JBCIII

rustystrings61 ok, thanks for posting those catalogs. Double checking my measurements, it is 60cm C-T of seat tube, as recorded to top tube. I had let my tape settle in the base of the curve on the seat lug. 59 top tube. My stem is an 11cm. Thanks for the info.

John

rhm

Sure looks a lot like mine, same size, same condition.

That Brooks B17 is older than the rest of the bike. the oval stamp was discontinued in 1954 or something.

Different stem shifters come with a some very different kinds of clamps, often ridiculously heavy, some better than others, most to be had cheap. I'm sure half of the C&V regulars have at least one set of stem shifters in the bins. Didn't Huret make stem shifters that can be fitted with campagnolo shifters? But hold on, i think I have a fairly recent set of Sun stem shifters that have the standard Campy-type mounting system. I just have to find them....

Edit...
Okay, I found the Sun shifters I mentioned. Never mind. They have some kind of proprietary interface to the levers. You'd need to do some machining to get it to fit Campagnolo levers.

JBCIII

rhm all of the knowledge you guys have of these old bikes is awesome. The Brooks insight is interesting. The seat on this looks natural in color. I would’ve anticipated black but perhaps the dye has come off of it? Do you know if Brooks offered colors in the past, as they do now?
I had read your whole thread before I purchased this one as the pictures in the ad exposed all the bad chrome. I found some interesting YouTube videos on chrome paint.
Your bike came out well. I’m already wrestling with wanting to make it pretty vs. just getting it sound & rideable Lol.
I’ve found remnants of gold pinstripe around the lugs. Man, these must’ve been stunners when new.
Thanks for the info & insight. J

davester

Fantastic project. Amazing that it has pretty much original components throughout too. I wouldn't change anything except clean, polish and lube (and change critical wear parts such as the cables, housings, brake pads, tires and tape. Allegro's always had fantastic paint jobs. If it were mine I would carefully polish that paint (being very careful of the decals) with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound followed by wax. The chrome is pitted, but it doesn't look like the pitting is too deep. I bet that will polish out too after an evaporust or mild acid treatment.

unworthy1

Sadly not ALL Allegros had such fantasical paint jobs, at least mine (from about '74) has a plain-vanilla scheme with one-color paint and no chrome to mention. But besides Allegro other Swiss marques also went in for the wild finishes: smoked, fades, pin-stripes and more...Mondia (and sister Juvela) did for sure, and maybe some of the early Cilo also "went there". It's a Swiss thing I suppose, like banking, watches, chocolate, cheese...

rhm

No, sorry, I definitely don't know what they offered and when. I really don't pay that much attention to color. I don't see the same colors as most people do. I had one old Brooks saddle that, when I sold it, the new owner said the green color would be perfect for his project. That saddle was green? First I'd heard of it! That said, I think I can usually tell brown from black saddles, and I can't remember black Brooks saddles that old.

The spiffy thing for this bike would be a B17 Competition Standard, a predecessor to the Brooks Professional-- same shape, same frame, but styled more like a B17. I have one, dated A 59, that I was thinking of putting on my Allegro, but I don't need to subject a 60 year old saddle to the stresses of regular riding, I have other saddles.

How's that for a helpful reply!

JBCIII

Well, the Allegro went to a new care taker. A regular hear talked me out of it. After some thinking on it, it proved a bit too much to bite off. I really wanted it to head in the direction of a restoration and I just can’t do that right now.
Thanks guys for the comments & insight on these bikes.