jet sanchEz

One of my grails too, I had one slip through my fingers just a few months ago.

I wouldn't change a thing, lovley.

gomango

Agreed.

It's red. Can't go wrong with a racing bike. Imho

Lenton58 

The Allez — extremely yummy and definitely a bike that strikes up envy! I do not feel that way about too many bikes!

tendency

OP: Wow great find! I've been researching San Rensho built Allez's extensively and believe you have a very rare 1984 Allez that was built by San Rensho. This is based upon the fact that yours has Campy dropouts which were used only in the '84-'85 Allez production runs. The vast majority of '84 Allez's were built by Miyata (based upon lugwork which can be seen in the '84 catalog) and the comments of Bryant Bainbridge who was VP or R&D at specialized during the early 80s (unble to post link) However, it appears that a small minority of the 84s were still produced by San Rensho as evidenced by the lugwork and fork.

I believe I have purchased another '84 San Rensho that I'll be posting pics of here in the next few weeks or so. Curiously, mine has the 84 allez non-rensho fork however the frame is identical to the one you have posted.

In either case, yours and mine are the only two examples of what appear to be '84 San Rensho built Allez's.

merziac

So no worries but you're working from a 5 year old zombie thread.

Welcome aboard, glad you found us, you're in the right place.

You'll need 5 more posts for pics, just respond to any posts here or comment on any other threads that interest you.

Assume you know of Merz and DiNucci's involvement in these, I have 2 blue Merz SE's and a 3r as well as 5 Merz's from before he went Big S.

Here's the 3r.

tendency

Hey - thanks for the welcome. Yeah I know it's a 5 year old thread however it had some great info ..
Beautiful Allez! Love the lug work very nicely executed. I have a Trek 770 which was Trek's top of the line silver brazed Reynolds 531C bike from '84 and the 3R built Allez's are definitely a notch (or two) above the Trek in terms of lugwork and overall craftsmanship - and the Trek's are *very* nice frames.
I would guess that's one of the unique '84 '3R' frames as you put it due to the Campy dropouts .. however who knows maybe some of the '83s (which as far as I've been able to determine have the same badging as the '84s) had a few Campy dropout built ones in the mix.
Yes, know a bit about the different designers and people involved though still finding out more and more as I continue to research.
I've been trying to buy a 3R for 18 months; they, like many 70s/80s fine steel bikes have exploded in popularity the last 5 years or so and have become significantly more collectible and valuable.
In fact, there's a very nice 1st gen 3R Allez on ebay at the moment that the seller is asking $5K for!

merziac

You're welcome and if you hit the "Quote" button, it will alert the poster that you have responded for more replies.

Yep, welcome to the C+V world during COVID, $5k!

tendency

I think a big part of it as well (since I personally have seen big price jumps starting 5-6 years ago..) is the ongoing 'fixie' craze. Dont know about you but I cant tell you how many really nice vintage steel framed fixie's I see riding around where I live .. also, many retiree's have re-discovered biking and have soft spots for bikes of their youth.
Plus, it just seems like there is more interest in collecting these older bikes as well as a general resurgence in interest for steel frames.

But yeah, for sure Covid has definitely jacked prices as well.

merziac

All good points to be sure, you're preaching to the choir here in PDX, fortunately most of them haven't had the RD hanger hacked off but plenty have, I have no problem as long as they don't butcher the frame, no harm, no foul.

And as more and more of us become able to fulfill our childhood dreams, some prices will go up.

After a very long stretch of no bikes, I jumped back in with both feet about 7-8 years ago and went on a tear that has me sitting with most of my grail bikes in hand as well as too many others.....

I had/have no sense of humor about them, I paid dearly for some of them but was not going to let them get away, bird in the hand and all that.

Many were absolute bargains as well. I'm not in it for the money, haven't sold any, bought several that are way too small for placeholders that worked to bring the right ones to me so here I am.

Many were bought at a premium and were still a good deal as the next ones I saw were mostly worse condition, too small and more money.

Value like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I know what they are worth to me and that is all that matters.

AMDG

One of the few things I remember from my Latin courses is the phrase "De gustibus non est disputandum"!

tendency

Yes - '81-'83 had Shimano (either 600 or Dura Ace) drop outs. '84/'85 Allez's have Campy drops. Apparently, San Rensho built some percentage of the '84 Allez's before Specialized fully moved prod to Miyata. (Sorry for responding to ancient zombie thread )

Andy_K 

This Allez, the frame a fork of which, incidentally, I bought from @shnibop who started this thread, has Shimano dropouts. I believe it's is an '83.









While there's definitely something cool about the 3Rensho-built Allez's, the other early Specialized bikes are also pretty nice. I have a Miki-built 1983 Sequoia that I love. I doesn't have the long lug points of the 3Rensho models or the fastback seat stays (the signature feature of the 3Rensho-built Sequoias), but the ride of the bike is outstanding and the finish work is excellent.

tendency

I agree with you that it's an '83 based upon the Allez badging (which is markedly different than the 1st gen '81/'82 Allez) and the non Campy dropouts. That's a beautiful example you have and even has the frame tubing decal 'Special Series Racing' which seems to have been unevenly applied by either Specialized or San Rensho to the '83/'84 Allez's.

I've heard talk from a Bryant Bainbridge quote that a smallish percentage of the very early Sequoias were built by San Rensho as well though I'm not sure how they are distinguished. In either case, yes I agree that even the non San Rensho built early 80s Specialized bikes were very nicely executed.

Thanks for sharing your bike the more I see the more I learn!

tendency

hacked off derraileurs?! wow that's a new one.
this also reminds me of how much 'ordinary' (or what used to be) Japanese components have increased in value just in the last few years. about 2 1/2 years ago I built up a Miyata with Suntour Cyclone and was surprised at how pricey it had become. A few weeks ago I was spec'ing another Cyclone kit for a new build and the prices have increased by probably around 100-150%. ouch.

merziac

The fixie crowd has been hacking off hangers for a long time, almost seems like a badge of honor for screwing up a perfectly good frame that could be returned to full duty otherwise.

tendency

Holy smokes these frames are light. I've got a 62cm and it weighs in at 2005 grams. That's virtually the same weight as a 62cm Raleigh I had that was built with Reynolds 753. Rumors were that these 3rensho Allez's were built with Ishiwata 019 but I don't think it'd be that light if it was. Ishiwate 017? Tange Prestige? Dunno..

merziac

All the Big S frames from this era were specced with custom tubing from many different suppliers. Neenan, Merz, DiNucci, Bainbridge, Tesch and many others had a big hand in every facet from materials to building, production and manufacture including going to Japan for long stretch's to get them on board.

Phil_gretz

My wife and I lived in Irvine back in the 1980s, and we rode the Back Bay loop, across Lido Island, to Newport Beach as our local beach trip. Irvine to the east was orange groves (ah, the scent of the blossoms) and the roads were empty. I remember when Laguna Canyon road was a sleepy one-lane each way route that was perfect for bicycling in either direction.

Anyway, great bike. Carry on.

tendency

Let me know when you want to sell that bike it's a particularly fine example and my size!