My Alan Bike

Since my name is Alan I decided it would be cool to get an old Alan bike. I put out a request on Craig's list for a 51 cm frame and amazingly a man in California responded within a week and sold me the frame. While I was on Craig's list I read about a large upcoming bike swap about 40 miles from me in Maryland.

The swap meet had almost everything I needed for the bike build so even before the frame arrived, I was pretty much set up. The bars are a TTT Eddie Merckx model and the stem has a nice pantograph. I filed out various nicks and marks on the lugs and polished everything up. It didn't come with the cable guides for the top tube so I made my own.

I used Campy components that are more modern than the frame but I wanted a really ride-able bike and especially wanted brifters. It rides great and I thought I'd share pictures of it.

Nice bike! Just not sure about the tape. Maybe some black tape would tone it down a little, just my thoughts ^^

I reckon the silver is fine, compliments the lugs. I must admit I'm not all that sure about the modern bits on a classic frame of this quality - but it's your bike

I do like the stem though - and Delta brakes!

And the colour is great. I prefer the coloured Alan's to the 'natural' ones.

Bike looks good Alan. I used to know an MTB racer called Marin who rode.... you guessed it a Marin. Looks kind of cool especially to non-cyclists.

You've got an interesting mix of Campag there. Are they 8-speed Ergo shifters with a 6-speed block? I know the cog sizes and spacing on Campag 8-speed are almost identical to Suntour Ultra 6-speed and I always wondered if that combination would work.

I quite like the handlebar tape as it complements the Jagwire cables and big silver lugs but doesn't look garish.

Mark.

Haha, I see that while I was faffing about writing my post Old Ned nipped in with the same comment about the 'bar tape!

The modern bits on old frames debate will raise it's head on here for ever more no doubt. I have my pet topics that bring me to the soapbox like threadless stems on slim steel beauties (I speak with the zealous drive of a reformed sinner on this one) but as far as this bike goes it all seems pretty good to me. I think the more conservative almost classic shape of Campag Ergos (pre 2011) compared to Shimano STIs works in their favour in that respect. The only dodgy thing really is the in-line brake levers but that's down to personal choice. I don't need them on my bikes but if other people feel the need then that's fair enough. I've always used mudguards on my ride-to-work bikes and consider them essential but some people hate them with a vengence and can't understand how I can blight a bike with them. I should add I always use frames designed for mudguards and would never put them on a classic racing frame like this one.

Anyway, I hope you ride it and enjoy it Alan for many years to come.

Mark.

Yeah, I know not doing a period rebuild may be a bit controversial to some. But I wanted a fairly modern bike to ride and looked at this more as an "art project" than anything else. Silver, red, and black were the theme obviously.

A couple of answers. The shifters are 8 speed with a 7 speed Shimano freewheel. I also have a set of wheels that use an 8 speed Shimano cassette. (Yes the wider 130mm wheels fit easily without stretching which is something I only tried after installing the 126mm wheel and seeing how much flex there was between the dropouts.) The shifting works fine and the 8 speed cassette has a 32 tooth low gear and the Chorus derailleur handles it.

I originally did not have the in-line cyclocross levers but the Delta brakes have such strong spring resistance that I found my hands getting tired and cramping on the regular levers under extended braking just riding down a long hill near my home. So it was more a safety issue. Even with Cool Stop pads, that I eventually installed, braking takes more effort than on my other bikes and I knew this could be an issue when I bought the Deltas.

nice bikes great ride[/img]

Great bike

Lovely bike, really liking the stem.

What frame pump is that?

Thats a really lovely looking ride
I wouldnt worry too much what anyone else thinks as long as you like it and more to the piont, you enjoy riding it.
Enjoy!
Happy roads ahead
Jamie