My retro rebuild.
Discussion
Hi all.
As a little project to keep me occupied I decided to search for a suitable 'do-er upper', I wasn't especially bothered about the bike being the of especially great quality, rather something I could learn on without spending a great deal of cash.
Scouring eBay, Gumtree etc. turned up this Falcon 'Pro Circuit' made from Reynolds 501, seller was asking £50 and accepted £30 which I'm happy enough with. Despite an impressive amount of gunk on the drivetrain the bike rides well enough but after I'd ridden it around the block and taken these pics the stripdown process began.
I've access to a spraybay through work so a compete respray should cost about £30, I'm planning on a pastel blue with red graphics, I'm contemplating using my surname in place of 'Falcon' although I'm not sure of this yet, it certainly sounds like a Euro bike brand!
Thinks I definitely need are new tyres, headset, bar tape and saddle.
One thing I have noticed is that in the rear dropout the non-drive side has a 'clip in' of some description preventing the axle from sliding back, the drive side does not, I'm assuming I'll need to source a new one?
As a little project to keep me occupied I decided to search for a suitable 'do-er upper', I wasn't especially bothered about the bike being the of especially great quality, rather something I could learn on without spending a great deal of cash.
Scouring eBay, Gumtree etc. turned up this Falcon 'Pro Circuit' made from Reynolds 501, seller was asking £50 and accepted £30 which I'm happy enough with. Despite an impressive amount of gunk on the drivetrain the bike rides well enough but after I'd ridden it around the block and taken these pics the stripdown process began.
I've access to a spraybay through work so a compete respray should cost about £30, I'm planning on a pastel blue with red graphics, I'm contemplating using my surname in place of 'Falcon' although I'm not sure of this yet, it certainly sounds like a Euro bike brand!
Thinks I definitely need are new tyres, headset, bar tape and saddle.
One thing I have noticed is that in the rear dropout the non-drive side has a 'clip in' of some description preventing the axle from sliding back, the drive side does not, I'm assuming I'll need to source a new one?
Do you mean a black plastic do-dar that stops the axle from going to the back of the slot? You don't need one, but they do make life easier. Not sure where you would get one though, just about every bike these days has vertical drop-outs and so don't use them. If you are carefull you can just position the wheel in the right position before you tighten it up, just like everybody used to do before the move to dérailleurs and accurate frame building.
gazza285 said:
Do you mean a black plastic do-dar that stops the axle from going to the back of the slot? You don't need one, but they do make life easier. Not sure where you would get one though, just about every bike these days has vertical drop-outs and so don't use them. If you are carefull you can just position the wheel in the right position before you tighten it up, just like everybody used to do before the move to dérailleurs and accurate frame building.
I'll take a picture tomorrow but the non-drive side only has half the 'travel' in the dropout that the drive side does.I agree that careful positioning will solve the issue but I guess it owuld be easier if they both had it.
That's a cool old ride you've bought there, be great to see this thread updated with the re-build 
When I was 16, I worked in a bike shop weekends. We were mainly a Dawes dealer, and at the time (late 80's) 'mountian' bikes were getting popular. The top of the range we did was the Dawes Wildcat. When I took the demo bike out, I felt like I was on a Ferrari!
Been looking round the bay funnily enough for an old Wildcat to do the same with, funnily enough too.
What it funny is that looking at pictures of them now, thy look very plain and low-tech, even though they were the pinnacle back in the day!
I think I can get one for similar money to what you paid for yours.
Might report back to this thread soon...
When I was 16, I worked in a bike shop weekends. We were mainly a Dawes dealer, and at the time (late 80's) 'mountian' bikes were getting popular. The top of the range we did was the Dawes Wildcat. When I took the demo bike out, I felt like I was on a Ferrari!
Been looking round the bay funnily enough for an old Wildcat to do the same with, funnily enough too.
What it funny is that looking at pictures of them now, thy look very plain and low-tech, even though they were the pinnacle back in the day!
I think I can get one for similar money to what you paid for yours.
Might report back to this thread soon...
Strip down is coming along nicely 
Everything is off the bike bar the drive side bottom bracket shell, it's silly tight and has only the thinnest surface to purchase with, I've left it soak overnight so fingers crossed that will help.
So far no nasty surprises, even the rust on the downtube proved to surface only, just got the rather laborious task of removing a lot of gunk from pretty much every surface, the previous owner helpfully 'serviced' the bike by coating everything with motor oil!
Enjoying myself so far, I'll be dropping the bike off at the paint bay on Friday on fingers crossed will have it back sometime next week.
Everything is off the bike bar the drive side bottom bracket shell, it's silly tight and has only the thinnest surface to purchase with, I've left it soak overnight so fingers crossed that will help.So far no nasty surprises, even the rust on the downtube proved to surface only, just got the rather laborious task of removing a lot of gunk from pretty much every surface, the previous owner helpfully 'serviced' the bike by coating everything with motor oil!
Enjoying myself so far, I'll be dropping the bike off at the paint bay on Friday on fingers crossed will have it back sometime next week.
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