In many ways the 979 was far superior to the Alan aluminium (it did look good though): it was lighter, even with low end Athena and a Flite titanium saddle this was the first bike I got under 18lbs, and they were crazy durable. My mates seat tube popped out of the bottom bracket, no problems! Wooden mallet, bit of 3M superglue and he got another ten years out of it. The Alans were prone to splitting at the head tube, a very common fault and the gear hanger breaking off. And they were heavy....!