themandillon

I am considering buying a specialized allez double as my first road bike. im going to be using it for commuting for work mainly, but hope to start riding longer distances on weekends. I was just hoping to get some opinions from the "pros" out there about the ups and downs of this bike


thanks in advance

UniversalFrost

I have the 2007 Allez Elite triple and love it. I commute daily on it and it rides very well. The farthest I have ridden is a couple of 50 milers and no problems what so ever and the alias seat is great. Make sure to get the correct size seat (they have 3 sizes of the alias) and the specialized shop can meaure your rear to get the correct seat size for you. Only complaint I have is the crappy jalco wheelsets, that specialized used to save $$. i have a set of Mavic's that are on order and can't wait to get them on the bike. The specialized modo pro tires are good, but have had a few issues with traction in corners and am messing with tire pressure to determine optimum pressure for corners and traction. Otherwise I have a set of the Pro race 3's on order as well for the new wheel set.

JOE

JT354

which model are you thinking of buying? for 2008, the allez is only available with sora or tiagra 9 speed. according to the specialized site, the tiagra bike is $1200 and the sora $800 -- imo not a good value at those prices, depends on what your lbs is selling them for. i'm very disappointed that specialized got rid of the higher-end allez range -- a 9 speed allez "elite" seems like a joke compared to what they used to offer (i'm assuming those bikes fell victim to the low-end cf frame hype)

Mrmello

I've got a 2007 Allez Double, about 3 weeks now, 320 miles on it and just finished my first half century on Sunday,.. it has been flawless for me. I've changed the tape (my white turned gray very quickly) to black and added a quick link for easy chain removal (lot of beach riding and I'm a fanatic about cleaning the drive train). I road the Cannondale Synapse, but couldn't really notice a $250 difference, maybe not even a $1 difference, except the Tiagra vs sora brifters.

UniversalFrost

I foregot to mention that I went with 105's all around and a set of the dura ace brakes (good deal on cL). The crank is still sugino, but am dealing with a guy on CL that has a complete DA setup that I am trying to trade for.

The 08 is definately a bummer in the allez line up and 07 was meager compared to what they used to offer, but still an ok buy. Just wish the components were a little better.

so far with a little over 1000 miles on my bike and no problems. gonna try a 100 miler as soon as the temps cool down around monsoon season.

If you look you can pick up an older allez for decent prices on cl and ebay, etc...

themandillon

i will be getting the 800$ double. my dad has a friend who can get me a discount on specialized which is partly why I am choosing this bike.

SgtPepper64

I just got the 2008 double. I have found no REALLY bad cons yet.
The drivetrain is actually pretty smooth. I hear a lot of complaining about Sora but it's just fine for me. Shifts pretty well. It's held up in 2 group rides\practice races so far and another coming up this week. I've put 138.2 miles on it so far this month (I don't ride every day, and forgot the computer one day when I did) and I should probably have it tuned up.

Just a couple small downsides - I can't get the bloody wheel reflectors off. And the saddle. If you're not sitting on it right you'll really feel it after your rides.

And make sure you get it fit accurately. I was having some back pain after I got it because the guy who helped me out at first just eyeballed it. Went in during the 30 day comfort guarantee for a complete fit, free. I needed a new stem that raised the handlebars by a little bit and had the seat moved forward. I have a weird geometry apparently. That fit session alleviated my saddle annoyances and back pain, and I saved some money by not getting a new saddle.

twahl

The Allez is a fine bike, I put something over 3,000 miles on mine before I went to a recumbent, and my son is adding to it's total miles. some of those miles were racked up on at least 2 full centuries and several metrics.

It's a pretty aggressive geometry for a commuter bike, really more suited to racing. Depending on how far along the commuter vein you want to go, you might find the Sequoia to be more comfortable and better suited for your purposes.

palookabutt

I've got an older Allez triple -- ~2002 vintage. I've been happy with it, but there have been a few glitches with components. Had to replace my Tiagra shifters after a couple of years (upgraded to 105), then the cheap stock hub started to go south a year later.

I paid around $700 for mine. At the time it was about the only bike I found that offered Tiagra/105 components in that price range. Most of the others offered Sora, and folks warned me to avoid Sora. If their Tiagra-based model is in fact selling for ~$1200, that's not a great deal.

As people will tell you, make sure you get a proper fit if you plan to increase your mileage. It can mean the difference between pain at 30 miles vs. comfort at 80 miles.

kosherdave

I had an allez a few years ago. It was a good bike. Skipped gears a lot once I had some miles on it, but you know, you get what you pay for and overall it was a fun ride and worth the price.

the_drain

i lucked out in buying one, a 2005 sport. (I really knew nothing about road bikes at the time and just wanted to get into the sport)....I've put on quite a few clicks since. No big problems yet.

mine is aluminum with carbon...it's a pretty stiff ride (i havent ridden many other bikes but I did test right a tarmac and it felt like butter).

really enjoy it.

ridethecliche

I saw a 90's steel Allez on craigslist and I was really having a hard time to resist the temptation to buy it, even though I already have a steel bike built and there's no way I'd take it apart for the other frame.

Uh oh.

To the OP, the allez will be a good starter bike for sure. But you might want to see if it has rack mounts if you want to put panniers on it or the like.

Flak

I ride the 07 elite frameset. 3000 miles on it so far including a few centurys and i like it a lot. Comfty, not jarring, stable on decents. Good frameset.

themandillon

thanks for all the info guys!

Bodeen

If you can get good prices from your friend on Specialized buy the Tarmac Elite well worth the price difference.

jkemp9

How do you pronounce "allez"? I've heard it said all-ez, al-ez, and uh-lay, I have a 2006 triple and haven't known how to say it for the past 2 years. Great value BTW

rcaviator

a-lay

squamish5

I have a 2003 Allez Comp. Bought it used this year for 850.00. It is full Ultegra, double, with Mavic Cosmic wheel set. Fantastic little bike, very responsive.

drafters65

Im not a pro but i recently test rode an allez and was very disappointed. The major drawback is the components on the bike is cheap...what really bothered me was the plastic brake levers/shifters. My advice is to save that $800 and find yourself a used one if you really want an allez or a used bike with better components. Its not hard to find a better bike on ebay or craiglist for $600...just post and people will respond.