alexander55

This "lost puppy" came home with me today. Appears to me (and I am new at this) to be from the 70s sometime. I am guessing that many (most?) of the components are not original. The bike is Reynolds 531. The components are Shimano 500. The brakes are Weinmann. Stem and handlebars are SR. The hubs are Suzue with Suntour quick-release axles (not sure what that is all about). The rims are Rigida.

I've done some internet searching tonight without a whole lot of information popping up. Any thoughts you would have about which model? Original components? Any other thoughts, information, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

juvela

have the same model hanging in my rack as a partial cycle. it is yellow and came with a cottered steel chainset. estimate it to date from ~1973. agree that your example has probably been upgraded. at first i thought it might be the Black Diamond model but that would be one model below the one with the three-tube Reynolds plain gauge frame. brakes are clearly original to the bike. wonder a bit about the other fittings... one thing which might explain the differences in equipment between our two examples would be if yours were one or two years later than the one here. doubt the mudguards on your machine are original.

alexander55

Thanks for this information. I left a Black Diamond frame with this seller as I thought it was the lower model - and as you note - there was not Reynolds 531 sticker on the Black Diamond frame.

You other comments make sense to me as well...but as noted I am pretty new at this. Appreciate your input!

juvela

was thinking about your raptor... suspect the latest it could be is 1975. by 1976 they began looking a bit differently. many of these bikes came through in the powder blue team/house colour. my town had an agent for this marque at this time so there were a good number of them to seen on the city's streets and roads.

cannot recall any additional details about my yellow mount. we are in dissimilar locations at present. will try to remember to take another gander when am back where it abides...

thanks for posting. if you could make a photo of the cycle's head and of its seat cluster i could compare it to mine. recall it has first quality headlugs and a round section wraparound seatstay cap. "veddy british"

alexander55

Photos as you suggested....


Based on information I just found regarding the Sugino Maxy cranks and their codes....it appears that the cranks may be from 1974 (which is obviously close to an earlier estimate of 1973).

modelmartin

I had a 78-79 Falcon from the original owner who bought it at a shop he worked at. It had wrap around seat stays and a square taper crank. The Metallic Gold color on it was magnificent but the dang thing was a 25" and I am 5' 9". I sold it to a guy who is 6' 7". Really. It had campy hubs, Shimano Titlist derailleurs and shifters, Maxy crankset with 55 big ring. I saved all of the bits and am looking for a 22 or 23 " frame to build it back up.

juvela

thank you for the additional images.

headlugs, headset, headplate look to be the same as my example. seat stay treatment is different. does yours have a white transfer on the chainstay proclaiming "Designed By Ernie Clements?"

am beginning to suspect yours later than mine. iirc my yellow one lacks the union jack transfer.

had a friend who purchased one of the powder blue versions of this model new about 1972/73. it came with cottered steel chainset, Campag Valentino gear ensemble, Campag NT hubset, Weinmann cp brakes and alloy w/o rims. stem and bar set was probably GB.

juvela

the new crank code information would line right up with the bicycle being 1974/75. find it a bit odd that she comes with steel rims. other examples of this model i have had the opportunity to see were all fitted with alloy rims.

for 1976 the cycle would have been fitted with reflectors to comply with the then newly implemented cpsc regulations.

desconhecido 

Falcons in the mid 70s could be a mishmash of various things. I bought one new in 1975 at a bike shop in Miami. I still have it though it's in pieces awaiting its second restoration. It's 531 db. Forks and stays are 531 as well. Ernie Clements was on the chainstay, but long gone. Wrap around seat stays -- I don't think I've ever seen a Falcon of the era without that. Very nice lugs. Came with Cinelli bars and stem, Weinmann center pulls, Campagnolo HF Tipo hubs, Campagnolo square taper steel crankset with appropriate BB, Mavic tubular rims, don't remember the tires, Brooks B15, Atom pedals, Campagnolo headset (probably not record or NR) Campagnolo NR RD, Campagnolo parallelogram FD (maybe NR) unbranded steel seat post of the wrong size (27.0, should be 27.2 which fits perfectly). Campagnolo shifters and bottom bracket/down tube cable guides and brake cable clamps. The decal arrangement was pretty much like this one:https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...RightClose.jpgThat frame looks pretty similar though mine had no chrome on the frame and the fork crown is somewhat different. Also, I'm not sure the lugs are the same. The lugs on mine appear a bit more ornate.

At the shop in Miami, they had about 50 of these bikes in all different configurations. Some had NR pedals, some didn't have the Cinelli stem/bars, probably GB instead. I don't recall any that had other than the Weinmann center pulls, but there might have been some. I don't remember the various cranks, but I recall that not all had the steel Campagnolo. Not all had Tipo hubs and Atom pedals -- some had NR pedals. Just a few had tubulars. Don't remember any Japanese components, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was some Suntour or Shimano in the room. Mine was similar to what I've seen called the San Remo model but it definitely is Not a San Remo model. Seemed like these Falcons were not distinguished by model names or designations.

In 1997 I was having some work done at an LBS here in Houston (headset installed in a new frame) and the guy running the store, and also a very experienced and competent mechanic he was, and I had a discussion about the Falcons of the mid 70s. He said that Falcon, or whoever owned them, shipped massive numbers of these bikes into the US with whatever components, mixed and matched, that they happened to be able to get at good prices. Said it was like a Forest Gump movie -- when they opened the boxes, they weren't sure what they would find.

MKahrl

That bike could easily be all original. Three of the six Falcons I've owned were so equipped.

During the rush of the 1971 bike boom manufacturers had to double their production every year. Things were hectic for every part of the supply chain and there were variations within model lines. Falcon went with Japanese components earlier (1972) than other European bike manufacturers.

With the paint and vinyl panels being in such good shape this bike never spent years as a daily commuter as many of that era did. Nice find.

alexander55

In response to an earlier question....I do not see a decal on the chainstay.

"Said it was like a Forest Gump movie -- when they opened the boxes, they weren't sure what they would find." I've never been one to name my bicycles...but I might have to name this one....FOREST. Ha. Great line and very helpful information.

Thanks MKahrl for your information and input as well. Very interesting. Very helpful.

juvela

alexander-lv,

have you completed the work you wanted to do on the cdi?

perhaps you could glue some "after" pictures onto the thread.

alexander55

I ended up moving the CDI along to another collector. It ended up just being too small for me to ride comfortably. Given my space limitations, I am only keeping bikes that I can actually ride. Thanks for the follow-up question.