I think the dealer was Jim Beres in Akron. If so, then he raced for many years, and did so against my dad in the '40's and into the '50's. I had already moved to California from Chicago when we heard of Jim's passing. I wrote back but didn't get an answer. Wondered what happened to his shop stock. Maybe this is the answer. Remarkable when we think how far we are apart and yet how small our sub-culture hobby is to have all this knowledge and sourcing discovered and revealed. Ohio was a very good cycling state with lots of races, touring, and general riding. Maybe one of the Ohio area posters would enjoy giving a brief history of activity for our enjoyment. That smoked finish is different to many, but in reality the technique is very old. I first SAW it done when I was in Solingen, Germany, in 1951. I lived and worked at the Patria WKC bicycle factory while also racing. The guys let me try it and was fun to learn the drill. The first I remember the finish was on the stock German Durkopp coasterbrake bicycles back in the late '30's. My dad got them from John Eisenmann on Wycoff Ave in Brooklyn before WW2. I'm not sure but I think this candling process probably goes back to the twenties. I can't remember seeing any older turn of the century bikes painted like this. Ted Ernst.
>I think I've seen this bike. The seller says he got it from a former
>Allegro dealer in Ohio. Actually, there was a guy between Cleveland and
>Akron that had obtained the dealer's stock and had them all in a barn on
>his property. Probably a couple of dozen bikes, partial bikes and
>framesets, 6 or 8 smoke versions among them. I looked at them a couple of
>times, but couldn't do a deal. The guy told contradictory stories as to
>whether he owned the stuff or was just selling it for the former dealer.
>He also wouldn't quote a firm price, wanting to play interested parties off
>against each other. I lost patience with his manipulations and forgot the
>whole thing. I guess the eBay seller had more patience. As he said, some
>of the parts are not original, as the stock was mostly partial bikes. The
>Spidel RD is definaitely too new for this frame. I think he cleaned up the
>frame, as the stuff I saw, though probably NOS, was pretty dirty from poor
>storage conditions. This is a ltttle
> pricey, but might be worth it, despite a too-new part or two.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
>
>
> PBridge130@aol.com wrote:
>
>
> http://ebay.com/
>
> Handsome later Allegro. I'd be tempted if it were my size. Good pix, and a
> lot of info about the history of the company. Some confusion on frame
> size.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Pierre Dupont
> West of Zurich
>
> (Peter Bridge
> DenCO)