Who remembers alan's bonded aluminium frames from the 90's?

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Who remembers alan's bonded aluminium frames from the 90's?

17 posts & 14 voices | Started 4 months ago by iridebikes | Latest reply from cynic-al

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iridebikes - Member

Ive recently built up a previously unused cyclocross frame from 1995, but i don't really know alot about it. Did anyone have one? what are they like in terms of reliabilty etc?
The frame is quite similar to this

[url=http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=alan+cyclocross&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&biw=1440&bih=809&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=obF23kR_-_Bp4M:&imgrefurl=http://james.architectureburger.com/cycle/alan.html&docid=FKOGX2FDeHCKzM&imgurl=http://james.architectureburger.com/cycle/bin/alan02.jpg&w=1000&h=748&ei=3KEQT6LnIYej8gPhp9nXAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=956&vpy=188&dur=738&hovh=194&hovw=260&tx=112&ty=95&sig=111929146382928892070&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=196&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0]Frame![/url]

Posted 4 months ago #
iridebikes - Member

ah, i cant work these url things

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=alan+cyclocross&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&biw=1440&bih=809&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=obF23kR_-_Bp4M:&imgrefurl=http://james.architectureburger.com/cycle/alan.html&docid=FKOGX2FDeHCKzM&imgurl=http://james.architectureburger.com/cycle/bin/alan02.jpg&w=1000&h=748&ei=3KEQT6LnIYej8gPhp9nXAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=956&vpy=188&dur=738&hovh=194&hovw=260&tx=112&ty=95&sig=111929146382928892070&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=196&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

Posted 4 months ago #
tonyg2003 - Member

Remember them? I had a 8 tube carbon Alan. A very comfy bike to ride with possibly the scariest fork ever fitted to a bike! The alu steerers just weren't stiff enough.

Posted 4 months ago #
pinkyponk - Member

I had an Alan MTB frame in the 90's. It had bare carbon main tubes bonded into alloy lugs. I cant remember much about it, other than it rode ok. I seem to remember an issue with the rear v brake bosses on the frame and a warranty claim that didnt go well.
not really much help that was it !

Posted 4 months ago #
iridebikes - Member

haha, i have some aluminium kinesis forks on it at the moment, the ammount of flex when i brake is ridiculous, i can see the axle of the wheel moving backwards and forwards. This may be something that i have to change, as its not very confidence inspiring

Posted 4 months ago #
saleem - Member

I had one, all aluminum tubes which were anodized red with polished, lovely to look at, the fecker who bought it wanted to pay in installments but never gave me all the cash, the tube popped out of the lug while he was sprinting lol, that was priceless:-)

Posted 4 months ago #
fasthaggis - Member

Sheldon on Alan

I have a (road)frame in the attic and will be building it up for some single speed commuting in the spring. It was my first road bike and is still a light thing even by today's standards.The alu forks could be a bit scary so they have long gone,but the frame tubes (bonded) are still holding together (for now)

Posted 4 months ago #
toys19 - Member

I dunno about Alan, but Mrs Toys19 has a giant from the early 90s which is an alu alloy bonded frame. V nice it is too, and it still goes. And you know them Lotus thingies got glued together..

Posted 4 months ago #
martinxyz - Member

lol saleem, i was going to text you to let you know about this thread. I wonder where the bike is now?

Posted 4 months ago #
oldgit - Member

There were light and pretty, more common in the eighties. There were many stories about them becoming unbonded, but the seat bolt was the biggest PITA.

Posted 4 months ago #
IanMunro - Member

Not quite the same, but I used to have a vitus 979. Bronze tubes, alloy lugs, the most beautiful thing I'd ever possessed. So bright and shiny that it would burn your eyes on a summers day.

Bit of a shame when the bottom bracket lug came off on hitting a pot-hole

Posted 4 months ago #
globalti - Member

Didn't Trek have one? The lugs were bright orange, if I recall.

Here, the 8700, found it. I rode one and it was absolutely as stiff as a board.

Posted 4 months ago #
Blazin-saddles - Member

Alan along with Vitus were about the only 2 'performance' cross frames you could get in the eighties and nineties.

I had several, my 1st was the red anodised Topcross and last, the carbon tubed Topcross. Fast comfy bikes, comfy because they were so flexy the back wheel scarcely ever went in the same direction as the front, I swear you could physically feel the wheelbase getting longer as you went over the ground! and god, those forks, don't ever want to stop in a hurry is all I'll say!

Posted 4 months ago #
Digger90 - Member

Agree with all the comments - I have a fond memoery of my mid-90s Alan Cyclocross bike - wet noodle flexy, scary forks, bond separation, heartache.

Tbh, it really was just plain old sh1t.

Posted 4 months ago #
iridebikes - Member

All these stories of tubes popping out etc is starting to worry me. Maybe I would be better off selling it to some trendy kid in london and buying something more 'traditional'?

Posted 4 months ago #
goldenwonder - Member

Lugged Alan 'cross bikes can still be seen at races most weekends. Not common, but they are still out there being used properly.

Posted 4 months ago #
cynic-al - Member

One word:

POS.

Posted 4 months ago #

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