Allegro Finished

[chickendrumsticks]

Here's my recent acquisition - an Allegro Swiss made from about 1990. Previously "in the collection of" Peter Gordon, a successful and well known road racer from back in the day (he was National Amateur Road Champion in 1964 and was selected for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics too). He has great success as am amateur, and latterly as a pro. Sadly died in Nov 2016.

Bike is said to be an "Allegro 76 ST Champion du Monde". I have sourced a 1990 catalogue and this model appears in it. There's even an image of it in the same finish as mine - "Creation G" (G for gaudy?).

The thing is, I'm a bit unsure as to what to do with it - other than to fling a leg over and go...(it's 54cm / 21.5" which suits me). You'll see it came with some fairly clunky pedals of an MTB sort I guess - I'll definitely change those for something more fitting (Look 6401s were factory fitted). And the paint finish is bit rough - it feels "thin" if you understand me and there were one or two strategically placed stickers covering one or two scrapes (not dings), and the decals are feeling prominent. I am tempted to refinish it in a fetching pink as per the pic below (from the original catalogue), with new decals. New hoods too, for the Sante levers - I believe these to be a match for 105 hoods? And of course its missing its Columbus decals which I believe are available?

Any comments or ideas welcome please. I will try to update this with progress - when I decide where to go with it...

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re:

So, just sitting and admiring the new bike and thought "I'll just take one or two bits off for a spot of cleaning". And then one or two more, until...

Still it allows a fair assessment of what's good and what's not at least. A wee bit more (surface) rust than seen at first glance. And a Campag Record BB revealed, although just about everything else is as described in the catalogue. I can definitely feel a respray coming on.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re: Caveat Emptor!

So, having got it all in pieces I thought I would just peer down the tubes to spot the helical reinforcement that is a feature of Columbus SLX tubes...but there are none. So not SLX then.

Reference to the 1990 Catalogue shows another model - the 78A "Prestige". Identical to look at and with a broadly similar spec to the 76 "Champion du Monde" that I believed I had bought. It has the chrome rear triangle and forks too.

But..it's made of Columbus Aelle 8/10 tubing (the full set at least and not just "tre tubi" i.e. main tubes only) which is of course plain gauge and weighs in at about 380gm more than SLX. So a bit of a disappointment there. I should have asked a few more questions perhaps, especially as the Columbus decals were missing.

But I plan still to refubish the bike and have taken the frame to the powder coaters for a new finish - colour "Pantone 312C" which is - some might think - is a fairly garish blue, but I like it!

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re: Swiss Allegro 1990

A major triumph for me - fitted new hoods to my Sante aero levers! They were wearing Dura Ace hoods but were shot to bits, splits etc. My LBS had some 105 hoods for a reasonable price (BL-1055) and they looked a fair match. Hints on fitting:
1 Fit levers on bars and bars to stem
2 Clamp stem securely - really better in a vice rather than on the bike
3 Smear a little washing up liquid over tops of levers
4 From the front work the hoods up as far as possible - you'll find they almost go on like this...
5 ...but they don't, so position yourself behind the bars
6 Grip the hoods twixt thumb and forefinger (first wipe off excess "Fairy")
7 PULL! Don't be shy - you really do have to pull like fury
8 Don't worry, the hoods are v resilient - they'll slip into position easily if you tug hard enough
9 Job done!

 

[marge602]

Re:

Hi. It sounds like you have a similar mystery on your hands as I do with my Orbit. At least you have the advantage of a catalogue though. Are you planning on keeping the chrome rear triangle and forks, or is it all being powdered over? Liking the Sante groupset too, must be ultra-rare these days. Will be interesting to see how your bike turns out.

Regards

Marge

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re:

Hi Marge

Not too much of a mystery as it turns out! I admire the research you've done with Orbit and Reynolds though. As I think I said earlier, your appeal to them certainly bore fruit. How often do we see "refurbished frames" bearing all the "right" transfers but with little to back them up?

I did contact Allegro vis a vis the frame number but received a "no info" reply. I don't think they searched very hard though! I thought I had an SLX frame but simple "looking down the tubes" proved they were not what I had assumed. However, I am happy to accept what I see - and would not try to "pass off" the frame as anything else (this is after all an offence in Civil Law) as I believe may happen from time to time (BUT NOT ON THIS SITE, MODERATORS!).

My chrome rear triangle is sacrosanct (and forks) 'cos they are in such good condition. And define what the bike really is according to the catalogue. Surely there's something, somewhere for your Orbit? Forgive me if I'm wrong about an Orbit catalogue - I simply stumbled across mine!

As to "Sante" being ultra rare, I know it was only made for a year or two 89-90? and maybe "unusual" at least but I love its difference, being whiteish/greyish and really well made. i don't believe its that popular amongst afficianados though...

 

[marge602]

Re:

Hi. Glad you're keeping the chrome. I did plenty of online research about the Orbit. There really isn't much out there at all, but hopefully a catalogue may turn up in the future. However, there is a certain amount of info regarding 80s/90s steel frame weights. The Orbit didnt have a headset when i got it, so i was able to weigh the bare frame. This is how I managed to narrow it down to either 531c or 653, confirmed by both Orbit and Reynolds as 531c.

I seem to recall that Sante was some kind of anniversary groupset, which may explain its limited production. I had a Freewheel catalogue when I was still in school, and pored over it for hours. Being used to bottom-end Raleigh bikes and their functional mish-mash of parts, the idea that one company made a collection of components that were were designed and engineered to work together was something else entirely. Not only that, there were many of these "groupsets", for both road and mountain bikes. Sante was one that stood out, for the white/grey finish that you've already mentioned. The other? 600 tricolour. Can't believe it's taken me almost 30 years to get my hands on it.....

Regards

Marge

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re:

So, frame back from the re-finishers (a posh way of saying the powder coaters). I am very pleased with it, the finish is superb - as was the last one they did for me.

While it was away I sourced some new lever hoods (see post above) and a pair of pedals, as well as a full set of decals from Steve at hlloydcycles. He prepared some seat tube and top tube "specials" for me too - virtually on the same day as I requested them. Top man! Top work!

Wondering about finishing touches already (before any starting touches naturally!). The strongest colour, aside from the frame obviously, is the yellow bits on the saddle. So I'm veering towards a similar colour for cable outers and bar tape and thin bands at the paint/chrome junctions.

Any thoughts as to why this might be so wrong are welcome...

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re:

Well, decals applied, followed by 2 coats clear varnish. I use Winsor & Newton Artists' Acrylic Gloss UV Varnish. It's perfectly benign for decals, beautifully clear and, if you get runs or brush marks on the paint or chrome, there's a matching varnish remover. Very handy if you lard the varnish on a bit! I use an artist's brush but as it's fairly fluid I should think it's good for use in an airbrush too.

Decals, of course, superb from hlloydcycles. I planned to have the seat tube specials one either side, but clumsily messed up the first so now it's one down the middle

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Re: Swiss Allegro 1990 - the rebuild begins

Tried fitting the BB but found that the threads (French 2x35x1 both RH) had a tad powder coating on them - although bungs were used to protect them. I don't have the correct Campag tools so, rather than trying to force the cups in and risk damage, took to my more than helpful LBS who has suitable taps etc to restart things...Collect by the weekend so hope to make some proper progress next week.