Alan project update. Campagnolo why the weird sizes!

Nearly there with the Alan.

Most of the refurbing and fitting together is now complete. Had a short hold up when I discovered that the cable anchors for the Campag Delta brakes use a 3.5mm allen key. Why would anyone choose that as a size to use!! I then discovered that the Victory chainset uses a 7mm key for the crank bolt. The choice of wonky sizes by Campag was surely a willful swipe at the home mechanic. Luckily I've got a really decent toolshop nearby so it turned out that getting the right keys was just a short ride away.

I had a bit of a dilemma over what to do with the gear cable run on the bottom bracket. From new the cables run direct on to the shell through small guides with no protection for the delicate aluminium. Over time the cables run score marks on to the shell. I toyed with the idea of putting a new plastic guide on but the original guides fouled up with it and it would have meant cutting them off. In the end I settled for small teflon tubes. The tubes seem to hold themselves in place ok and are stopped from lateral movement by the angle of the cable and the original guides.

Not a lot more to do now than adjust and polish.

Campagnolo Delta brake showing that annoying 3.5mm
allen head anchor bolt.

Campagnolo Delta brake. Over-engineered, over-complicated,
beautifully made and a joy to behold.

Campagnolo Victory chainset with odd 7mm crank bolt.

Bottom bracket cable run showing teflon sleeves. Not the
most elegant solution I will confess but one which works
and doesn't involve modification to the frame.

1990 Alan project coming on

The Alan project is slowly nearing completion. Sourcing components has taken a while, mainly because it is easy to get carried away and spend top money to accumulate everything needed in a rush. As the plan for the bike is for it to be fully Campagnolified I've taken it easy and bought when I've seen the right part for the right price.

Since the last post on the project a pair of Delta brakes have been sourced which cost the same as the frame but were a must have. I've gone for a Triomphe rear mech just because I find them the prettiest mech of the period. Campag aero seatposts in the unusual Alan size of 25mm are always available but generally costly which is probably why most Alan frames are sold without them... 

The bars and stem are Cinelli as that really felt like the only brand that could compliment the project. The stem is an XA, I just love the wedge mechanism for clamping the bars. Just a chainset (anyone out there got a reasonable Croce d'Aune one going for a fair price?) and a Rolls titanium saddle to find now.

The Alan, mostly there now.

Campag delta brakes. Beautiful.

Cinelli bars and stem the only choice.

Just finishing touches required now.

Campagnolo Triomphe rear mech. A boxy squarish kind of beauty.

1990 Alan frame

My cycle projects to date have been machines from before my time. This one though is a big nostalgia trip. A cycle that was too exotic for my teenage pocket but which I now don't really have the fitness to do justice to!

As purchased the Alan was a bare frame with Campag bottom bracket and headset. The plan is to build it up fully Campaged out with Cinelli bars and stem and Rolls saddle, all representing the best of what was around at the time. I'm hoping for some delta brakes but am currently baulking at the price, perhaps Monoplaners will do.

The late eighties / early nineties componentry represents for me Campagnolo at the peak of their powers. The manufacture and finish of each piece is exquisite, anyone who takes any interest in engineering cannot fail but to be moved by their beauty. The period was a time when metallurgy was highly advanced but price was not squeezed so heavily by the competition of mass production techniques. Components are polished to a mirror finish rather than annodized and the logo is etched rather than printed. Poetry!

So far I've sourced a pair of wheels with Croce D'Aune hubs and Graphite rims, a front mech and new old stock levers. This build is going to take a while, gonna have to spread the cost to take the pain away! 

1990 Alan frameset. Hard to photograph, so very shiny!

Sheer beauty. Campagnolo Triomphe new old stock friction
levers.

Croce D'Aune hubs.

Triomphe braze on front mech.

The Alan aero top tube. Not too sure why they did this. Looks
good though.