ALAN Super Cyclocross

A year ago I had the chance to buy this frame and some parts.
I wasn't in a hurry to complete / rebuild it, I estimated that it would take me at least a year.
Well, after a year, nothing happened. Have looked for proper parts / donor bikes, but without result.

Last week I decided that it was time to make it ridable, at least.
Reason: I want to join SimplexNL classic road bike tour and I don't have a proper bike for that. It would be a posibility to make the Alan CX road ready and modify / upgrade it step by step afterwards.

So, this is how the "bike" looked like before.
Nearly all parts are or will be replaced.
Old stuff like brakes, chain set and saddle have been sold or given away here on LFGSS.

Everything stripped
Cleaned frame and forks
Removed "Giovanni" and "Campagnolo" decals
Polished lugs and other fittings with Belgon. 2nd time will improve it.
Fitted new ALAN decals on D/T, T/T and H/T.

Checked my garage for suitable parts:

• wheels: I have to use a set of tubular wheels with Dura Ace 74xx series. Not period correct, but with SSC and GEL280 rims it has the right image and appearance.
  
• Vittoria Corsa CX road tubulars with tan side walls. Used, but that will do for 1 or a couple of rides.
  
• Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear mech
  
• SunTour bar end shifter: must lay around somewhere. The nice one with the ratchet mechanism.
  
• Headset: I have a lot of junk, but nearly no complete 1" threaded headset. A Campagnolo Record is nearly complete. I may find the missing parts. Then I have another one. I think it's a nice OMAS. I hope that the steerer tube is long enough. Otherwise I may have to use a cheap Shimano set for the time being.
  
• BB-set: first, I have to get the RH cup out. Then, I may use the old Ofmega or a Shimano Cartridge type. All depends on the axle length and what I have laying around.
  
• Cranks: Sugino with single chain ring and double guide plates. My favourite CX setup. Used 2 old 52T rings as guide and a 48T to ride. Will do for the road, but I need something smaller for offroad.
  Need a 3/32" Sugino with 144mm PCD. Ideally 42 or 44T, even 46T will make things better.
  
• Pedals: finally Lyotard alu rattrap pedals with double toeclips and straps, of course. For the moment I will use something I already have for track / road with compatible shoes. Probably Adidas Systeme 3 or just Campagnolo Record Pista with clips and straps.
  
• Seat post: for the time being Record 25.0 from my track bike. Currently is has a Unicanitor saddle fitted, but for the occasion a may replace it with one of the many saddles I have. Something a bit newer. A Turbo maybe.
  
• Stem: I have a nice panto'ed Cinelli with reasonable length. Some other Cinelli and 3ttt stems in various lengths to choose from.
  
• Bars: probably a Cinelli 66-44. Not special, but the ight bars for me and this bike.
  
• Brake levers: unfortunately nothing period correct on hand. Ideally non-aero like Campagnolo Record, Galli, Modolo, Suntour, Shimano, ... I may have to use Dura Ace aero levers BL-74xx.
  
• Cassette: 7 speed or so with the correct spacers and a flat road gear ratio. Something like 12 - 21 or 23.
  
• Chain: whatever fits and looks reasonble.
  
• Bar tape: black or white (preferably). Bike Ribbon or similar.
  
• Brakes: Mafac (criterium?) canti's. What else?
  
  

Challenge: must be ridable by Saturday / Sunday and spend the lowest amount possible.

I couldn't find nice chain guides and the ones I already have (FSA carbon, T.A. aluminium) are too modern for the Alan bike. And I have no period correct 130mm BCD cranks.
But I found some usable 144mm BCD Sugino chain rings that would make a nice combination with the Sugino cranks that I already had.

I am going to use the 2 52T rings as chain guides and run the 48T ring. For proper function and appearance, 44T or 46T would be a lot better, but this must be it for the moment.

First, I used a electric jig saw with metal blade to cut the teeth from the 52 rings, using the transition from ring to teeth as a guide.
Then, smoothened the cut edges with a file and finished it with sandpaper (strips, cloth backed) and very fine steel wool.

It's not perfectly round and the finish is not superb, but I'm quite happy with the result.
I have no direct access to a turning machine. That is the classic method to make guides like this. But the trick with the jig saw works fine.

I love a bit of DIY, well done

Excellent project - great frame, tight timescale and some obscura/exotica too... I've not seen Adidas System 3 for a long while!!
I've got some modolo non-aero's if you're interested - sadly they have no hoods, but I could post tomorrow which may get there in time.
Good luck finding mafac cantis - period alternatives include weinmann and Dia Compe 981

If you struggle to find Bike Ribbon - I think they still do black at CRC http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=27993
Good luck with the project

Thanks for the kind offer, but levers w/o covers don't make sense.
However, I do have a set of Aero Gran Compe rubbers, new, so in that case, it could be nice.

I already have Mafac brakes for 2 bikes, so that is settled.

Bar tape is no issue as well.

At the moment, these are the difficulties:
BB ital. w correct length axle
Headset 1" threaded
Brake levers non-aero with rubbers.
And on long term: proper wheels and tyres.

nice job on the chainring

It took me a whole evening to get the RH BB cup out.
I think it was glued in because of the Ita thread.
Frame and cup slipped off my regular tools, clamped in a bench vice, so I had to make a special tool. Even that one failed, because the BB cup ate into the steels strips of my tool.
Finally, I succeeded with a hardened steel 36mm headsetspanner and a block of solid aluminium, all kept together with a bolt, nut and steel spacers.

Tonight assembly of headset, BB set and chain set.

love this

I'm a victim of my own chaos.
I'm damn sure that I have at least a Suntour bar end shifter , or a Campagnolo, or even both.
All I could find was 2 pcs Shimano SIS bar end shifters.
So sad, because I think I need Suntour and it must be somewhere in a box...

Anyway, O.M.A.S. alu headset and Shimano BB-UN7x installled. I tried an 113 mm axle first, and it's perfect for the cranks.
Even the Cinelli cockpit (14 cm 1A stem with bars 66-44) have been mounted. I have a nice Cinelli panto'ed stem 1A in 11cm, but I think that's really too short. Looks as well as fit. 14cm may look awefully long, but I'm used to that, certainly because my first rides will be on the road and not cx.

Now I have to decide on the saddle, remove the Dura Ace brake levers from my wifes spare road bike (she never uses it anyway, so she won't notice if I swap them for a pair of BL-R600), install Mafac cantis, cassette, chain, cables, pedals and wrap bar tape.
One last polish and cleaning session and off we are.
3 days to go.

Nearly there (but still so far away from the final result)!

Today I bought 2 sets of bar tape ( so I can still choose between black and white),
PC-870 chain
Double sided adhesive tape (for tubulars)
and some paches and glue to repair flat tyres.

Assembled:
Brake levers BL-7402
Mafac cantis
Shimano SIS bar end shifter on the right.

Cantis are still nearly new, with original unused pads and hexagon fixing bolts.
It's all emotion, so nice, but also so terrible.
The good this is, that the fit nicely on the Alan studs. So different for brazed and painted frames.
But for the rest, these brakes have always been a nightmare!
Not straight, no adjustibility, no way you can hold the brake shoe posts when tightening, weak materials, quick corrosion, only open end wrenches fit, poor performance, and so on...
But I love them. And they were cheap in those days...

Then the bar con: unfortunaty, I didn't find my Suntour or Campag, so I was left with my modern Shimano.
When I mounted it, I noticed that I missed a piece. Checked out the exploded view on the Shimano website and saw that it was similar to a piece of a (band type) down tube shifter: the concave spacer betweeen the shifter and the down tube. Luckily I had a new set of 105 shifters where I could borrow a spacer from. Grinded the concave side flat and see: nearly perfect, problem solved.

Then a last crosser's trick: shorten the end of the bars, where the bar con will be mounted by a bit less than an inch. To reduce the risk that you hurt your knee and shift accidentally, when your knee bumps into the bar end. And it makes you shift faster and easier, when riding in the drops. Finally it's lighter, too. Just a few grams , but extremely important for the moral of a crossrider.

To do before the maiden ride on Sunday:
Glue tubulars (easy way with tape, it's just a tour on the road)
Sprockets
Chain
All cables
Adjustment of brakes and rear mech: looks easy, usually take some hours
Wrap bar tape
Test ride
Fine tune
Repeat last 2 steps until the tour starts and live with it...

2 days to go.

I should have mntioned this about the pedals.
Got 1 pc Lyotard cross pedal (cage) and 1 pc toeclip L-size Christophe (cross, double).
So, this is not going to be used yet, as I have 2 legs.
For Sunday I will opt for road pedals and keep on looking for a second piece of pedal and clip for future.

Not decided about the saddle yet.
Unfortunately no drilled Assos or Arius...
Turbo Hinault maybe? Or Concor, like Stamsnijder had.

Put on a saddle (Turbo), brakes Mafac Criterium cantis, and all cables.

Just a pic to show that I'm really making progress (sorry for the poor pic and the speaker cable).
As you can see, it's not that special, just a basic Alan Super CX with obligatory parts.

An extra rainbow sticker, chain, road pedals, white bar tape, a bit of polish, a few more tweaks and were done.

One more day to go...

Awesome diy chain guides, totally impressed!

It's a hobby mechanic's job, but I'm not disappointed.
They wobble a bit, but I think they perform better and last longer than my 2 sets posh carbon FSAs, not to mention the costs.

super nice. I love this. Keep the suede turbo and invest in some fizik microtex suede bartape. The stem is boss!

Thanks!

Saddle is no suede though.

ok worn then? ;-) Like it anyway

Love it - a classic frame put to excellent use

Really want one of these frames now. Great job.

Very nice job on those chainrings, when I tried something similar the result was considerably less successful!

It's ridable now.

Not very happy with the thick white bar tape, the appearance of the pedals on this bike and my photography skills.
But it will do for the weekend.

Bike will be gradually upgraded to a real offroad CX bike.
It may take a while...

Beaut. You should consider lowering the anchor bolts of the cantilevers though. Especially on the front it looks weird.

Some old Dugast og Grifos would look nice on this build

Dugast doesn't make any sense, 'cause I'll be using it for touring, not for competition. Will be Wolber, Clement or maybe period incorrect Challenge.

Straddle wire is long on purpose, to have max. brake shoe to rim (mud) clearance.
I overdid it a bit, maybe. When I put non-aero brake levers on the bike, I may shorten the straddle a bit to the same angle as in the rear.

"mud clearence" + "cause I'll be using it for touring, not for competition."
Does not compute ;-)
Unless you will be touring mud...
Still a nice bike. congrats