Help! Falcon frame purchase.
 

Hi there,
I'm a newbie to this forum (and to cycling). I hope I'm not breaking any rules...

Anyway, I've been searching all night for info on Falcon bicycles. I cannot find much on more recent models or historical info.

The reason I am searching is I found a shop in my town with 3or4-year-old "new old stock" frames w/forks. The owner said they were bought as leftover when Falcon went out of business (or changed hands).

what I'm wondering is:
How good are these? did Falcon undergo any changes 3-4 years ago? does anybody know if these frames are worth the $200 they are asking? Are these high-end bikes?

they are beautiful old-style looking frames. the owner said they where made in England.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks & happy riding
David
themilford@yahoo.com
ps. I can be contacted off forum if this is a "dead" topic.

Now assuming we are talking about the same company...

Falcon are still alive and kicking in the UK. They're the biggest bike manufacture in the UK (Raleigh no longer build bikes in the UK). Like most companies these days, current frames are generally made in Taiwan, but were (at least two years ago still building frames by hand for a few bikes).

The Falcon group owns a lot of the UK brands, currently the situation is roughly -

British Eagle - supermarket level bikes these days, cheap and nasty

CBR - a distinct range from those bikes labelled with the full Claud Butler name, the CBR range are cheapish and nasty full-bouncers competing with the bottom end cheap & nasty Saracens. Bikes kids 'hang out' on rather than really ride.

Falcon - Very basic, cheaply if not truly terribly made MTB's, Hybrids and Tourers

Claud Butler - Mainly entry level MTB's, Hybrids and Tourers. Not bad bikes, some are quite nice and are starting to get reasonable to good reviews, competes with the better Saracens.

Dawes - a fairly recent purchase. Traditional fairly good tourers, increasingly well respected MTB's that compete with low end Giant, Specialized, Trek etc. on build quality and value. I hired one of their hard tails a while back and was quite impressed.


Falcon also make other brands of varying quality (They built BMW's cycles for them a couple of years back). Generally they're at the low end of the market, the bulk end but some of their bikes aren't too bad.

There's a short article on the Falcon group in the current What Mountain Bike? if you can get access to UK magazines.

The web site is www.falconcycles.co.uk



Richard

Falcon did make some quality racing frames in the 1980s. They should be easily identfyable from their Reynolds 531 Steel stickers, and the higher quality of the lug-work.
My cheaper Falcon rides very well, but the frame is not worth very much.

Falcon made some
very nice Ernie Clements designed frames in
the 70's and early 80's. They used mostly
531 but also some 501 tubed frames.
they also produced some real dreck.

Marty