticed is that in the rear dropout the non-drive side has a 'clip in' of some description preventing the axle from sliding back, the drive side does not, I'm assuming I'll need to source a new one?

Steve

I don't like the look of that rust under the top end of the down tube.
Could it have had a front end collision at some point?
The "clip-in" on the non-drive side isn't something I've come across before - I'd just take it out rather than try to get a new one for the drive side.

For £30 you've got a decent winter runabout there.

Mark.

The frame is in for shot blasting next week so it will be interesting to see what is revealed, hopefully the rust won't be too bad.

As I said this is very much a learning curve, hopefully an enjoyable and not too expensive one!

thebungle":3g6ya17j said:

hopefully an enjoyable and not too expensive one!

Click to expand...

Well the enjoyable part is almost guaranteed. The not expensive bit isn't however.

I got a Raleigh Criterium Triathlon 12 a couple of weeks ago for a similar price however once I had cleaned it, it revealed a fantastic well looked after bike. I had all sorts of plans to upgrade this that and the other but it's that good as it is I am leaving it for now.

I am however looking for something else to do up.

I have found retro bikes to be like pringles, once you start you cant stop.

daccordimark":3p2qb75b said:

I don't like the look of that rust under the top end of the down tube.
Could it have had a front end collision at some point?
The "clip-in" on the non-drive side isn't something I've come across before - I'd just take it out rather than try to get a new one for the drive side.

For £30 you've got a decent winter runabout there.

Mark.

Click to expand...

I took a sander to the rust on the downtube and thankfully it appears to be surface only, in fact there is little rust on the frame as a whole.

The below pic is the 'clip-in' thing I mentioned, ideas if I should ditch or source a new one appreciated!

In practice I don't think they're needed, they also dictate the position of the wheel more than you might like. I've seen them on a 1970s Peugeot once or twice. If you have two the same (ie one in each side) it can help you work out if rear end is straight.

Provided the frame is straight then it looks a good basis for a refurb!

Yes they're not needed, more for ease of lining up the rear wheel, normally found on bikes that do not have a brazed on mech hanger ie has a mech bracket for the mech to hang on, the spacer you have will then line the wheel up. That was harder to explain than I thought....

Anyway. Nice bike, I recall getting a lower model from the same catalogue that yours would have been in. Seems a shame to respray it really. I'd mask it up and just respray the white and give the rest of the frame a good t-cut.

That makes sense Tel. I learned summat there.

Tel":3d901zev said:

Yes they're not needed, more for ease of lining up the rear wheel, normally found on bikes that do not have a brazed on mech hanger ie has a mech bracket for the mech to hang on, the spacer you have will then line the wheel up. That was harder to explain than I thought....

Anyway. Nice bike, I recall getting a lower model from the same catalogue that yours would have been in. Seems a shame to respray it really. I'd mask it up and just respray the white and give the rest of the frame a good t-cut.

Click to expand...

Thanks

TBH I don't feel the paint /decals etc. are in good enough condition even for a hearty T-Cut session, I'm fortunate in that I have access to to the paint bay at work and they will do a top notch job for me for a relatively little cost, by coincidence one of them happens to be an ex-bike restorer so it should be a cracking paint job, currently deciding between Fiat Volare blue with red highlights or Honda 'metallic brown' with cream highlights.

Out of interest where did this bike fit in the Falcon range? Would it be equivalent of a Tiagra level bike today?