1980 Versteege Aero...

[Senri]

Some days ago I spotted a bike for sale. There was not much info, but I spotted the Shimano 600AX brake calipers, levers and crankset. As I am trying to get a whole group of this together, I was interested. I couldn't find much info on Versteege other then being a bicycle shop here in Zandvoort that has it's own line. I haggled a bit with owner and came to a deal on the price.
Yesterday I went there, hoping for some nice 600AX parts. If you have been peeking, you can imagine my surprise seeing that the frame was actually an Alan aluminium frame! It is build up with mostly 600AX parts and some campagnolo parts. The rear derailler is a Sunrace. Does somebody know what type of Alan this is?
The strange thing is that the on the frame is stamped ALAN980, possibly suggesting 1980 as the build date, but the 600AX set is of course from a view years later. Maybe it took that long before the frame was build up by Versteege...
I am now taking it apart to clean and refurbish and just noticed a small crack in the seatlug and lower headlug. Hmmmm......

 

[fiks]

Shame about the cracks, it must be a big disappointment! Perhaps they are fatigue cracks caused by excessive flexing due to being a large frame. It does look like an earlier version of the Alan al frames.

I don't think Alan actually had many different models of frames; cyclo-cross, road...certainly not like steel frame manufacturers who offered frames in numerous different tubings. Alan also made carbon fibre frames but that was a bit later.

I wonder if the seller knew about the cracks?

 

[Senri]

Yes, it is a bit of a disappointment, but as I said, I actually wanted to buy the bike for the 600AX parts. The frame was a bonus and of course a nice surprise beeing a Alan.
I think I can weld the seat lug, but the lower headset lug is more of a problem, as the crack goes trough the engraving on the front.
I am pretty naive when it comes to these things, but I really doubt the seller knew about it.
I will keep you informed on the progress!