Faux path racer: converting a Falcon 10 speed to single.

I should have been taking photos as I went along: too late for that, so a wordy start instead. “You’ve got enough left over bits to make a whole new bike” was MrsE’s accusation - close to the truth, and confirmed by a discrete inventory of parts acquired but not used and still too good to throw away. I’d also liked the look of various path racer builds but couldn’t justify cost or dedication to do it properly. Given our apparent lack of space, a cunning plan was needed, namely hiding spare parts in plain sight.

Parts to be ‘hidden’:
For a 1950s Phillips (now sporting a Trojan Mini Motor) I had a crankset, pedals, stem, north Road bars and grips.
From the ‘rebuilding my student bike’ efforts were 27 x 1 ¼ steel wheels and mismatched tyres, Raleigh, mid 1980s.
Brakes and levers (one anyway) remaining from when I restored a Mobylette AV42.
A saddle was contrived from bits of two damaged Brooks, apparently B17 Narrow from the 1950s, reassembled with oversize rivets to compensate for wear around the original rivet holes.
The freewheel was left over from a BMX based shopping bike, which was later converted to 2x5 speed. 16T is a bit high for my legs and the local hills, but to change it will mean spending money and that’s not the game. Yet.

I was ‘missing’ a frame, until persistence with e-bay found a Falcon in a sorry state, complete with bottom bracket and cottered spindle, much rust and a few other components. £20 later I had something with Falcon stickers and no sign of Ernie Clements, so I’m guessing mid to late ‘80s.

The frame and forks were stripped to bright metal with an angle grinder / wire brush, braze-ons removed, and primed with Kurust before brush painting with three coats of enamel. The painted parts were left to harden hanging in the loft, where temperatures exceed 40oC in summer. The original plan was to cut the paint back, but I’m leaving it to see how it wears before investing time in polishing.

Assembly went predictably: the Phillips stem would not give sufficient reach, so an alloy stem came out of the parts box, with beer can shims to make up the difference in bar diameter.
The pedals have rubber blocks, worn smooth top and bottom. Grinding the rivets out allowed the bearings to be greased and the blocks rotated before re-assembling with artisan bolts (the ground down rivet with a threaded extension brazed on) leaving each pedal serviceable and service-able.

1 Attachment

The rear wheel was dished for a 5 speed freewheel: the spacer was discarded and an over-length spindle fitted to replace the original which had damaged threads. Another pair of wheel nuts allowed the chain line to be sorted with a spanner – I’ll probably machine a pair of spacers when I’m convinced it’s correct, and then cut off the excess spindle length. Once the chain looked right I re-dished (un-dished?) the wheel to centre it on the frame.

1 Attachment

Going fixed would involve buying more components and better knees – not in the plan. I’d imagined single speed and just a front brake – after all, some people go brakeless, so one brake must be ok if slightly illegal. Stem and bars were adjusted several times until the novelty wore off.

1 Attachment

First time out I realized I’m not that brave, so a rear brake was cleaned up and fitted. Terry clips were deemed too expensive for the nature of the project, so ‘period plausible’ straps were contrived for the cable. (‘Period correct’ doesn’t apply when the parts come from three different decades and are trying to look like something older still.) I didn’t like the 60 year old grips, and actively disliked the old inner tube used as a temporary measure, so replacements have been made from reclaimed leather.

1 Attachment

The tool bag appears to be genuinely old, but has no obvious branding.

1 Attachment

Real money spent so far: £20 for the frame and £3.42 for a new inner tube.

2 Attachments

I LOVE iT!

Astroturf lawn?

Speedwell, clover, buttercup, moss and an occasional blade of grass, all recently mowed by MrsE.

this is ace!

Doing it right! Love these type of budget builds and this one is particularly tidy. Looks at least as cool as my original clements-era Falcon San Remo path racer!
p.s. some details which might be helpful if you feel like replicating the decals and headbadge

4 Attachments

I've looked at buying a head tube badge - not sure I'd be comfortable putting an 'Ernie Clements' badge on something that clearly isn't, especially if I want to sell it further down the line.

More likely I'll make a badge in a similar style with 'bitsa' on it - an indoor project for the winter evenings.

I have in the past made decals using what was regarded as an old method back in the 70s - painting in enamel on brown paper, finish with 6-8 coats of varnish, soak the paper off in water (may take a day or two!) and attach using more varnish as size. Invariably these broke up at some stage while being handled. I suspect there is now a computer / printer based method that works every time...

I have in the past made decals using what was regarded as an old method back in the 70s - painting in enamel on brown paper, finish with 6-8 coats of varnish, soak the paper off in water (may take a day or two!) and attach using more varnish as size. Invariably these broke up at some stage while being handled. I suspect there is now a computer / printer based method that works every time...

Never heard of that (probably for a reason(!))

The closest I can find is:
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/transfer-making-restoration.html
Remember this was pre-internet and information was often read (or mis-read) from a book: transfer paper probably works as though it was designed for the job, unlike brown paper...

The original saddle bag is proving not big enough: it will barely hold a (suitably vintage) puncture repair kit, and I feel insecure riding without a pump and adjustable spanner as well – largely a consequence of living and cycling out in the sticks.

More briefcase leather has been pressed into service – the principle of minimal cost worked fine up to the point where making buckles seemed a good idea. I’d forgotten how bloody difficult stainless steel can be. The fixing straps didn’t hang right – it is a coincidence that a Zefal pump (yet another spare item in need of hiding in plain sight) is a good fit in the loops.

2 Attachments

The opening end is made from two layers glued and stitched together and is probably not stiff enough, although using a single strap as both hinge and fastening with a single buckle underneath seems ok so far. I may yet turn an end cap from maple or some other hardwood with hipster pretensions.

1 Attachment

Some months later, I now think it needs a head tube badge. I could buy a genuine badge, but I don't want the frame mis-represented if I ever sell it.
I've found a photo of a flat one and done a 'sketch' on brass sheet using an 000 brush and enamel paint, trying to give the right impression without being an accurate copy - nothing like the Ernie Clements 'signature', no 'Designed By' and no 'Made in England' lettering - it's a bit of decoration, not a replica.
Some time spent salt etching and filing, and it's looking promising.

1 Attachment

That's a cool idea. I had a half a mind to do my own etched badge. Is that side pretty easy.?

Superb. Must've missed the saddle bag before. Great fabrication.

Salt water etching is easy enough, if a little crude. Before I retired I'd have used p.c.b. kit - CAD and photo resist for the mask, and etched with ferric chloride in a bubble tank at work: now I make do with kitchen equipment when Mrs.E is out.
The hardest part is probably transferring the art work in etch resist - apparently straightforward if you've got access to a laser printer, which I haven't. Humbrol paint seems ok for the 20 minutes or so at around 0.5 amps - about 0.2mm depth, which is probably enough for this kind of thing.

1 Attachment

That's mighty fine (literally) freehand work there though!

Now beaten to shape (leather mallet against an old seat post) and the etched areas flooded with paint. I'm toying with the idea of cutting back the gloss to give a more 'aged' appearance. It can always be re-painted if I don't like it.
TBH I think it looks a bit too big, and the raised lines seem wider than I imagined: I could well make a mark II for comparison before anything gets attached to the frame...

1 Attachment

Showed my gf this and she thought it was a sticker from a vodka bottle!
So cool that you etched and painted it yourself, nice touch on a project that has been thoroughly enjoyable to read through.

Really, really good; I love the badge.

Mk II in progress. I now know I'm getting old - reading glasses for using an OOOO brush, and also for fitting the (admittedly 60 tpi) saw blade the correct way round...

1 Attachment

Serious work there. A noticeable improvement over MK I