I recently purchased an older (2008?) Specialized Allez from a local bike recycling operation. Aluminum frame, carbon fork Shimano Sora 3300 groupset, Alexrims DA16 wheels. I plan to strip everything off and rebuild as a winter project, as I have a cache of older Campy Mirage/Centaur components.

I am curious about the quality of non-CF frames from the major bike manufacturers. Would a large manufacturer like Specialized use basically the same aluminum frame, and upgrade only the components (from Shimano Sora to Tiagra/105/Ultegra), or doe the quality of framesets improve with the quality of components?

I'm assuming not much to improve with an aluminum frame, but probably significant differences with CF frames. I don't have a scale to measure the weight, but it seems to be fairly light. The tubes are welded, which is a "look" you either like or don't like (I like it).

Second question: the BB is a standard BSA threaded (thank you Lord!). The Mirage BB is a cartridge-style unit. Should I use Part Tools multi-purpose grease on the BB threads, or Permatex anti-seize? I was thinking the anti-seize would be better. Is there a rule of thumb when to use one over the other?