Out of the Blue

As I have documented I have been thinning the herd this summer with the idea of getting down to 4 bikes.  Sure I picked up a Novara mountain bike recently but that was because I am convinced with a little work I can double my money on that.  I was minding my own business when I get a message from a fellow bike forums member who happens to be local.  He had noted that I was selling an 56cm Allez because it too small and I was pining for an Allez in a 58 cm size.  Turns out he had come into just such a beast at Bike Works for a stupid cheap price, he had built up a Specialized Sirrus and the Allez was surplus would I be interested...?

There were a few caveats, the bike was mostly complete but the wheelset had gone to the owners Sirrus and while it had a seat post and saddle the owner indicated the 27.0 seat post was a smidgen too big.

Near as I can tell the bike is an 1989 based on the UK Specialized catalogs on the web, the decals and components match up.

After test fitting the seat post I would concur its too big,  so I am going to need to figure out the correct size.    The interesting thing about the wheels is that with a 7 speed set up I can either FW hub or Cassette hub as this was a time of transition, checking eBay getting a vintage 7 speed cassette wheel-set would run me about $90 when you factor in the $40 shipping,  In either case the wheels need to have 700c rims for this year of Allez.   Since I am not in a hurry I will look on CL and FB for something local, either a wheel-set or even a complete bike for a bargain that I can harvest parts from.  I could get a basic wheel-set new for about a c-note but I think this bike deserves a nice wheel set with some vintage hubs.

The bike came standard with nice Suntour GPX bits including indexed 7 speed shifters.  The Crank is Shimano 600 also nice.  This is a racy road bike, double crank, short cage RD, not my usual cup of tea but I would like to build it up and see what happens, if I love it I could always put a compact crank on it, of course losing some weight wouldn't hurt either.

I love the pantographed seat stay end caps and the tape confirms its a 58 cm/ 23 inch frame.  My price for this bike?  $25, a nice NW microbrew six pack of pilsner and the promise that the owner could take it for a spin once I had it rebuilt.    Since I had just sold a set of 5 orphan 26" MTB wheels for $25 this Allez minus the wheel-set and seat post cost me a six pack of beer.  This never happens.

More to come.

Ride. Manna from heaven. Smile. Repeat