That’s very orange!

1972 Merckx Falcon

I had one around ~2015? Did not take a lot of pictures, build was meh aesthetically but rode good even with cheap Shimano r501 wheels (on the heavy side, they were r501, decals are wrong) and only pic I have is potato quality. If I recall correct - I built it with Ritchey fork and threadless headset, pretty sure it was 105 5700:

Damn. I've always wanted a Falcon. Haven't seen one for sale anywhere around me for at least the last 5 years or so.

Here are as-found photos of the early 60's Black Diamond that I just shared on another thread.

...and here are some photos of my early-70's example.

...when I bought it:




...after some work:

...these were the top of the line when this was first sold:

Just picked up my first new old bike in several years. A Falcon Olympic. Plain gauge 531 mains, arabesque shifters and front derailleur with lower tier later model Shimano sis rear. Lots of patina, lots of filth. Looking forward to getting back in the saddle. I'm guessing late 70's early 80's.

Have fun fixing that. It looks quite like my Black Diamond.

As found vs how I'm using it now.

Hopefully mine cleans up as well as yours has.

Top of the fork crown is pretty badly flaked, but all I did to clean everything else was a couple squirts of Boeshield T9 chainlube and a soft cloth.

Took some pics of my '87 the other day.


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SurferRosa -

are Coventry Eagles welcome as well?



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Not sure how I missed this thread! Here is my ‘73/4 San Remo I believe model 94 based on opinions and observations from members on here and scouring the internet and catalogs I have downloaded.

Got it in October last year (2020) originally for my kid to ride but it ended up being my main bike. I love that it’s British (mom) and has a Maryland bicycle registration sticker from’75 (I lived in MD mid 80’s-90’s) and we connected out here in SoCal all these years later, so it feels like it’s meant to be.

I love the ride and have put about 550 miles on it in the 6 months or so since selling my Trek to a member here.

It’s currently on modern 27’s from another bike but the Mavic 700’s it came with (look like 80’s wheels with price tags under the rim tape) will be going back on it. Cinelli bars and stem, Zeus headset, Universal brakes, Campy deraileurs and shifters, Sugino Mighty crankset, Zeus seatpost (changed to longer Strong Japan 27.0) and it had a Cinelli Unicantor seat but it wasn’t very comfy so I put the same Origin8 seat I have on my other bikes.

Today, I finished a complete rehab of my Falcon San Remo.

Catching up on posts and smearing these pics all over the forum

Falcon San Remo

Falcon San Remo

So I've finished rebuilding my 1978 Falcon Black Diamond. It rides pretty well, needs a little tinkering with the gears but otherwise all good. https://falconrestorebike.wordpress.com

Went from trying to sell my Falcon last year to now investing $300+ in a new wheelset and tires.



It just needed black rims and pedals.

1990/91 Team Banana-Falcon. Not the original one of Chris Walker , but I really like the lady. I found her in quite a derilict state, maltreated. Cleaned, scrubbed, oiled, repaired, polished... well, the complete treatment. Hope you like her as much as I do.

Repainted and tweaked since last year's pictures.

Nice looking bike! I see it has the "track" crown like on the one in post #37 by Dylansbob . Super cool sand-cast "faux two-plate" design similar to the Fischer popular with Italians like Masi, but I think yours is British-made, possible Davis. His crown has indents in the blades like those normally seen on chainstays, does yours also? That would allow quite fat tires, but it seems unnecessary for anything like a normal road tire. Only other forks I can remember with indents in the blades like that was on some old Schwinns like a '50s World, and a Paramount tandem. I might have to try that sometime for a 650b conversion... <gears turning in my brain>

Your geometry looks to be on the steep side — do you know the angles?
Is the TT sloped, higher in front? Could be camera angle. If it is sloped, and if you don't happen to prefer it that way, you could add rake to the fork, lowering it. Plenty of room in the brake slots to raise the pads. Of course that would change the handling, but for the better in my book. Controversial subject, I know. Especially with the added complication of "undoing the original builder's vision" or whatever, plus the possibility that the chrome could crack, so file this one under "crazy ideas". I'm just spitballin' here.

Have you tried a longer chain? I think it might shift better, with the cage rotated clockwise the upper pulley would be closer to the freewheel. I know, with an NR, you sometimes have to play with the chain length to get it to shift to a decently-low gear for old guys, like 28t or more. Is that what you have one there? 26 maybe? Anyway, apologies if you're already at the optimum length for your gears.

Now go get some dirt on that bike, it's too clean!

Mark B

Thanks…now let’s see, so much to cover... I got this bike from another forum member late summer of ‘21 I think. They were confident that it’s a model 76 but after some research and conversations with the marque enthusiast with the Vintage Cycle Club in England, the answer is a definitive shrug, best guess being a late 60s - early 70s San Remo Mk. II, based on tube diameters and build details. In any event the fork is essentially track tubing, fully round section with lots of clearance, no dimpling. I think it’s level and I don’t know the angles but it is actually a very stable ride, almost like my 72 PX10. Except for the seat stay wraparound detail it very much resembles the bike described in this article which reports having 74+ angles:

I refinished it because there were a lot of areas of surface rust. I haven’t really paid much attention to the chain, it’s the one that was already on it. I recall that it shifted fine but I may have a look at that and the freewheel. It’s at my house upstate and I won’t be there until late Thursday or I’d go count teeth and report back 😁

It’s next up in my ride rotation, I do plan on putting on wider tires than the Michelins it came with. I have a pair of Rene Herse 32s that might fit fine.

That bike in the review has a sloping TT too!
I strategically cropped it to make that more obvious:


Yes, a little of that is the front tire being slightly higher in the pic, but not all of it.

Could be the vagaries of camera distortion, magazine production, scanning or...? But the fact that it looks sloped the same way and amount as yours has me wondering if it's maybe a feature?

I once made a touring bike with 75° lugs, and the frame angles were 72° from horizontal, so I sloped the TT by 3°, which helped get the bars up at touring height. Win-win.

Mark B