Dannyboy21

I already posted this in the dump finds thread, but I am reposting here to try to have a couple of questions answered. So here we go:

1. Although the dropouts are stamped the tubing sticker appears to be Reynolds and possibly 531. Does that seem likely?

2. Can the age of the bike be determined by the serial number or any of the build characteristics and if so what year might you believe it to be?

3. The Czechoslovakian 'PWB Special' seat. Very cool looking but very hard. Any thoughts to soften the leather? Any other info on the seat?

There are more pics in the dump find thread if that helps.

3speedslow

#1 . Could very well be R531 straight gauge tubing for this model.

3alarmer 

...
Falcon sold a lot of frame models with that seat stay wrap treatment that were made from unbuttted Reynolds 531.

They changed their paint schemes and decasl over the years, so the original paint and old catalog photos on the web are your best bet at dating.

Those saddles are pretty hard when new, so you don't want to soften it too much or it becomes saggy and useless.
Slather it with some kind of wax (not oil) based leather dressing and put it out in the sun to melt it in.

You have to break it in with your butt.

branko_76 

Dannyboy21 , it's plain gauge Reynolds 531. Do you know what the seat post diameter is? It may be stamped on the lower section

juvela

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number stamped in shell appears to have been done post-painting which suggests it may be the marking of a licensing agency


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Dannyboy21

The seatpost it came with appears to be stamped with 27. Not 27.2 or 27.0 ... just 27.

branko_76 

Is it an SR seatpost?

Dannyboy21

Not SR. It is chromed steel with the same markings as the Czech seat. Seat rails are too close together to fit on other posts.

oneclick 

Favorit.

And if you're looking to get rid of it it'd look nice on this:

Dannyboy21

So it is way harder than any Brookes seat I have encountered. My wife has some horse saddle stuff I may try and one product is sort of like a wax ...

branko_76 

I had the same saddle as a teenager, it too was hard as a rock, but I wouldn't treat it with anything

3alarmer 

...in an emergency, we used to hit them with the round end of a ball pein hammer, just in the spots where your sit bones ride. Just some gentle persuasion in those spots. If you soften the rest of it, the center starts to sag and the skirts flare, so then you have to punch and lace the skirts, etc. etc. Just make certain the horse saddle stuff is wax based. It should say on the labeling.

If it's hard because the leather is all dried out, do the wax and sun thing a couple of times before you work with it. Sometimes you can bring those back. That one looks little used.

juvela

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once saw a Leggy wearing one of these pillars(!)

asked owner about it and they said that is the way it came to them

rather unlikely to be OEM methought...


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3alarmer 

.
...here's a link to a Falcon catalog from the early 70's. Your decals appear to be from that time period.
If you download it and look at the various models, you'll see they offered similar frames in a variety of models, depending on component packages.

The Black Diamond(#70) was a popular one that your frame might have come from originally, but the same frame might have been used for several models.

I have one here that came to me in a state of disarray. I liked it enough to have it powdercoated and put new wheels on it. They have a sort of "British club bike" panache.

philbob57

If it's a 27 mm seatpost, isn't the steel double butted?

Dannyboy21

No idea ...

juvela

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Interesting to read that it is a narrow.

Had this saddle and pillar on a new Favorit from ~1972-73 and it never occurred to me that it might be a narrow.

Makes me wonder if this saddle model and pillar model were offered in both narrow and standard versions.

Perchance Rudy rhm could comment...

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branko_76 

That could very well be the case