C.K.,
"SHELDON" most likely refers to the distributor it was originslly
intended for : Sheldon Wein out of Brooklyn, N.Y. @1980-81. Although, she
may have gone from S.W. to the guy you got her from. S.W. is retired up in
Vermont now. He traded scrap metal via the internet in those early days.
Sponsored, with Falcon Cycles, the team I ran and raced for out of"Roy's
Sheepshead Cycles" also in Brooklyn.
What you have sounds like a "sports tourer" A right in the middle bike.
She is NOT, however, as you and other may have suggested "a scam" and
Not"junk really". She is a frame that is built to a price point for
beguining "just getting into it" riders. A first timer.What you try before
the Masi. Never saw one that was genuinly "sloppy" and have seen many
"better" Italian bikes that were sloppier. Pinarello was one that never
impressed me with cleanliness. Just the opposit for Gios. Those things
were always Perfect. At least workmanship and finish wise.Another
discussion.
Those "mass stamped lugs" aren't immitating anything . Those are
Prugnat long points. The real deal baby. Nice cutouts esspecially if ya
throw some contrasting paint in there. Silver w/ astral blue? Ummmm.
Yes,ride her into the ground. By all means. And start by joining Me
and the rest of The Brooklyn Velodrome Wheelmen in Prospect Park
tommarow,Sun. Nov.10 at "the Grecian Shelter" at 10 am. The G.S is roughly
between Coney island ave. and Flatbush Ave. opposit The Parade
Grounds(Parkside Ave.) EVERYONE ELSE ,ALL CR,PLEASE COME ON DOWN!!!!!!
I bet your fork has a semi-sloping crown. 9/16 seat stays? "RFG" bb
shell? If the dropout is alittle crunched, it should open up w/o too much
hastle. 126 to 130: can be done, not super recommended. Dropouts must be
correctly realligned. Campy tools please.(Yes,all the others work(Park
good,ugg) but you all know the way I feel after the headset installation
discussion) Let me know if I can help.
ciao,
JohnT.Pergolizzi
1-212-308-5903
65 mi. in my old holey red,white, and blue Falcon jersey today.
> So I got it -- the NOS Falcon.
>
> It's a mix of fancy and sloppy.
>
> The dropouts are campy, but one of 'em looks a little squished, as though
it
> might have to be pulled a bit before a wheel will drop naturally into it.
>
> There is no chrome, no shifter bosses, and the head-badge is just a decal.
> The seat stay does *not* wrap around in the style of earlier Falcon's and
> other English bikes. The decals in general look flimsy -- yes, there's a
> "guranteed 531 label" but it's cracked (obviously broken when it was 1st
> applied and the two pieces slid imperfectly together). There are a few
tiny
> spots on which the paint is chipped.
>
> And those tiny tubes -- the one that runs across the seat stays (the part
the
> rear brake hangs from) and the similar small tube that runs across the
chain
> stays near the bb are.... tiny tubes: not tubes with their own lugs, and
not
> little wing shape bits of solid metal as on truly snotty frames of the
> man-is-better-than machine era.
>
> But there's good news too: the lugs have long points and heart-shape
> cut-outs. I find the fork especially beautiful --- no chrome or fancy
> painting there either, but with lug points on the inside (wheel-facing)
> surface long and with little cut-out circles. There's braze-ons for a
> waterbottle, and the rear dropout is drilled for a rear derailer. And
while I
> don't have the expertise of the members of this list, the frame and fork
FEEL
> solid -- wacked (respectfully, of course) it makes quite a nice dull ring
> with the vibration no doubt unique to 531; the finest magnesium steel of
70
> years ago....
>
> The dropouts (holes for front and rear racks) suggest it is intended to be
> set up as a tourer. Knocked around for a year or two this bike will
> probably look 50 years old: I can't wait until half the paint falls off
> (soon, is my guess) so I can clear coat it to preserve it in functional
> ruin... The coolest bikes where I live all look like they were dragged
under
> ferryboats, mostly paintless and with the handlebars at funny angles:
Junk,
> until you look close and see the flipflop hubs and careful eccentric
> thoughtful combinations of fancy components.
>
> so what to do with this thing?
>
> Is it, as many have suggested here, a scam -- a poor man's imitation of a
> real classics bike -- junk really -- with mass-stamped lugs imitating an
> earlier era, something for a low-brow to roll around on pretending to be
> sitting on Claude Butler himself? Keep in mind, though, I didn't buy
this
> thing to impress my aging contempories at show-and-tell, secretly
embarrassed
> that THEY have have chromed tips and I do not. My plan is to ride this
> thing, possibly to Mexico City or Easton Pennsylvannia or at least over
the
> remaining cobblestones in the deepest post-industrial vestiges of Bush
> Terminal, Brooklyn. It's lugged, 531 and solid: could you really tell,
> riding blindfolded, that this thing is not from the hand of Faliero
himself?
>
> The rear fork is clearly 126m --- is it sacralige or dangerous to get it
> spread for 130m 8 speed? Is the bike I plan to canabalize -- a perfectly
> functional light lovely Specialized Epic 58cm with 8sp indexed downtube
DA --
> a better bike I should leave well enough alone? And the FALCON may need
> long reach brakes -- were english frames even in the 80's still set for
27"
> wheels (I plan to use modern 700c)? How old is it, anyway? The only
old
> looking thing on it is a yellowed label attached by rope on which someone
> carefully printed "SHELDON" next to FRAME SET 46796 (which is infact the
> number stamped on the BB) and the words Astral Blue and another number,
this
> one faded, 17624.
>
> - Charles
> =====================
> Charles Kramer, NY, NY
> My other bike is an Alberto Masi Prestige
> & a ridiculous carbon-forked dressed for halloween Viscount
> not counting the modern bikes