Rip1000

Hi just finished my Alan build but would like more info the exact model and year as there are no pics of another one with the same front end as mine. Any help much appreciated.

Italuminium

Nice build and welcome to the forums! Never seen such a front end like that, looks more Vitus-ish. Rear dropouts and seat cluster are definitely ALAN. ALAN is still in business, and when I wrote to them with the same question regarding my ALAN ir. Falconi, owner and founder, send me a nice email back with all the details. Talk about customer care!

Chombi

You will need to post up more close up shots of the seat cluster, the drive side rear dropout, the headstock area and the fork crown for us to make the best ID and dating on the bike.
You are correct that the one piece head stock(?) design is unusual (more like what you will see on a mid 80's Vitus CF frame). It's usually a three piece design for Alans with separate lugs and a head tube, but they did have a few changes happen through the years. Notably too is that Alan might have supplied Guerciotti with such a front end, so there's also a possibility that you actually have a Guerciotti branded Alan, especially if you had to add on the Alan decals on a blank frame....but then I always thought too that the Guerciotti Alans were a three piece head design, but with an aluminum head tube.....
Could also be just one of many model variants they made in smaller numbers than the others.......Like remember that also unusual one that was posted in this forum last year with the ovalized (horizontally) top tube? Most were thinking it was to make it more comfortable to carry the bike on a rider's shoulder when cyclocrossing, but the design of the rest of the frame (especially the brake mounts) did not suggest it was even a cyclocross bike....

Chombi

KvltBryce

Welcome to the vintage carbon club! I too, would be interested in seeing some more close-ups of your beautiful build.

I have seen one other Alan that front end design, but it was an all aluminum (gold anodized) bike and it had "Alan" etched in script on the lower portion where the DT and HT meet.


Man that bike is slick.

Cache

Welcome, nice bike.

I'm sure I'm not the only one watching the $1600 NOS Alan 61cm on ebay at present...

owenmyers

Isn't this one called the "Carbonio"? I've always liked the way they looked and i can only imagine how light it is. But there's something about carbon fiber that is over 10 years old that drives me away, especially 30+ year old carbon fiber.

Chombi

The "Carbonio" name was carried by Alan CF bikes from the mid 80's and way into the 90's and maybe even later.
I guess your kryptonite would be my 41 year old CF bike then..... but as much as I very much like riding and collecting C&V CF bikes I do acknowledge the fact that the real old ones like the one I have might not be the best to ride regularly for many reasons other than really old epoxy bonds possibly breaking apart......
You also have to realize that the technology with CF bikes, although never perfect like anything else, had exponentially got better just through those first two decades that they were being developed and made, so I would think a 20 or 30 year old CF frame would be so much better designed and made than what came out first in the early 70's because of the advancements made with materials technology and manufacturing.

Chombi

ericbaker

It baffles me why so many people here will go to such great lengths to bash a modern carbon bike, but will shmooze all over a vintage one.

Chombi

People with modern CF bikes shouldn't take it too personally. I think the general reluctance to accept modern CF bikes in this forum comes more from the fact that the bikes are not C&V (Compact frame, brifters, "goofy" looking stems, jillion gears at back, squiggly looking shapes all over...monster price....and maybe some weenie envy.....etc....)
Most everyone here I suspect, are smart enough to know that the modern bikes work very well otherwise....or all those TDF heroes wouldn't be riding them to hell and back every year!.....

Chombi

Italuminium

Pfah, I ride both a vintage deathbike and brifter sporting bike with fat tubes from Taiwan. I like both bikes, they don't judge me, I just like the vintage bike riders more. Last week on a ride I noticed an inverse relation between down tube diameter and the propensity to nicely say hi on the bike path.

cbresciani

What's even more fun is passing those new CF bikes on my steel frame De Rosa.

Nice looking ALAN you've got there.

ericbaker

Baha, an excellent observation

RobbieTunes 

I've had 3 Ironman Carbon bikes, circa 1988, never a problem. I've had a Trek 2500 Composite, circa 1987, no problem. The Ironman models were more flexible than I preferred, except for centuries (where my arse was grateful). They were, however, nice and light, and pretty to boot. The Trek was light, and stiff, and more aluminum than carbon, but nothing I'd not take across the state on a 6-day ride.

qcpmsame 

This is probably the best post about many of the riders now I have ever read. Well said Ital!!!!! That single sentence is sig worthy. I must be a mutant or something (stay back, I know I am strange and revel in it, just stating the obvious) because I ride a big tube Aluminum bike but I wave, the other riders around here on CF or AL frames ignore me and try to look fierce while riding the local rural roads for the TdMolino Monument training ride. Great line.

Bill

RobbieTunes 

I'd wave more, but I keep falling over.

Italuminium

Thanks Bill

Giacomo 1 

Well, there is a huge difference in the looks of a modern CF and a vintage one as Chombi pointed out.

The modern bikes simply look completely out of proportion to me. Ridiculous tube diameter with stupid curves and wiggles, slanted TT so you have to have about 3ft. of seat post showing and no bar stem showing? Seriously ugly! Then take in the deep v wheels with few spokes, tight drop bars, NASCAR-looking decals and paint jobs, ridiculous looking rear cogs and you have about the most ungraceful looking thing I've ever seen on two wheels. I hate to see the pro's riding these monstrosities. Put clown outfits on them and they would be right at home in the circus on them! Terrible proportions looking at body-to-bike. Take away the drop bars and they really look like MTB's to me!

Yeah, I'm not a fan!

Cache

^^ Why don't you tell us how you really feel?? 8-)

I wonder if boneshaker fans vented about the ridiculous new safety cycle designs...

Giacomo 1 

And let me tell you another thing... nah, I'm done...

That was a revolution, which is totally different, while this is an evolution - gone terribly wrong...

Just one mans opinion.

owenmyers

I had a 98 full suspension GT CF MTB, i was jumping it and never trusted it. Made lots of noises and flexed alot so i got rid of it. I agree that modern CF bikes are fine but the old ones were basically test tube frames.

Rip1000

Thanks Chombi I will upload some more pics and see if it helps. One thing that did surprise me was the fact it has an English thread bottom bracket as everything iv'e read says they should be Italian thread. The bottom bracket has the stamp 0174 BY ALAN.

Rip1000

Hi KvltBryce, I have seen the ones with the etched design but this one does seem unusual its a nice ride though!

Chombi

Thanks for posting up more pics!
Great looking build! The bike looks brand new! Congratulations!
Definitely an Alan with the characteristic vertical dropout with a beveled round hole on it and the arched aluminum rear brake bridge. I think it's from later than 86 could be very late 80's or early 90's, judging from the more streamlined fork crown design (if the fork is original). I suspect that the rear spacing is 130mm, which if it is, makes it more likely that the bike is from at least the late 80's
Looks like Alan took design cues from Vitus with the one piece aluminum headstock and the bolt on top dropout connections which made it possible to use one dropout design for different sized frames. My 86 Carbonio does not have those two elements.
Alan might have decided to go with the one piece headstock to avoid the cracking of the top and bottom head lugs they had occurred on some earlier aluminum and CF tubed frames. Also cuts production costs as there's less parts to glue together.
They must have gone to English threading by that time as they were supplying other companies with their bikes and they must have wanted to have more options on what groups to use on the frames.


Chombi

Rip1000

I have to admit that after riding an old steel frame for so long i was a bit dubious but a couple of 40MPH+ runs down some of my local hills has given me faith. I can honestly say that it felt alot faster and seems to accelerate very quickly, I can achieve 30MPH on the flats now where on my steel frame more 25MPH according to Strava. The carbon tubes are screwed as well as bonded and I suspect the carbon thickness is quite high compared to a modern frames.

Italuminium

What's the seatpost diameter?