Allez Allez!

Back in about 2010, as I was making my transition to loving Steel bikes, Specialized came out with a throwback Steel Allez 14 speed road bike (Pictured above) which I was intrigued by.  It was tig welded not lugged like its classic predecessors from the 80s and 90s but it caught my eye.  Then as I got more into vintage road bikes I thought someday I might find a Japanese built red Allez in my size.

CL ad

So I was looking on Craigslist.....sigh,  And I see this Allez sport for $80, hmm, I occasionally look for  vintage Specialized Allez and Sirrus models and they are rarely under $200, so of course I sent an email to check availability and size.....

A few hours later and 4 crisp $20s lighter I was wheeling my own Allez back to the car, its teal and made in Taiwan rather than red and made in Japan but I am intrigued by its possibilities.

Its a 56 cm frame so a step down from the size I normally look for in a vintage bike but I have actually been wanting to try something out in a 56 just for comparison, and its a more sporty geometry than the current stable but its still a triple which I like these days.

It also features panographed fork crowns which I have always loved the look of but somehow never had a bike with them.

Lugged steel with cromo tubing, chain hanger, pump peg, fender and rack eyelets all the goodies.

Between the color, 700c wheel-set, and the Shimano RX100 drive train I am guessing this bike is from around 1992 plus or minus a year. I'll try and narrow that down before too long,

The Allez will need a full tear down but I might swap out the front (flat) tube and adjust the brakes and shifting and ride it to the market tomorrow just for the heck of it.   The Moto_GT and Cresta GT are still at the head of the spa treatment queue but I have been out sick for a week and have some catching up to do.

Its starting to get a bit crowded out there again so I need to slow my roll, oh I may not have mentioned that I essentially traded the (sold) Motobecane Mirage for a 1985 Trek 420....but that is fodder for another post.

85 Trek 420 CL ad

Ride, smile, stop acquiring bikes, Repeat.

EDIT: I did some digging and it is almost for sure  a 1992 Allez, built by Giant in weeks 7-8 of 1992 based on the Serial #.