rhm

Okay, some progress to report, and some terrible photos to upload!




I got the original crank, the original derailleur, and the original hubs from the seller

These are not the original wheels; haven't got suitable rims yet. The cone lock nuts are dated 58 and 59.



I hope to work on this a bit more tonight, and possibly ride it this weekend. I have the derailleurs shifting pretty well, but the chain tension seems wrong. Can anyone point me to an online guide to getting the best performance out of old Gran Sport derailleurs?

jeirvine 

Outstanding. The original '58/'59 hubs are quite a find. No advice on the chain tension. Is the derailleur spring adjustable? Looks weak from the pic, for the chain being in the lowest cog.

John E

Half-step gearing, platform pedals, barcons, well-crafted Reynolds frame, Italian and Swiss components -- what's not to like?

1960 -- the golden age of bicycles! (OK, I guess I am a little biased, with a couple of specimens from across the border from yours ... .)

kroozer 

Hi Rudi,
That looks really fantastic. More pix! The chrome looks like something you can live with, too. It seems like you were able to get most of the original parts as well, which is very fortunate. I would recommend that you put on tubular rims and tires. A vintage fanatic like yourself should at least give them a shot and see what all the fuss is about, and this is the perfect bike for them. It's OK to cheat on the little stuff, but as long as the major parts are so authentic you ought to complete it with the wheels. And it will improve the ride. If you don't like 'em, well, put clinchers back on.

rhm

I might try the tubulars for a while. The ones shown are Hutchinson, I think, and quite nice though old. I'm not sure I have them mounted right.

The chrome "socks" are rattlecan; the lugs are still real chrome. The fork crown is also real chrome, but badly pitted.

unworthy1

Nice job! I think you're taking the right approach to save what you can and replace with close approximations what has to be. I might have some (tubular) wheels that would "sort of" work, and would cut you a deal so they'd be cheap...but have to check and see if I still have what I'm remembering, and you might not want them, either. I'll PM if there's any good news.

juvela

hello rhm,

have been looking forward to an update on this machine. thanks very much for posting. what a score to get all of those original fittings. recall that at last report you were debating the affordability/availability options of the correct bits. this is just great! very happy for you.

iirc GS rear mechs have a couple options on the their backsides for spring tension. as i recall it the largest cog they are happy with is 26T and they only have ~24T of wrap. if you get to where you are a half link off on chainlength you can always fine tune it a bit with the dropout adjusters.

jeirvine 

What rims are on it now?

rhm

The wheels on there now are Mavic tubular rims laced to Sunshine large flange hubs. These are the hubs that came on the first Fuji Finest and Newest models imported to the US in the early 70's; the look very much like Campy hubs but the six windows in the flanges are a slightly different shape.

A friend remarked that the gear cables look too long, the way they stick out at the front. And he has a point, doesn't he?

Then I happened to look at this (which is the decal on the seat tube):

rhm

So... update.

In November I did a few short rides on the Allegro and had a lot of trouble getting the front derailleur to behave properly. The main problem seemed to be that the spindle was too long; the crank sat farther to the left than the derailleur wanted to go.

So at the beginning of December I changed the Stronglight 57 (with its 46-49 chain rings) to a Stronglight 49d with 42-52 rings. The newer crank did not sit any closer to the frame, so this didn't solve the front derailleur problem, and rear derailleur wasn't happy about the increased chain wrap. So I also changed the rear derailleur to a Record (mid 60's) and the front derailleur to a Record (mid 70's)(which necessitated a clamp-on cable stop above the bottom bracket).

Mid December I took it for its first real ride, 50 miles of hills in PA and NJ. And I found that, whatever you can say about the rest of the drive train, the Campy bar end shifters were not working as they should. By playing with the friction, you should be able to find a sweet spot between ghost shifting and impossible shifting, but I couldn't; it would upshift itself all the time, and I could downshift only with great effort. I hated it.

Then I realized the 'Peugeot' spindle I salvaged off a trashed Peugeot last summer was actually a Stronglight spindle, just a little shorter than the one in the Allegro; so I swapped that in, considerably improving the chain line; and while I was at it I changed the bar end shifters to Campy downtube shifters.

Finally took it for a 66 mile ride on Sunday. Ah! Much better.

The bike is now rideable and reliable. Quite nice, really!

Digging through my chain ring stash the other day I found a Vuelta 94 bcd 38t ring that I don't need. Holding it up to the Stronglight 57, I realized there's plenty room on the chain ring to modify that chain ring to a fit the Stronglight crank. A 38-49 sounds pretty good to me! I think I'll try that next.

crank_addict

Rudi- Outstanding! Although does seem odd that small difference in chain line made such a fuss.


(other: Comment on the extra long cables. Contrary to what most do today, having the long cable back when was desired. If I can find the old article, there's some talk about longer cables. As I read thru the forums, I'm actually surprised by those picky who comment about ones cables. As for myself, I wrongly run them shorter

jeirvine 

Can't wait to see more pics of the final build. And I have not used them, but I think that's par for the course for Campy bar end shifters. There's a reason Suntour Barcons are so revered - they actually work.

rhm

Ah, well, maybe you haven't had the pleasure of working with a Gran Sport front derailleur? Not a Nuovo Gran Sport, that's different. The Gran Sport has pretty limited adjustment options; there's a set screw that holds the cage to a rod that moves horizontally, and if the big chain ring is too far to the right, you reach the end of that rod. That's where I was. I had it so far out to the right that the set screw was hitting the very end of the rod. Not good.

Ed.

My Mother had an Allegro of similar vintage. IIRC, it had Record derailleurs F&R, Stronglight 49 crank, and a B17 saddle. My Father put bar-end shifters on it, but I don't recollect the brand. His Frejus, which I have, has Suntour shifters.

Beautiful bikes. Try Evapo-rust on the rust, works a treat. I bet some polish afterwards, with some sort of clear coat and things would look pretty good from closer than 20'

Like I said about the GranSport front derailleur on my Torpado, there's been progress since then.

noglider 

Yes, I haven't used the Campagnolos, but I remember they had a very bad reputation. If anyone got them working well, I wonder how. I have a pair of SunTours I'm not using, if you're interested, but I know you're a period-correct weenie. Let me know, though.

rhm

Oh, I'm pretty happy with downtube shifters. I like being able to shift and trim both derailleurs with one hand. If my hands are at the brakes, which is usually the case, the down tube is an easy reach.

noglider 

I don't blame you. Downtube shifters have their advantages.

jeirvine 

Are you looking for older tubular rims to lace to the original hubs? I have a few pairs, though I suspect they are closer to 1970 than '60.

62AllegroRider

As a way of my saying 'hello' to you all as I have just joined your group, let me describe my Allegro Special, which I bought new in 1962, and some of my experiences.

Most discussions of the vintage Allegros mention the portraits on the frame. My Allegro has no picture of anyone on the frame.

I have never had any problem with my Campy equipment as long as I kept the derailer adjusted precisely. I guess that its a good thing that I didn't know how much trouble they were supposed to be. The only problem that I ever had with my bicycle was the delicacy of the sew up tires. I ran them at maximum pressure and they would rupture if I hit any pebble much larger than a pea. I weighed just over 200 pounds so less pressure was not an option. I considered having my rims changed to a more road ready type a hundred times but never did.

My original seat is black, not brown as someone was wondering. They told me that the seat would break me in rather than the other way around and that proved to be the case.

I ordered my Allegro to be painted Tangerine. I was told that they used 13 coats of paint and the depth of the beautiful finish certainly showed then and is still apparent today. The paint and finish everywhere were perfect. I only wish that their chrome work was done so well. Unfortunately, like several of your posts have mentioned, my bike developed that pitted rust on the chrome portions of the frame after only five or ten years, in spite of my efforts at waxing and polishing. I figure that the chrome must be pretty thin. I always wondered what I could to to remove the rust pits but was afraid to try anything harsh. I knew that I didn't want to have parts re.chromed so thanks for the tip about Evapo-rust. I will definitely give it a try.

I saw someone's picture of their Allegro with black brake lever covers. These were not original, at least not on my Allegro. Also my fingertip shifter levers came with dark royal blue (almost black) rubber covers on them. Also the brake levers had aluminum axillary levers allowing the rider to activate the brakes with hands on the handlebars near the center post. I don't know if all Allegros came with these from the factory but I haven't seen them on pictures of the other Allegros. They are not very strong, useful only for non emergency braking, so perhaps they were frequently removed for safety's sake.

Several of the pictures previously posted show the toe clips with bright red leather straps. These look exactly like the original ones on my bike so I would believe that they were original for that bicycle as well, not a replacement, just in case someone was wondering.

Sitting here, I just realized that, to my knowledge, nobody else has ever ridden my bike, so it is truly a one owner bicycle. Not bragging, just a curiosity. I have loved this bicycle since the day that I took delivery of it over 50 years ago so please note that I have no interest in selling it or any part of it.

I hope that this was of use or interest to someone out there. Please excuse the rambling. If I can assist anyone with their research as to what was original on this bicycle by examining it, I will be happy to do so. I have changed nothing on my bicycle except flat tires, so I can be absolute about what was original, at least what was original on my particular 1962 Allegro Special.

unworthy1

^pictures, pictures, pictures....we like pictures!^

rhm

Bumping to add a couple not-very-good photos. I rode a 300k brevet on this bike a few months ago, and it was fine. I must admit, I don't really understand my compulsion to put fenders on every bike. This is not a bike I plan to ride in the rain; it already has rust issues. But even so, it stays cleaner with fenders.

rhm

And, looking over this thread, I realize I never did finish part of the story.

The frame came to me with original paint, very tired, but mostly intact. Only a small section of the top tube was covered with this brick red paint:



When rubbed with a paper towel soaked in naphtha, the red paint gradually came off, to reveal a section of the tube completely stripped of the original paint and primer:



I found a small can of spray paint that didn't quite match the original; or, maybe it did once, but this looked like new paint, while the original had 55+ years of weather damage. I sprayed the damaged section and let it dry; then I sprayed it very lightly with a silver paint, which I immediately smeared with a naphtha-soaked paper towel. I started to get the effect that I wanted, but the naphtha attacked the dry paint much faster than I wanted, and I had to give up before I was satisfied with the result. And then I thought, oh, to heck with it! And I built the bike up. So here's the repainted section of the top tube.

rhm

And, looking over this thread, I realize I never did finish part of the story.

The frame came to me with original paint, very tired, but mostly intact. Only a small section of the top tube was covered with this brick red paint:



When rubbed with a paper towel soaked in naphtha, the red paint gradually came off, to reveal a section of the tube completely stripped of the original paint and primer. I'm guessing a rather minor dent was rolled out of the tube at some point, but what do I know.



I found a small can of spray paint that didn't quite match the original; or, maybe it did once, but this looked like new paint, while the original had 55+ years of weather damage. I sprayed the damaged section and let it dry; then I sprayed it very lightly with a silver paint, which I immediately smeared with a naphtha-soaked paper towel. I started to get the effect that I wanted, but the naphtha attacked the dry paint much faster than I wanted, and I had to give up before I was satisfied with the result. And then I thought, oh, to heck with it! And I built the bike up. So here's the repainted section of the top tube.

TheManShow

When I move to So. Cal. in 58 it was North Hollyweird, CA. Jack Kemp owned Villager Cycles on Laurel Caynon & Chandler. Mr. Kemp was the guy who brought the Allego to the USA. Back then if I recall, you could buy on pf three model of Allego for 195-235 each. All were full campy, sewup, and I always wanted one. I recall the top of line model had this pain job like someone blew cigar smoke into the paint. The paint was awesome.

cyclotoine

not a bad result with the paint at all. Nice work on this bike, it's a real beauty.