I know it's nit-picking, but English builders were producing road racing bikes under 20lb in the 1930's; even the Raleigh Record Ace was listed in the 1938 catalogue as: "In road racing trim with sprint wheels and brake, 19 1/2 lb approximately"...
Neil Foddering Weymouth, Dorset, England
>From: Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
>To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>CC: biankita@comcast.net
>Subject: [CR]All the WELL DESERVED praise heaped on the lowly, ALAN frame
>Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 20:00:44 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Garth,
>
>I got my ALAN in VG-Exc condition (its perhaps the #2 cleanest bike
>I've ever purchased) with the express purpose of 'parting it out onto
>my english steeds' because 'surely that aluminum fork isn't long for
>this world.' It came from a closed-down AZ shop and still had a
>pricetag of $995 (i paid about 1/3rd of that.)
>
>As a member of the bike-to-work committee for Sorrento Valley (San
>Diego's version of Silicon Valley), we organized a pre-bike-to-work
>day bike-show in 2004. Several of us brought in favorite bikes from
>our garages, to be seen by 500-1000 people at lunchtime.
>
>I polished the ALAN headlugs and campy parts for 2 hours to get ready
>for this bikeshow. My bike has a yellow-golden anodized tubes and the
>polishing caused the lugs to emit their own light ...
>
>Long story short, my ALAN stole the show. It bested a 1974 Paramount,
>a Gary Fisher classic, an Olmo, a Litespeed, a Rambouillet - boring,
>boring, and boring. In short, it stole the thunder of all those other
>retro and modern classics ...
>
>Six months ago I asked my 5-yr old twins which bike in the garage was
>their favorite of all the bikes. After 10 minutes of looking around
>at the 15 bikes on the floor, they said, "Daddy, it's the golden bike.
>
>My ALAN - the first prodution road racer under 20 lbs - has a special
>place in history, and in the hearts of men.
>
>- Donald Gillies
>San Diego, CA