Here’s a lovely Swiss steel road bike, freshly renovated in the workshop. Its owner John bought the bike a decade ago in Spain and recently asked Dead Rats Cycles to thoroughly prepare the bike for its next adventure – a trip to L’Eroica 2018 in Tuscany. Given the tight deadline, we postponed the possibility of a respray until the coming winter months and I’m kind of glad we did now; the frame is still lovely with its shiny chrome and its battered lilac hue has grown on me since I began working on it too. Brand new parts include tyres, tubes, bar tape, cables and brake pads – Kool Stop no less, modified to fit the original Dura-Ace carriers.
Originally the Allegro was supplied by Keel Murten Radsport in Switzerland, presumably for a customer by the name of P.Balmer whose name is delicately painted on the top tube. The Reynolds 531 frameset also features wrap-over seatstays, over the top of the bottom bracket shell cable routing and long Campagnolo drop-outs that so mark it out as a classic lightweight. I’d hazard a guess that bike was supplied as a splendid 10 speed with all Campagnolo Nuovo Record parts, while the various Dura-Ace EX parts (including brake calipers and early Uniglide hubs in rare black anodised finish) will be likely to have been fitted slightly later as they bear date codes stamps denoting manufacture between 1979 to 1981. I could be wrong, but the Mavic rims are certainly from the 1980s. So, yeah it’s a bitsa. But it’s also lovely and rides like a dream!
SPECIFICATION:
Frame: 1970s Allegro, 57cm square, Reynolds 531 tubing
Frame Number: 264371
Fork: original, Reynolds 531 tubing
Headset: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Stem: 3ttt
Handlebar: 3ttt
Bar Tape: new
Brake Levers: Shimano Dura-Ace EX
Brake Calipers: Shimano Dura-Ace EX
Brake Pads: Kool Stop (new)
Brake Cables: new
Shifters: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Derailleur Cables: new
Cassette: Shimano Uniglide 6 speed, 14-28t
Chain: SRAM (new)
Cranks: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Chainrings: Campagnolo Nuovo Record 52/42
Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Pedals: Campagnolo Nuovo Record, new Christophe toe-clips & straps
Rims: Mavic Open 4 CD
Hubs: Shimano Dura-Ace EX
Tyres: Schwalbe Lugano 700x25c (new)
Tubes: Continental Race (new)
Saddle: Brooks B17
Seatpost: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Seatpost Binder: original
Finally, a few snaps of how it used to look…
