1981 Falcon 531

Adventure road bikes with wider tyres and 1x drivetrains are all the rage nowadays – indeed another of this week’s jobs involves a Pinnacle Arkrose – so to find similar features on this 36-year-old British beauty (albeit minus mighty brakes) is rather pleasing.

Tom brought the bike over in pretty good shape last week. With its characteristic wrap-over seatstay configuration, this plum coloured beauty sports classic Ernie Clements design and looks to have been originally supplied by Brian Rourke Cycles. Seemingly well maintained and sporting some modern-ish parts (tyres, saddle, pedals, mudguards) the Falcon was nevertheless behaving badly and in need of attention to make it safer and more fun to ride. Where originally this would have been a 5/6 speed bike, at some stage a 7 speed SIS cluster has been squeezed in but after 3 hours of TLC it’s all good. I’m pleased to have stopped the chain falling off – one of my key tasks – without resorting to the extra cost of a vintage freewheel or any kind of chain retention system. The braking has been improved – as much as you can expect from the deep-drop Weinmann sidepulls – due to re-cabling and some careful fine-tuning. I also fitted some new brake lever hoods and bar tape to finish it off and now it’s good to go…

Frame: 1981 Falcon – Reynolds 531 (58cm)
Fork: Falcon – steel (original)
Headset: Thun 1″ threaded (original
Stem: SR (original)
Handlebar: SR (original)
Bar Tape: new
Brake Levers: Weinmann (original) with Cane Creek hoods (new)
Brake Calipers: Weinmann Type 730 (original)
Shifter: Shimano friction stem-mounted (original)
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Altus (original) with matching cable guides
Freewheel: Shimano 7 speed 7 speed MF-TZ21
Chain: YBN
Chainset: Sugino Super Maxy 165mm, 48t ring (original)
Bottom Bracket: Sugino 3S (original)
Pedals: Wellgo C29
Rims: Weinmann alloy 630-17 (original)
Hubs: Maillard solid axle (original)
Tyres: Continental Ultra Sport 27 x 1 1/4″
Tubes: Presta
Saddle: Selle Royal
Seatpost: SR Laprade fluted 27.2mm (original)
Seatpost Binder: chrome bolt (original)
Extras: full-length mudguards
Weight: 24.4lb (11.1kg)

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