Re: [CR] 1971, Falcon San Remo

(Example: Component Manufacturers)

From: "Dean Kernan" <dkernan@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 15:22:38 -0400
In-Reply-To: <mailman.3023.1273459759.34030.classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Cc: tim.parker@att.net, peterg.brown@ntlworld.com, NIGEL LAND <ndland@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [CR] 1971, Falcon San Remo


All,

Thought I would chime in again on Falcon dating since this thread resurfaced--a subject near and dear to my heart--but it truly is quite hard to sort out. First, thanks for those links to photos I had not seen before.

As I mentioned, I have a Falcon San Remo Equipe, purchased new early summer 1971, in Vancouver Canada. It had been window dressing for a new shop that was failing & I purchased it at cost from the shop just as it was going out of business. He had been open only a short while & the bike likely came through the Canadian wholesaler about the time he opened (late 1969--early 1970). Confirmation is the Campagnolo Pat. 1970 rear mech that is original to the bike.

Sadly, after yet another crash I had the top tube replaced, braze ons added, and (as was often true back in the day) could not source replacement decals or preserve most of the chrome & the bike was completely resprayed. My inability to find information for restoration led to the page that eventually was posted by Sheldon Brown, and for which Nigel has provided added details and corrections that I have yet to incorporate...

First, Nick's description is spot on for my bike as received:

"flat wrapover stays, chromed lugs, forks and rear stays, and sloping crown. Paint is racing [Falcon powder] blue, flam red head tube and white bands on down tube. Stickers are red-on-white falcon vinyl stickers on down tube and top tube and foil sticker on down tube."

-BB shell measures 68mm on a quick check; and the seatpost checks at 27.0. -Serial Number A19926 (lead letter is a smaller character)--and this would place is between Tim and Nick's bikes.

Like Tim's, my bike looked a great deal like the 1970 Team Falcon Cycles in the photo and in the pic from the Tour de Nouvelle France.

Tim, can you post a picture of the lugs that are on yours? If by Nervex, are we speaking of the cut-style Nervex Pros like the ones here? http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components/nervex.html

Nigel has probably seem more examples than me, but I don't think that the Nervex lugs were simply replaced by the spearpoint style lugs, since I have seen pictures of bikes badged as San Remo c. late 60s/early 70s with the Cinelli-style fork crown, flattened wrap-over and these cut Nervex lugs as well as ones like mine with the Cinelli-esque spearpoint-style.

However, I have more often seen cut lugs together with the plate-style fork crown and/or the non-flattened wrapover. The three features together (plate crown, cut lugs and non-flattened wrap-over) I am pretty certain are earlier examples, but I agree with Nigel that there is a period where any combination seemed possible.

The waters were muddied even more by 1974/5 where there are a handful of models that are all "San Remo" but specs suggest in fact a similar hierarchy from the earler catalogs & the description of the lugs on the San Remo 76 make it sound like they have gone back to (or more likely, found a box and were using up) a cut lug of some sort. You can see the 1975 catalog on Mark Bulgier's site (and it is page identical with the 1974 catalog AFAIK).

However, AFAIK, the Cinelli sloping crown, flattened wrapover stays and the spearpoint style lugs were the defining features of the San Remo Professional team bikes 1969-71. (The catalog page on the CR site certainly describe the fork crown and spearpoint lugs as defining features). Not sure about the flam red head tube as another defining feature, but I'll take another look at my picture collection (cadged from eBay) to see if I can find a counter example...

If helpful, I can post a list of what shipped on my bike (with the exception of rims, since I cannot remember what I destroyed so long ago... :>) )

Interestingly though, my bike shipped with Campagnolo barcons & brakes, just like my friend's Claud Butler and another friend's Holdsworth Professional of like vintage (summer 1971) & the three bikes were strikingly similar with the top and downtube paneling with maker's name and their installed equipment.

Cheers,
Dean Kernan
Pomona, New York USA