John's Falcon
It all started when...
John, a keen cyclist in the 1980s, approached VELOW to carry out a full restoration of his beloved Falcon Professional racer which he bought new from JR Nicholson in Dundee in 1982. However, it had recently spent more time in a barn than on the road. John wanted it brought back to life so he could ride it with pride once again.
Years of neglect had led to some interesting deterioration
The Process
The frame was in good condition but desperately in need of a repaint. Once the bike was fully stripped the frame was carefully packaged up and sent off to Mercian Cycles for a colour match and repaint. Meanwhile a full set of new decals were commissioned from H Lloyd Cycles. Steve from H Lloyd then sent the masterfully created decals to Mercian who applied them before a final coat of laquer.
The Falcon frame looking like new
While the frame was away getting repainted I worked my way through the components; many of them were reusable, simply in need of a good clean and polish. A new pair of period-correct Mavic wheels were sourced, ready for the rebuild.
Cleaned and polished and ready to build
The Build
Knowing the original specifications made the rebuild relatively straightforward. The original Shimano 600 components were used where possible but where this wasn't possible NOS or equivalent parts were sourced. The new parts included a Tange headset, Shimano bottom bracket, tyres, brake blocks, toe clips, cables and chain.
New Old Stock headset, bartape and brake hoods were sourced
All Shimano 600 components were cleaned, polished and reused
Once assembled the bike was personally delivered to John, ready for the next 35 years of riding.
John preparing to ride his fully restored Falcon Professional
“It’s incredible, it looks and rides just like it did the day I bought it. Thanks Walter!”