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Magnesium frame ? 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:08 pm Reply with quote
nicolas
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 543
Location: Paris, France


Thought you might find this interesting...

Was on sale on ebay for 500€...I'm not interested myself but I was curious about that frame.

Any clues ?

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mysterious....... 
PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:32 am Reply with quote
Paul Wiseman
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 584
Location: Brisbane, Australia
The white decal on the seat tube looks suspiciously like the "Alan" badge..........

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Wisey
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1974 Paris - Nice
1985 Defi
1985 Victoire
1985 Victoire (yes, another one!)
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Re: mysterious....... 
PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:33 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
Paul Wiseman wrote:
The white decal on the seat tube looks suspiciously like the "Alan" badge..........


It looks like an early Alan to me too.

These were "screwed & glued" frames made in Italy and sold by a lot of different bike manufacturers who put their decals on them.

It's made of aluminum tubing not magnesium. There was a bike with a cast magnesium frame that was marketed briefly in the mid 1970s.

Chas.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:47 pm Reply with quote
sandranian
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
Alan made those, as did Vitus, which Gitane also badged and sold. The reason there aren't many around today is because of the fact that they were glued and screwed: They had an annoying tendency to rattle apart after a while. That isn't to say that there are some good quality Alan and Vitus framesets out there, but they were known for that.

Interesting bike, anyhow, because I was unaware of them existing before 1980 (I don't know much about them, though). I really wonder if those decals weren't added, or if that was a team bike that someone rebadged because they wanted a lighter "climbing" bike. I will look again at the picture to see if this theory makes any sense at all......

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Stephan Andranian
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:51 pm Reply with quote
sandranian
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
It is all campy with a Cinelli Unicanitor saddle, so it was a quality bike. The bar, stem, bar tape and levers were added at some time afterwards (or so it appears). But it is all Campagnolo Nuovo Record, so a fine bike, ans something that someone who wanted a "climbing bike" would want, because it was probably a few pounds lighter than the 531 frameset. I am intrigued by this frameset, as it is in French racing blue and has the team decals and top of the line components.

Very nice find, Nicolas!

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:42 am Reply with quote
nicolas
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 543
Location: Paris, France
Just a small detail : the actual owner lives in the pyrenees, which explains the need for a lighter frame...

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:21 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
sandranian wrote:
Alan made those, as did Vitus, which Gitane also badged and sold. The reason there aren't many around today is because of the fact that they were glued and screwed: They had an annoying tendency to rattle apart after a while. That isn't to say that there are some good quality Alan and Vitus framesets out there, but they were known for that.

Interesting bike, anyhow, because I was unaware of them existing before 1980 (I don't know much about them, though). I really wonder if those decals weren't added, or if that was a team bike that someone rebadged because they wanted a lighter "climbing" bike. I will look again at the picture to see if this theory makes any sense at all......


I had to do some web searches to jar my memory a little. For years I thought the Alan and Vitus were the same frames - maybe in the beginning?

I estimate that this is a very early Alan frame. Notice the screw holes for the brake bridge and chainstay reinforcements. I'm guessing that the Alan frames came out about 1977 and the Vitus frames a few years later.

A few guys had them in NM in the mid 1970s. They rode like spaghetti.
Chas.
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Gitane Record 1866 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:38 am Reply with quote
sandranian
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
That would seem to match the decals, which are circa 1976-77. I should have looked at the catalogues first! Just looked at the 1978 catalogue, and Gitane offered that exact bike - the Record 1866. I would not be surprised if this one is the 1977 version of the Record 1866.

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Magnesium frame ? 
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