Falcon Olympic

So here I have a late 70s Falcon Olympic which I'll be converting to my first fixed gear. I picked it up for £70 in London a couple of weeks back. Not much of a fan of the flaking silver paint job but I was drawn in by the chrome forks as the finish on those is still in pretty good nick.

The bike runs well and I'm commuting on this daily so it will be an ongoing conversion, rather than a full strip and rebuild all in one go.

First thing to go will be the "special needs" saddle. Also hoping to fit some new cables and aero levers over the weekend, if my order arrives in time. As soon as I can get the funds together I'll be looking for a new wheel set.

I can't be sure whether it's 531 tubing or just bog standard steel (the only surviving decal on the bike is from a bike dealership) but I haven't seen any other Falcon Olympics online that didn't have at least the main triangle built with Reynolds...It feels lighter than my friend's mid 80s Raleigh (which is definitely normal steel). If anyone can help me work this out I would much appreciate it!

Seatpost size is a good indicator of tubing, give it a google. That saddle does need to go, but don't get something uncomfy just to make it look good.

Ok thanks, will look that up.

A Charge Spoon is on the way - The bike I had last year (stolen from the corridor in my building!) had something quite similar shape-wise and I found that pretty comfortable, so should be all good.

As a Falcon the main triangle at least is pretty certainly 531 - rear triangle could well be also as would the forks.

Looks like a "traditional" 72 parallel light touring/clubman frame to me - mudguard clearance and slightly longer wheelbase.

Should give you a very comfortable ride if you fit the original 1 1/4" (28-32mm) tyres, (which are actually faster on ordinary roads anyway).

Heresy to say on here no doubt, but it would be a real shame to see that turned into a fixie.

As a Falcon the main triangle at least is pretty certainly 531 - rear triangle could well be also as would the forks.

looks more like a gaspipe frame to me - pressed dropouts, suicide levers etc point towards a generic entry level frame.

The detail around the lugs is fairly sloppy and there are random blobs around the dropouts, pretty poor looking welding! Haven't measured the seat tube yet, but I think it's fair to say this must be an entry level frame. No biggie.

I'm not going to feel bad about converting this - seeing as the derailleurs are Shimano Altus which I'm told are MTB parts from the 80s - there isn't much on this bike that is actually original. I'm told the cranks are from the 80's and the rear wheel is a small flange hub so probably a replacement too.

When I bought this I thought a nice powdercoat on it would be lovely - but as I learn more about vintage frames I think that might be taking it a step too far. Opinions? Like putting lipstick on a pig?

I may well build this up on some decent wheels and move them to a nicer/lighter frame at later date...it's feeling nicer and looking a lot tidier with a couple of new bits on though:

Cleaning the mechs and replacing gear cable is next on my list - seeing as I don't have the funds for some fixed wheels at the moment, I might as well have smooth shifting on what I have.

I've repacked the wheels with fresh grease as there was a hell of a lot of play on the rear wheel. The bike now rolls along much much smoother. I thought my rear dropout spacing was 120mm (measured with wheel on the bike) but when taking it off last night I realised that it's actually 126mm, whoever put this wheel on originally (probably at the same time as the new cranks and derailleurs I'm guessing) didn't bother adding the extra 3mm of spacers needed either side of the hub. I've just bent the stays in a bit to get the wheel on straight (as it was before). Is this a very bad idea? Should I get some spacers on the axle double quick? Or is it ok for the time being?

That amount of stretch/squeeze is fine. Steel doesn't lose strength when it's bent, so you'll be fine.
It'd possibly be a good idea to get some spacers though, I'm sure your local bike shop could provide some for free.

Since I last posted both wheels became buckled and one broke a spoke, so I bought a replacement wheel set on here for £25 (thanks @retro_di_corsa!). The new wheels came with a freehub so I've used some cassette spacers from velosolo to convert to single speed. For a simple, no frills, daily ride, I'm very pleased with this bike now!

And seeing as I don't want to spend big money on this, and the fact that I'd need to replace the rear wheel (again) to make this a fixed gear, I've started a new project.

looks more like a gaspipe frame to me - pressed dropouts, suicide levers etc point towards a generic entry level frame.

I built my first fixed from a very similar bike back in 1993. Mine said Ernie Clements on the headtube badge and the inside of the fork blade had the Japanese JIS stamp - I think mine was made of some kind of japanese 4130. It also came with Shimano Tourney centre pull brakes - which looked very similar to yours.
I took the rear block off with centre punch and cold chisel, Sawed one of the rear axle spacers in half and put it on the other side to centre the hub and re-dished the wheel. I then used a cheap pressed steel fixed sprocket, loctite and a spare bottom bracket lock-ring to hold the sprocket on, removed the back brake, cut off the suicide levers and that was it... Rode it everywhere until I went to college in Bath and moved back to gears!

Unfortunately this one doesn't seem as special as that...no mention of Ernie Clements on the head badge, which is quite odd as I've never spotted another Olympic model that isn't an Ernie Clements one.

I've also owned a Falcon Olympic frame in the past. After some digging I found my particular model was made from 531 standard gauge tubing. But mine had some fancy lugs on it different from the above. From what I remember the olympic was a mid-range bike made under better models such as the san remo.

just converted a Falcon Team Equipe myself, it's good to see more F's about.

mine is reynolds 453 manganese/ti tubing so maybe that's a thought for you, however mine is post-81 with cable lugs on the top tube.

Ahhh I miss my Falcon... No idea what it was or framing etc but it was sexy. Converted it to fixed (Stupid) with the view to restore it when I got something cheaper. However it got stolen one night not long ago as I was dumb and didnt lock it properly... Without a doubt my favourite bike I've owned so far, mainly for sentimental reasons. Hope you dont mind the pictures...

Falcon Race by kaaaaaaandries, on Flickr

Falcon Race by kaaaaaaandries, on Flickr

Falcon Race by kaaaaaaandries, on Flickr

Falcon Race by kaaaaaaandries, on Flickr

Nice!