This Allez frame is growing on me
 

Never been a big fan of red...but they do say it's faster.
Reviews for this bike are mixed...but some say it was/is their favorite bike.
I'm also thinking the lugs are kind of cool, and am considering painting them.

1) Suggestions for color are welcome. (Groupset will be 105 5500, silver with yellow labels.)

2) Is Testors and a small brush the best method? I envision the flats being easy, but worry about the edge of the lugs, where they meet the frame. I've read about paint pens, and wonder if some have a brush at the other end of the container?

Thanks in advance for any opinions you may have!


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By the way, I brought the fork into the home improvement store starting with an L.
They used their color matching machine, then sold me a $5 sample-size acrylic paint.
Using a toothpick, small blemishes are filled nicely, and the color match is spot on.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5daec0b3ef.jpg

Great tip. Thanks for sharing!

I will use that technique on my Sirrus. Those white dots look like paint specks. Have you cleaned and polished the beaut yet?

Very nice frame!

It is of course your frame to do with as you want but that paint is so nice I would use car wax to bring out the shine and leave it stock YMMV. Thanks for the paint suggestion I will remember that later this winter when my 89 comes up for refresh

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...92942d5289.jpg

67tony

Glad this is growing on you, while I am not a huge overall fan of Big S, all the lugged steel goodness from them come from the expertise of some the best in the business.

Sinyard was very smart recruiting world class framebuilders early on and often, Neenan, Merz, DiNucci, Bayless, Tesch and many others had huge hands on input and helped elevate Japan and then Taiwan's frame game to what we see today.

Their special frames are just that but all of them seem to punch well above their weight class. ;)

Dots are down to the steel, but small. I understand leaving the patina, but you'd notice at 6'. So, I like my toothpick method, which would require you to be inside bi-focals range to notice!

I used Scratch-X, a rubbing compound, and carnuba wax on the fork...just starting the frame.

If I wanted to try brush painting I would go this page for tips from one of our contributors:
Painting a Bicycle
I too had a rescued '93 Allez Pro grow on me to the point it is in the daily ride rotation. It was in terrible shape with a couple of dents, horrible paint, etc., so I had it powder coated bright yellow, expecting to find a student needing a low cost ride. To my surprise once a had the mix 6500/7700 build and light wheels w/28s and put some miles on it I loved the ride. Wish I had not PC the frame and rather had local frame builder fill the dents and respray.

If it were me I'd probably just touch up only. However, pin striping around the lugs can look quite nice. Same color way as the yellow labeling.

I hadn't thought of just outlining the lugs, that'd probably look pretty cool.
Yes, yellow for sure.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Glad too, make sure to share pics as you progress.

Really interesting original finish trouble- the areas to watch in my view are the dark dots about the water bottle bosses
they look like bubbles in the original paint that allowed water and rust to develop.

I would be temped to scrape them very very carefully to clear the rust and then paint over that- thinking of barkeepers friend on a Q tip prior - consider one that will be obscured by the cage.

this frame at this point is not one to refinish completely.

the Allez had an interesting history.

I tried one that was a typical race bike another that felt nervous. Both smaller sized, was a long time ago. There was a geometry evolution. Was not watching too closely.

Great tip!

I snagged a paint pen from Michael's, and gave it a try. Started with the bottom of the bottom bracket, hoping to get the hang of it, and I did get better as I went along. Here are some observations, they might help a novice trying this for the first time.

• The angle is important, as is keeping the pen upright - best you can.
• A slow, light touch helps the paint flow evenly. At first I was pressing too hard.
• Expect to go over it twice, and even more if needed...especially where there is a gap.
• Have an alcohol q-tip ready for mistakes. Or, let them dry and scrape off later.

In my mind it looks decent. Not perfect, by any means, but it easily passes the 6' test.
I've still got some scraping to do, and some more spots to fill in.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1c67e10239.jpg
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The 4' test...

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Very cool and a solution to one of my problems! Thank you!

So patience and a steady hand is a must then. Nice job, 67Tony!

Does this symbol mean anything?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...028caa1dfe.jpg

I like the lined lugs, I did the same with silver paint pen. If the lines look bold for you, one could slice some of the tip off to get a finer line.

Not sure about the B but that's the Specialized S logo.

Gotcha, I guess I should have figured that.
The "B" is likely because it is the bottom of the bottom lug of the headset.

Dang, after waxing this frame I must say it looks awesome.
I'll get a pic in better light tomorrow, but meanwhile here's the group getting attached.

I know this is not some super-duper frame, or groupset, but the bike was free, and I thought the 105 5500 would be a good approximate era indexed setup, reasonably priced. This is my first foray into brifters, so that'll be cool in itself.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9e780b24be.jpg

A complete and in-nice-condition Shimano 5500-era 105 groupset is something that I'd normally not think about or get the most pumped up about (because I am a Dura-Ace and Ultegra fan), but 1) it's a complete groupset!!! 2) it's in pretty silver and will look great on that frame. It will work well, the crankset is in excellent condition, and I will always like Octalink BBs. I'm really looking forward to this build. :love:

When setting up the brifters, once you get them mounted and tightened down, when feeding the brake cable through the lever body, have the rear of the hood (where it meets the bar) pulled forward so that you can see the light behind the hole where you need to feed the cable through (after feeding it through the cable head holder, naturally). If you find that the cable does not want to play nice with the 'angle of attack' to and through the hole, "shift" the big lever over (aka to the inside) and hold it in that position. This will allow you extra angle/rotation of the brake lever/shifter body to allow the brake cable to be fed in at a dead straight angle, making life much easier! This applies to the 10-speed levers as well.

Just remember, when done feeding the brake cable, to shift the small lever all the way, so that the shift cable can be correctly fed through. And if you have your brakes and cabling set up with your rims installed, flip the 'quick release' lever on the caliper up. That will allow the brifter's brake lever to be pulled more, thus allowing the shifter cable hole to be fully exposed and thus able to accept a cable being fed through it.

Awesome advice, very thorough...thanks!
I'll be printing it off to use in the spring, when I return from FL and start this build.

Here's the frame and fork after a toothpick touch-up, lug outlining, and waxing.
Thanks again for all the input and suggestions!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...63d022aa60.jpg
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