1960s Falcon Track Bike - The British Italian Job

Looks great

#ghettopressfit & newly greased headset

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The hubs on the wheelset had quite a bit of play so I already expected the worst when I took them apart. While the nds cone of the axle was still smooth, the drive side cone was notched :( So I took a file, wrapped some 400grit sandpaper around it and filed it a bit smoother. Finished it off with some 1000grit. It's not a perfect solution but it's running reasonable smooth now and in the long rund I might get a new cone or even a new rear hub we'll see. For now I'm happy with the end result. Below are before/after shots of the cone:

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With the most pressing issues resolved and the frame half way through the beauty treatment I decided that I wanted to put the restoration on hold and drive it as it is for now. There's still a lot of work to do on the frame and the components (polishing wheels, hubs, cranks, paint touch-ups etc.) but I came to the realisation that these are things best done in winter. Also, as long as the bike still looks a bit rough, I don't have to be worried about it getting scratched and dirty. So I assembled the bike and took it for a test ride and it is just soo much fun! I was initially hoping for tighter clearances but the whole thing just looks so damn classy that I'm not really bothered about the clearances anymore. Brake will be installed soon but it's currently located in a rural area, so not much traffic to worry about...

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So, there's still a lot to do but V1 stands for now :)
@SideshowBob cheers, glad you like it!

Nice! Love the pics as well.

Thanks!

Beautifully done, good job! That lugging is so nice!

Cheers! those nervex lugs & the wrapover seatstays are really quite something - totally unneccessary but utterly beautiful :)

Looks great. How did you do the cones, put the axle in a drill? Only a couple of quid for new ones on eBay, but you've given me an idea how to save an obscure headset.

I didn't use a drill but I figure it would be a lot more effective when you use a drill. I just did it by hand trying to apply little pressure and doing it as evenly as possible. As I said, it's just a temporary fix and I'm planning to get a new cone. What about cone compatibility? Can I use any generic cone or does it need to be campagnolo or even campa pista?
On another note: I have a feeling that the frame might have used 27 inch (63o) wheels originally, which would explain the relatively large clearances. How hard would it be to find a pair of 36h 630c wheels and a matching set of tires? Is it worth the hassle just for 4mm less tire clearance?

Probably more likely that it would have had sprint rims with 1" tubulars. 27 x 1-1/4" seemed to be found more on gents' town bikes, some tourers and then on Weinmann equipped drop bar racers in the 70s and 80s. A track bike wouldn't have had them.

The more I look at this, the more I think it's older than 60s. I think it would have looked very dated in the 60s with those early 50s lugs. Things had moved on by then. The slightly bigger clearances would tie it quite well as a 50s frame, as would the fancy chrome and paint.

So sprint rims are 700c as well? I'm glad you mention that you have a feeling it might be a 50s bike, I had similar thoughts especially with a view to the clearance and the lugs. IOn the first page of the thread, I posted a little screenshot of an article about nervex lugs and it says that the newer design (the one with the fish tale) was in use by 1955 whereas the horns were an older design. It doesn't neccessarily mean that it was build in the 50s but I figure that it's possible.
I can't imagine that the frame looked dated when it came out, the parts and the details suggest that it was really special and fancy when it came out. What led me to believe it's from the 60s are the campa record pista components which came out in the 60s afaik as well as the unicanitor saddle (1962-x). On the other hand, they might have been a later addition. Then again there was a falcon racing team with the team colours red and blue which was sponsored by campa and cinelli so it seems plausible that the record gruppo and cinelli bar/stem/saddle are the bike's original equipment.
I would love to know all of its history... all I know is that it's too special to be used and abused so it will only be used on sunny days.

This bike has basically the same forks sans chrome and the article says its 1950s. On the other hand, the track ends lug more dated on this one than on mine. on the bottom brack of the falcon, there's the serial number and on the other side of the bb there's a two digit number embossed that looks more or less like a 62. Might be the year of production... who knows.
http://lovelybike.blogspot.de/2013/06/speed-lugs-and-jewel-tones-jrj-grass.html

Yes, sprints are the same size as 700c.

Still convinced this is a 50s frame, I've had a quick look at a couple of Ernie Clements bikes. Check this one: http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bikes/ernie-clements-browne-rb.html

I'm still feeling yours aren't early Nervex lugs. They might be cut down Oscar Egg Super Champion, however. The horns are too fat and the flat bottom looks a bit too broad to be Nervex but it's really close to the shape of an uncut Oscar Egg. Fancy cut lugs was what you wanted in the 50s. See the frame number on that one is quite close to yours too and is dated 1953.

I have to disagree on the lugs, every detail of them matches the nervex pro with horns. Imho the bottom doesn't look broader than on other examples and they look completely different from the oscar egg luggs especially at the transition to the TT and DT. There are a few falcon road san remo road bikes from the 60s with nervex pro lugs so I think it's likely that they were also used on some track models. I don't see why they would have taken another lugset and replicated the exact look of nervex pro, especially since the san remo was the top of the line model and money probably didn't play that much of a role. In the below photo you see the comparison with a schwinn that used nervex lugs.

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Imho it's more likely that the marginal difference are due to filing preferences of the reapective framebuilders

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Nice proj, looks really cool. How is fixed riding treating you?

Cheers! I really love it, feels so natural and you get used to it pretty quickly. I practiced skidding on the first two days with a 48/17 gear ratio (which in hindsight might not have been the smartest idea) and it worked surprisingly well. Unfortunately I stretched my leg a little bit which put me off the fixed gear for 3 days but now it's all fine again and sooo much fun :)

cool bike

the problem for me was getting used to gears again, didn't like the feeling of freewheeling after fixy skiddin for a while!

The ratio mine was at when I bought it was 49/15. Quite happy with it now at 49/19

Dont think she (orig owner) would be happy with me if she knew I'd turned it into a street machine!

Well, I fear that it might be similar in my case but then again geared bikes have their own appeal and they're just more practical. I'm quite happy with my stable as it is, but it's probably just a matter of time till I crave moar track bikes :) 49/15 is quite heavy for everyday use and I wouldn't wanna skid with that gear ratio. The previous owner of my bike road it on the streets since the 70s. Thinking about it he might be the original hipsters... Your lejeune is still a classy looking track bike so she probably won't mind :)

I wanted to give the crankset a treatment yesterday but I learned that TA specialites cranks require a 23mm crank puller so I had zo buy one for 20 bucks. Took a semi-proper money shot yesterday:

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Such a good looking bike.

Yep, those lugs are definitely Nervex then, no question!

Was thinking about getting a pair of michelin dynamic classic in 28c to replace the old spezialed tires and to fill up the clearances a bit. Any thoughts? I know it's not a quality tire but I'm not particularly keen on spending a lot of money for fixie skidder tires for obvs reasons.
Talkin' bout these:

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