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Road Test/Bike Review (1985) ALAN Carbonio

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Road Test/Bike Review (1985) ALAN Carbonio

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Old 02-16-22, 05:29 PM
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SpeedofLite 
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Road Test/Bike Review (1985) ALAN Carbonio











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Old 02-16-22, 06:07 PM
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Boy, it would be interesting to see how this compares to a standard aluminum Alan! Weight, stiffness, etc. If the carbon tubes still have aluminum sleeves at the ends, it doesn't seem likely to have dropped too much weight relative to the aluminum models.

Steve in Peoria
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Old 02-16-22, 10:45 PM
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Thnk you very much for posting this article!
It's not often when one comes across such for one's own C&V bike.


Interesting that supposedly only 150 Carbonios were imported into the US??
I'm almost sure there must have been more of these sold in the States.
I wonder if those were numbers for whole bikes or just framesets......

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Old 02-16-22, 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Chombi1
Thnk you very much for posting this article!
It's not often when one comes across such for one's own C&V bike.


Interesting that supposedly only 150 Carbonuos were imported into the US??
I'm almost sure there must have been more of these sold in the States.
I wonder if those were numbers for whole bikes or just framesets......
Great photo!
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Old 02-17-22, 02:08 AM
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Did you buy this new or was it a refurb? Looks unridden as is
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Old 02-17-22, 04:31 AM
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Originally Posted by JSL
Did you buy this new or was it a refurb? Looks unridden as is
Built it up from close to NOS frameset about 5 years ago. Just finished it when I took the pic.
build weight ended up around 18 pounds.
It rides just like described in the article. My best handling bike. Handling can be described as almost "telepathic". It feels like you just think your way into turns without any twitchyness. Always stable at any speed. It does not feel that flexy at all though, maybe because mine is a 56 and they tested a 58....., so maybe just a bit stiffer than the bike tested. But I'm also more into spinning and motoring fast on flats than mashing up big hills......
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Old 02-17-22, 05:01 AM
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Very well done. Congrats
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Old 02-17-22, 05:05 AM
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I did not have the Alan but did have a Vitus Carbonne 9 with C Record and all the lightest parts possible, it was just right at 17 pounds. It was a good century road bike, but an unreliable design. The bonding failed but more importantly the aluminum bits used on the seatpost were stupid. But, it was nice while it lasted.
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Old 02-17-22, 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by steelbikeguy
Boy, it would be interesting to see how this compares to a standard aluminum Alan! Weight, stiffness, etc. If the carbon tubes still have aluminum sleeves at the ends, it doesn't seem likely to have dropped too much weight relative to the aluminum models.

Steve in Peoria
400 grs according to this,
a catalogue from some years later shows models with internal cable handling, a difference from 350 grs.

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Old 02-17-22, 01:33 PM
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Old 02-17-22, 01:38 PM
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
I did not have the Alan but did have a Vitus Carbonne 9 with C Record and all the lightest parts possible, it was just right at 17 pounds. It was a good century road bike, but an unreliable design. The bonding failed but more importantly the aluminum bits used on the seatpost were stupid. But, it was nice while it lasted.
Here's my Vitus Plus Carbone 7. It's my ongoing C&V CF weight weenie experiment at just over 16 pounds......
I think I can get it below 16 pounds with changing out the BB to Ti and installing my GEL 280 wheelset on it.
It's a totally different bike from the Carbonio, in terms of ride and handling.....Definitely more flexible....

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Old 02-17-22, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by fabiofarelli
Curuous,....Is the fork steerer tube on your Carbonio aluminum?
I heard that they changed it to steel on some of the forks, midway through the production run because of concerns of it possibly failing under stress.
The one on mine is aluminum and so far holding up with no problems.
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Old 02-18-22, 06:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Chombi1
Here's my Vitus Plus Carbone 7. It's my ongoing C&V CF weight weenie experiment at just over 16 pounds......
I think I can get it below 16 pounds with changing out the BB to Ti and installing my GEL 280 wheelset on it.
It's a totally different bike from the Carbonio, in terms of ride and handling.....Definitely more flexible....
Squares with my Vitus/Alan comparisons.

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Old 02-18-22, 06:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Chombi1
Curuous,....Is the fork steerer tube on your Carbonio aluminum?
I heard that they changed it to steel on some of the forks, midway through the production run because of concerns of it possibly failing under stress.
The one on mine is aluminum and so far holding up with no problems.
This one is aluminium too. I got some loose forks but can't get to it now, I'll check those if I can get back to it, good idea.
If not absolute necessary I keep my hands off the headsets, I try not to change them.
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