'72 (?) Alan
 

Found this at a moving sale. The original owner bought it in 1973 when she graduated from college. Pretty cool bike, though it's unfortunately not my size. Judging from the provenance, dropout style, and '72 dated RD it appears to be a pretty early one. There is no date code on the seat tube, and no TDF win decals. These are as-found pics. I'll be doing a little cleaning this weekend.

http://www.thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Alan1.JPG
http://www.thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Alan2.JPG

Lucky find! Alan's are beautiful riders, and that one looks to be all original. I wouldn't count on the decals as info since they all seem to have been removed. How far is it from your size? No way to make it work?

I ride a 62, and it's a 51. Ain't no seat post tall enough. :) And I don't think any decals were removed - the main decal is on the seat tube rather than the head tube (where there is not enough room).
-J

Quite small, but could be the ticket for a lot of women C&Vers......
Wel,, it should be at least as old as from 1973 if she did uy it then. That's a really early one. the lack of top tube cable guides, shifter bosses and I suspect, bottle mounts is also a sign of its pre-80's age. Aside from the bike, the sewup (I can what looks like the base tape unravelling from the tires) wheelset looks to be quite special too, with the large flange hubs. What brand/model are the hubs? Is it a 5 speed at back? Any idea what the rims are? Nisi? Fiammes?
A very well preserved early Alan! Congratulations on the great moving sale find!

Chombi

The hubs and rest of components are all Nuovo Record, rims are Fiamme, saddle is Ideale, and bars and stem 3ttt.

What's the patent date on the RD? If it's original, you can use it as a baseline for the build date estimate.
Most date first gen NR RDs to as early as 1972

Chombi

RD pat date is indeed '72. Cranks are un-dated, so pre-'73.

72?....Be sure to check the RD jockey wheels for closely cracks. Pretty much all of them crack at a molding seam line after some time. More of the plastic aging that stress on the jockey wheel, I think.
There are much cheaper aftermarket alternatives out there you can replace them with that will be much cheaper than OEM..... NOS campy from that time will most likely crack again anyway.

They often came with a serial number. Does this one have one?