Bike ID help please

[Jimny14]

Hi new here and am hoping for some advice, I've been looking for an old bike to renovate and use as a summer bike for something a bit more fun for the commute to work. Ive been offered this but can't work out what it is and if it's worth my time sorting it out. Any help much appreciated.

 

[Midlife]

It's an Elswick Hopper Badged Falcon from the Barton factory. Mediocre would be a reasonable way to describe it. What did you want to know?

 

[Jimny14]

So nothing special but a functional bike. I'm looking at using it as a commuting bike and want something sturdy that isn't going to worry about getting knocked about a bit. I may in the future look at making it single speed.

 

[Midlife]

Sounds perfect . If the front rim is chrome I'd think about changing it as braking in the wet will be a mare.

 

[Jimny14]

Thanks for the advice, so some cheap and cheerful ally or steel rims probably 700c I'm guessing, treat the rust, new bar tape, polish anything metal, decide what single speed to put on it. I might even debadge it and get a better colour on the frame. Any thoughts?

 

[The History Man]

Stabilise the rust and wax it. Use as is. I wouldn't invest anything in a commuter unless you love it.

 

[Peachy!]

I'm reasonably new hear too, I agree with the boys above that's its nice but nothing special. There are bike's out there that are super rare/special that its slightly financially worth investing in if you want to glean a tiny profit.
But at the end of the day if you enjoy stripping down a bike and re-building it again, the sense of worth and feeling of pride in what your bleeding knuckles can produce far out ways the cost (in my humble opinion)
PS, none of my bike builds over the last 30 years has ever been worth more than I've spent on them.... I just don't tell the wife!

 

[Jimny14]

Cheers guys, I'm not looking to make money off it or anything, it's just road cycling to work on my mtb is getting a bit boring and the frames a bit small. This one is a bigger frame so should fit me better and should liven up my commute by swapping and changing bikes. It's costing me buttons if I buy it so I don't mind spending some cash on fettling it up, I'll stabilise the frame first and then brakes n gears n see what I fancy doing then. If the frame is super comfy I might customise it and sort it out properly for long term use if not I'll just use it till it dies.

 

[darylw357]

Crikey that's a big frame.

 

[Jimny14]

25" apparently although I've not had the tape out to measure it yet. It arrived yesterday and I've so far managed to slacken up the seat tube and saddle, gonna play at getting it to fit me next week. Then I'm going to crack on with sorting the rust on the frame before tackling the gears.