ascherer 

I accelerated my project to respray my San Remo so I could complete it before it got too cold and I would have to wait until spring. I’m pretty pleased with the results, and today I finished hanging everything back on it. I’m sure I will fiddle with it for a while but I think it’s looking mighty fine. This it the only bike I intend to keep period correct. More pics when I have some time and daylight.

ascherer 

Just noticed that I forgot to put the dust caps on the crank arms…

Bianchigirll 

Beautiful. Great job

SurferRosa

Wow! Falcon toe straps!

I like those red shifter protectors on this bike. Are they also on the skewer levers? I'd like to see those.

Glad you're happy with the spray.bike product. From here, it looks great.

Sometimes it looks more put together with the crank dust caps, and sometimes it looks more badass without them. Here, it looks pretty good as-is.

rjhammett

It looks very nice. I did a respray on my Falcon San Remo a year or two ago.

ascherer 

Yeah, those were a lucky find!

AdventureManCO 

That is a beautiful bicycle - thank you for sharing it with us!

noobinsf 

Love that blue with the chrome. Gorgeous!

jdawginsc 

Looks fantastic! How did the clear coat work out?

Kabuki12

Nice! It came out really well and I’m glad you got it done in time to enjoy before winter sets in. Let me know how you like those tires. I just mounted a set (700 x 25)on some wheels that I got for my Mondia to replace the 27” that are on there now. I jumped on it when BTD had them on sale. They seem nice for the price and the other set of Michelin tires I have are great , going on five years later.

tiger1964 

Agreed -- just the right amount of contrast.

Charles Wahl

Really nice build; I'll be looking out for it/you on the road. I have a gaspipe Falcon frame from the '60s that has the same lugs and especially those double-taper seat stays with the wrapover, which I love. It's got a flat fork crown, and looks like it was built by someone who took pride in their work (unlike a lot of Raleigh product), without fussing too much. Right now not riding it because it has a fork crown race seat problem that I need to get fixed -- headset was impossible to adjust correctly (for years) but being a vintage Stronglight, didn't seem to have any ill effect wear-wise.

52telecaster

Lovely falcon.

randyjawa 

Great job! I love the color and livery on these old Falcons and the OP's is one of the nicest examples that I have seen. Again - well done!

SwimmerMike 

Beautiful build. It came out great. Do you have any before pictures?

ascherer 

It required more attention than the Spray.Bike. I applied it too heavily at first and had to sand some areas for a second coat. It's not perfect in some areas but overall it's a beautiful gloss finish. I decided to not let perfect be the enemy of good enough...

ascherer 

I bought it from a forum member last autumn. He'd owned it since it was nearly new - it was given to him by the first owner not long after it was purchased. It was nicely equipped but the paint had a lot of wear and chips all over, and there was surface rust in enough places that I decided to refinish it. The PO told me it had be refinished back in the 70s, so I was not concerned about originality. Like many boom-era imports and especially Falcons, it's hard to pin down an exact model for this frame. They made many variants of the San Remo line. Long story short, with input from the Falcon marque enthusiast from the Veteran Cycle Club in England it's most likely a model 90 San Remo Mk. II. No idea of the year. It shares a lot of attributes with the one reviewed in Bicycling! in 1972, here: https://www.bikeforums.net/attachmen...2&d=1554049072. I decided to go with the classic baby blue paint and when I contacted Greg Softley at Cyclomondo, he asked if I wanted foil or while decals. The photos in the article looked like foil to me so I chose them. Glad I did, I think they look great!

ascherer 

Shakedown ride today. Everything is pretty good. I have a bit of fiddling to do but not much.


I didn’t know what shoes to wear. I have Fiziks that I never settled into with my Look pedals so I pulled the cleats off and used them. I think they’ll work but the soles are very slick. I either need to glue something to the soles to provide friction or maybe I’ll mount some slotted cleats. I’m more inclined to do that. Even though I switched from clips and straps decades ago I seem to have solid muscle memory for flipping pedals and tightening/loosening straps. I may need to add nuts or washers to push the clips out a bit to accommodate my size 46 feet.


Saddle needs to be leveled, I keep sliding back. I didn’t bring an appropriate wrench.


“Chef’s kiss” for the branded straps. I have a set of red strap pulls for the ends.


Overall it rode very nicely. For a fork with suck minimal rake, it felt like it had strong self-centering. So much so that I wonder if the Michelins on it have particularly sticky rubber compound. It felt light, and tracked well. On sharp cornering it felt like it followed the line on the road surface compared to the Raleigh Pro Mk. I which feels like it digs in. Neither is necessarily better, but I do feel greater assurance on Pro. Time will tell.


The ride was a bit shy of 20 miles, paved for the first 14+ around the eastern shore of the Ashokan and I hopped on the rail trail for the last 5 or so. Gravel and 23s…like I did so often in Vermont on sew ups and narrow clinchers. I passed someone on a flat bar disk brake gravel something or other and when I slowed for some walkers they went by me again, only to run out of steam within a mile. When I passed again they tried holding my wheel with some success. Friendly enough exchange, and further validation of the t-shirt I was give for my last birthday which reads, “never underestimate an old guy on a bike”. I’d edit that to “vintage bike” but it probably doesn’t matter.

SurferRosa

I like the newer, silver decals better than the old set too. Falcon sure liked applying decals. My '87 had (past tense) like a dozen of them. When I replaced the set on the early '70s bike I used to have, I left off the top tube decal. It was a bit much. Might've looked better with that silver set.

Show your Falcon

52telecaster

Nice ride report. I sometimes ride on 26mm tires but rarely on anything I'd call gravel. Sounds like you've got it pretty dialed in.