wrk101

Long time MIA, spent the last year remodeling my workshop and making it our family home. So I now don't have a workshop. OK, I do have half of a garage, but thats a lot different than the 1200 sq ft workshop I enjoyed.

Anyway, I have already whittled down a lot of my stuff, but I have plenty left to go. I'll be posting stuff one at a time, don't want to overload my capacity to pack and ship.

First up is this interesting Allegro. Made in Switzerland, Swiss threaded BB. Campy drop outs. I'm guessing about 1975 +/-. Maybe older, I don't know. a 26.6mm seat post fits smoothly.

Plenty of chips and scrapes. No dents. Paint is aged for sure. Weighed in at 6.52 pounds.

If you want to know shipping, I ship from 28786 zip code, 20 pounds (mostly cardboard), 9 x 25 x 40 box. Check your favorite shipper. I add $10 for packing materials.

I am a well known over packer on bikes, wheels and frames. Overkill beats under-kill.

I check messages on my FB bike page. I'll give this one a week, if no interest, on to fleece bay.


$125 + $10 pack + actual postage. Big discount for pickup!

3speedslow

I will second on his statement about pack job! Very well done!

GLWS.

Nice to see you posting again Bill.

wrk101

Just sold two frame sets over on fleece bay, so I'm out of boxes. I'll try to get some Monday or Tuesday.

bikemig 

Good to have you back. Neat frame. GLWS.

rustystrings61 

Thanks for posting this one - I've already added it to the Allegro database I've been working on for a while. It has one unusual feature - Bocama Professional lugs at the head, but the seat lug appears to be a Model 14 Type II. I don't recall seeing that combination on any other Allegro I've looked at.

They're fun bikes with a lovely gliding quality to them. GLWS!

romperrr 

Do we have any idea what the tubing might be? Campy dropouts point to something good...

wrk101

From my cursory research, I think it is Reynolds 531, but I am not sure.

bikemig 

do you have a guess as to the year? 60s? 70s? This bike is my size but I’m trying to avoid new projects plus swiss bottom brackets are not easy to source.

rustystrings61 

Between what Craig Griffiths has said and what my data collection points to, I would say 1974 or 1975. Yours appears to be a variant of the no. 76 Schweizermeister. Yours, like mine (no. 241247), is full metric-gauge Reynolds 531 frame, forks, stays, but it's either the nicer .9-.6-.9 stuff or its the conventional 1.0-.7-1.0 stuff like the French used, but more aggressively reamed out. I vote for the former. Allegro appears to have used Nervex Professional lugs for ALL of this series bikes until c.1961, when they switched to Bocama Model 14 type II lugs. Around 1974 or 1975 they switched over to the plainer Bocama Professional lugs like yours has on the head tube. The geometry on these frames stayed pretty constant for a long time - Allegro's racing bikes from the '30s look like they have the same angles, just different lugs and dropouts.

Allegro marketed all-531 bikes in a full Campagnolo Record variant; a "B" grade with Stronglight 93 cranks, Weinmann centerpulls, and a Stronglight V4 headset with the steerer cut for its shorter stack height; and a listed but not illustrated "C" version with lesser parts, Weinmann 500 sidepulls, and the steerer cut for a Stronglight P3 headset. Check your headset stack height, but I suspect yours is the same as mine, a "C" type for a P3 headset.

I keep thinking I should sell mine, but then I take it down and look at it and hang it back up to keep. Whenever I make time to ride it, I always love how smoothly it handles bad road surfaces. I really should replace my chainrings with smaller ones and ride it more. It's a lot like a French bike, but with a little greater attention to detail.

bikemig 

This is great information. I read some of your other posts on Allegros and they are very informative. If the steerer is cut for a stronglight p3, it will be tough to source a replacement as this is a low stack headset (plus the swiss threaded BB won't be easy to source either). I managed to piece together a P3 for a Mercier 300 but it was not easy.

rustystrings61 

I had the same problem, as a previous owner had hamfisted 80% of an Italian Campagnolo Record headset onto mine, and had milled the crown down for a 26.4 mm race. I wound up purchasing an inexpensive Tange headset off the 'bay and using the lower half of that with the top half of a basic budget steel Motobecane headset. Chas. Colerich/verktyg wrote somewhere that Motobecane's steel headsets were O.E.M. made by Stronglight (!), and in my case it fits and works and was much cheaper than buying a vintage P3. It's an option to consider.

The BB would require patience, but they're out there, just not super plentiful. Unless you went with a threadless unit, which might not be a bad thing. This particular Allegro would be a great one for hot-rodding, and I wouldn't be too hung up on any particular parts mix. Mine is mostly period correct, but that's just me.

bikemig 

Right, piecing together a headset is your best option since headset tops are easier to find in decent shape than the bottoms. I was lucky enough to find a P3 bottom cup in good shape or I would have done what you did for my Mercier. Assuming they're in stock, IRD has swiss threaded cups for its sealed units. It is also possible to ream out the BB and thread it for Italian.

unworthy1

Or give it a quality Phil Wood BB with Swiss "rings" which Phil made for years. It will probably last longer than most of us will. I have to agree: the ride of my Allegro is as smooth and comfortable as they come, GLWS!

wrk101

No idea on exact year. Came to me exactly as you see it here. Based on S#, I am guessing 1975. Certainly with no bottle bosses and no rear brake cables guides, its before 1980.

OK I will let everyone in on a secret, Motobecane LOVED Swiss BB. So all of my Swiss BB have come in the form of a Motobecane. They also loved Japanese components. So you will find decent to desirable Japanese derailleurs, cranksets, and BB. And French sized Japanese stems too. I will buy any Motobecane I see as long as it doesn't have a cottered crank. 75% + of the time, it will have Swiss BB. I've seen them on MBs from about 1978 to 1982, probably longer than that.

So when I grab a MB, I will have a forged Japanese stem in a French OD, nice Japanese crankset, nice Suntour derailleur set, and a Japanese BB with either French or Swiss threading. Check out the dog pile at your local co-op!

Imagine you see a neglected MB for $50. Lets see, Suntour V derailleur set, forged SR stem (French OD), SR Apex or similar crankset, French or Swiss BB. Of all the French boom bikes, I like MB as they tended to not have the crappy Simplex plastic derailleurs, and didn't have the death stems either. There are exceptions, but you get the idea.

wrk101

One day left. Someone is going to like this!!


bill

wrk101

OK, this one goes to that other place. Thanks for the comments!

Bill

wrk101

Up on the "bay" today.