re: [CR]alan bicycles

(Example: Framebuilders:Brian Baylis)

Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:11:57 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: re: [CR]alan bicycles
From: <kurtsj@mtco.com>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org


From: "Sarah Gibson" <sadiejane9(AT)hotmail.com>

"someone direct me to some info regarding alan bicycles from the 70's? thanks peace sarahgibsonkansascity"

hi Sarah,

It's not much, but Bike Warehouse used to sell Alan frames. The 1980 catalog is on Mark Bulgier's site: http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/catalogs/BikeWarehouse-80/BW31.html

There are some small pics. I can provide a high resolution jpg if desired.

Basically, the Alan was the first widely available aluminum frame, circa mid 70's. It used normal (?) tube diameters, and as such, was not nearly as stiff as a steel frame. This worked fine for a few folks, but the general opinion was not so good.

I recall that one well known racer in Europe was quite fond of the Alan (or was it the later generation Vitus, which was very similar?)... was it Sean Kelly? I'm sure the rest of the CR world can provide the correct info.

regards,
Steve Kurt
Peoria, IL