Falcon Competitor 105
#1
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Bikes: 1988 Ross Centaur, 2010 Fuji Connoisseur, 2015 Raleigh Tamland 1, 2017 Raleigh Carlton, 1987 Team Miyata, 2012 Soma Stanyan, 2015 Cinelli Supercorsa, 1984 Miyata 1000, [2009 Scattante SSR], [1988 Falcon Competitor 105], [2016 Soma Wolverine]
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Falcon Competitor 105
Picked this up off Craigslist today, paid $175:
late 80's Falcon Competitor 105
Reynolds 531 butted tubes and matching 531 fork
full Shimano 105 groupset (incl. pedals and hubs)
Wolber rims
Sakae Custom stem and bars, w/ Falcon Cycles engraving
Zefal HPX frame pump included in sale
Seller told me that he was the second owner but rarely rode it, and first owner took excellent care of it., The bike shows like it; the paint and decals are in excellent condition, the Continental tires still have full tread and do not show any signs of dry rot. Besides being a little dusty/dirty the worst things that I could find were stiff toe clip straps that came off for the ride home and the handlebar tape has seen better days.
I am going to spend the winter tearing the bike down, thoroughly cleaning everything and rebuilding it. I think my biggest dilemma will be whether to replace the bar tape or try to preserve it and keep the bike completely original. And whether to replace the Biopace chainrings or not.
late 80's Falcon Competitor 105
Reynolds 531 butted tubes and matching 531 fork
full Shimano 105 groupset (incl. pedals and hubs)
Wolber rims
Sakae Custom stem and bars, w/ Falcon Cycles engraving
Zefal HPX frame pump included in sale
Seller told me that he was the second owner but rarely rode it, and first owner took excellent care of it., The bike shows like it; the paint and decals are in excellent condition, the Continental tires still have full tread and do not show any signs of dry rot. Besides being a little dusty/dirty the worst things that I could find were stiff toe clip straps that came off for the ride home and the handlebar tape has seen better days.
I am going to spend the winter tearing the bike down, thoroughly cleaning everything and rebuilding it. I think my biggest dilemma will be whether to replace the bar tape or try to preserve it and keep the bike completely original. And whether to replace the Biopace chainrings or not.
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Nice acquisition.The Shimano New 105 indicates it is 1987-1989. It a bit hard to count the cogs but it appears to be a 6 six speed, as opposed to 7 speed. If so, it's 1987-1988. I had a novice racer that I was coaching during this period, who had the a Falcon Sterling, which was equipped with Shimano Santé. It was my size, so I got to test ride it and was suitably impressed. This is also the time when Falcon was attempting to re-establish itself in North America and they had a clever advertising campaign that tied into the popularity of Star Wars, using the tag line "The Empire Strikes Back".
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Bikes: 1988 Ross Centaur, 2010 Fuji Connoisseur, 2015 Raleigh Tamland 1, 2017 Raleigh Carlton, 1987 Team Miyata, 2012 Soma Stanyan, 2015 Cinelli Supercorsa, 1984 Miyata 1000, [2009 Scattante SSR], [1988 Falcon Competitor 105], [2016 Soma Wolverine]
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it is the 6 speed, forgot to put that little detail in.
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