It started like this I Just Fell Off the Wagon.

and now



I last spring, I had a 1986 Allez SE Jim Merz that I had to muscle into compliance for straight ahead speed and that thing was fast. This Sirrus measures “exactly” the same:56x56 square ctc. With short chain stays, and steep 74 angles. So much fun. The only difference I could find is the under BB cable routing and slightly less lovely brazing when I peek inside the bottom bracket.
I couldn’t get the hop out of the rear wheel so I’m back to the 7400 TB14 wheels I used when I first got it rideable. They look nice and with 23 GP4000s, smooth.

While it is a bit small, it has been my 40 mile round trip commuter for two weeks and I’ve gotten a few PRs without even trying.

(I would really like to try a size 58 Allez/Sirrus so if anyone would like to trade let me know. My abused but rescued 56 for your similar condition 58.)

I bought my ‘88 Sirrus in the last weeks of the Clunker Challenge off FB Marketplace for …. $50. Still stock 6-speed ultraglide, grateful a previous owner replaced the Biopace with round rings - and it has displaced all my other bikes. It actually has me riding in Look cleats for the first time in 20 years. My understanding is that the Allez and the Sirrus were the same frame c.1987-1989, but with harder paint and 600 parts vs the 105 components on the Sirrus.

I utterly adore mine. I was not expecting a built-by-Giant-in-Taiwan-for-Specialized-to-a-price-point bike to eclipse bespoke 531-tubed team-issue or custom machines, but it does.




And yes, mine is a 58cm, and no, I won’t part with it. But good luck in your search, they’re out there. I think yours is the third ‘88 Sirrus to turn up in this sub forum in the last month or two.

The first road bike that really just checked all the blocks for me was a '90 Sirrus. Since then I've picked up an '85 Allez SE, '87 Sirrus and three '93 Allez. All but one I got as a bare frame so I did get to build them up the way I wanted. I like them.

that's a nice pad to fall off the wagon with!!