# Guerciotti Alan Alloy bike



## george kraushaar (Jan 15, 2007)

Around 1988 I purchased a new Guerciotti aluminum framed bike with the frame by Alan. It had conventional diameter (for the time) red adonized tubes glued into silver alloy lugs. In fact there's a picture of one just like it in a thread on aluminum frames over in the frame section of this forum. It was all 105 with downtube click shift. Even the fork was alloy.

The bike had a wonderful ride, although many claim it to be too whippy. Since mine was a smaller frame (52cm?) I didn't notice it to much. I rode the bike seriously for a year or to and then traded it off for two acoustic guitars. It is said that small diameter alloy frames don't really have a long life expectancy, although I never had a probelsm with mine.

I thought that bike was one of the prettiest I've ever owned. If I could get alhold of one in good condition, I'd probaby jump at the chance.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

I love the lugged aluminum bikes of that era...The Vitus and Alan frames are some of the smoothest riding frames ever made


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## Nielly (Sep 21, 2009)

I saw an allen this summer of the same type and vintage ony with carbon tubes, all campy record. It was all original right down to the pedals. Guy said that he bought it in Italy during a trip. Very cool looking bike and I was surprised that they used carbon tubes back then. I would have loved to take it for a spin.


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## bane (Aug 30, 2006)

I have a buddy that rides a vitus. He weighs about 220-240 lbs.

That thing SWAYS when he's climbing.

Cool bike though. He gets all kinds of compliments on it.


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## deadlegs2 (Oct 3, 2009)

That's probably my bike you mentioned.. I don't think it is whippy...Mine is a 52 ,,,now a bigger size might be..I think you can induce some flex in the fork before actually twisting the frame..The cyclecross version of that bike was very popular in europe so that should speak for something. I weigh 145,,weighed 125 when I rode it a lot.. What any bike does under a 185lb rider doesn't concern me..


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## zriggle (Apr 16, 2008)

deadlegs2 said:


> That's probably my bike you mentioned.. I don't think it is whippy...Mine is a 52 ,,,now a bigger size might be..I think you can induce some flex in the fork before actually twisting the frame..The cyclecross version of that bike was very popular in europe so that should speak for something. I weigh 145,,weighed 125 when I rode it a lot.. What any bike does under a 185lb rider doesn't concern me..


DO WANT.


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## deadlegs2 (Oct 3, 2009)

How Bad?


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## george kraushaar (Jan 15, 2007)

That's just what I want and just my size. Maybe we can get a bidding war started. If you are serious about possiby selling this bike, let me know.


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## deadlegs2 (Oct 3, 2009)

I'm not serious..I will be riding that bike for the foreseeable future.. Of course if you have a spare Master X Light laying around I'd be willing to trade..


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## DonCordier (Jul 10, 2008)

*AlAn & Vitus - Generl Ramblings...*

*Hi All,*

*I missed these posts until today.*

*I have had my AlAn (yes, that is the correct way to spell the name as it stands for Aluminum Alloy) since new in 1988/89 and have put more than 60,000 miles (to date) on this great machine.*

*Mine is an AlAn "Record 386" and is a "60" frameset. I weigh 180 + minimal riding gear and will confirm that the bike can get a bit laterally unstable ("whippy" or "lose" as some describe the action) if one is moving at or above forty mph and rides over a bit of rough or uneven pavement or should hit any debris.*

*A couple of interesting items about the Italian company is that they made the beautiful Aluminum lugs for many of the manufacturers during that time including "Vitus". Also their tubes were "Glued" (bonded) AND "Screwed" (a sort of threading) into the mating lugs and not just bonded.*

*When I first started riding this bike, many people claimed these bikes would "de-laminate" (separate) or "crack" but that has not ever been even the slightest bit of a problem.*

*Previous to this bike, I owned many other bikes including a beautiful "Vitus" which is also extremely lightweight, all aluminum with AlAn lugs and the buyers choice of "no color" (clear anodized aluminum) or very well anodized (and beautiful color choices). These were alost identical to the AlAn but did not feature the "screwed" portion of the bonding of tubes into the lugs. Regardless, they did not have any problem either. Later they made the same bike as mine but with carbon tubes. It is really a terrific ride and beautiful just to view with the style of carbon tubing of that era!!!*

*BTW - My frameset was originally intended for "Cyclo Cross" competiton.*

*I would insert a couple of images (I've re-worked the bars "slightly" since these were taken) but the AlAn remains essentially unchanged, however, I cannot figure out how to post the images in this message.*

*I anyone wants images, please e-mail me and I will send some to the requestor.*

*Regards,*

*Don Cordier*


george kraushaar said:


> Around 1988 I purchased a new Guerciotti aluminum framed bike with the frame by Alan. It had conventional diameter (for the time) red adonized tubes glued into silver alloy lugs. In fact there's a picture of one just like it in a thread on aluminum frames over in the frame section of this forum. It was all 105 with downtube click shift. Even the fork was alloy.
> 
> The bike had a wonderful ride, although many claim it to be too whippy. Since mine was a smaller frame (52cm?) I didn't notice it to much. I rode the bike seriously for a year or to and then traded it off for two acoustic guitars. It is said that small diameter alloy frames don't really have a long life expectancy, although I never had a probelsm with mine.
> 
> I thought that bike was one of the prettiest I've ever owned. If I could get alhold of one in good condition, I'd probaby jump at the chance.


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## george kraushaar (Jan 15, 2007)

I recently saw a red Guerciotti for sale in Craigslist. It had Camp and the owner had lowered it to $350. Unfortunately, it was a 57 cm, certainly a couple of sizes too big. I'm not going to buy bikes for myself if they aren't the right size, even if they are a screaming deal.


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## caterham (Nov 7, 2005)

DonCordier said:


> *A couple of interesting items about the Italian company is that they made the beautiful Aluminum lugs for many of the manufacturers during that time including "Vitus".*


just a correction- the Vitus frames were built by a cosortium of french companies- coordinated & subsidized with the assistance of the french gov't. Vitus designed and supplied the aluminum tubesets and overall design specifications, Bador was responsible for assembly and CLB produced the lugs,bottom bracket,dropouts fork crown and bridges. AlAn was not involved in the Vitus/Bador project at all.


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## Jimmy D (Apr 27, 2006)

*Red Guerc Crosser*

I have a red cyclocross Alan, 59cm. I weigh 175 and at times it feels a little soft and if I get on the front brake real hard I'll get some shudder from the fork. I still love the thing. With 34mm cross nobbies it's great on the local single track and with 32mm road tires, I can easily ride it all day. It's light and smooth, the only time it feels soft is when I ride my 78 Raleigh Pro. My Alan is easily my favorite ride.


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## seb75 (Mar 19, 2012)

*ALAN road bikes+cracking*

Hey , so i just wanted to give everybody a heads up, i was riding my ALAN bike(just the standar silver one with Weinmann and suntour parts) yesterday, i love it to bits, as they say its a smooth ride, its true they are smooth rides,

HOWEVER whilst i was on my heaviest gear yesterday just having a friendly race with my brother, the down tube fell out of the lug at the neck and so my ALAN frame fell apart, and i, ended up with the worst knee injuries in my LIFE haha!, i yelled at my brother asking DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN to reassure myself from the shock. Prior to this event i did remember those crackling squeaky noise, i honestly thought it was coming from the handlebars. OH WELL! Can no longer walk, probably be this way for the rest of the week!

Hope you guys take that into consideration


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## vxpro (Apr 4, 2008)

Nielly said:


> I saw an allen this summer of the same type and vintage ony with carbon tubes, all campy record. It was all original right down to the pedals. Guy said that he bought it in Italy during a trip. Very cool looking bike and I was surprised that they used carbon tubes back then. I would have loved to take it for a spin.


I have one of those. Pics can be found in the "Show us your Italian Bikes" thread. It's funny seeing those little 1" carbon tubes!


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## killerzoey (Jul 15, 2012)

*Want mine?*

I have this bike and am trying to sell it. I rode it as a teenager. I LOVED this bike but alas don't live where I can safely ride anymore. If you're interested, please e-mail me.

Jamie Walker

I'm a new user so it's not letting me post my e-mail. If you can decipher this, my e-mail is:

jamie (dot) walker (dot) 808 (at) gmail (dot) com

and phone is (also text)
eight oh eight - two eight zero - eight one eight eight

Thanks!


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## DonCordier (Jul 10, 2008)

killerzoey said:


> I have this bike and am trying to sell it. I rode it as a teenager. I LOVED this bike but alas don't live where I can safely ride anymore. If you're interested, please e-mail me.
> 
> Jamie Walker
> 
> ...


*Hi Jamie,

I located at least two of your websites. I also deciphered and called your number and left a message on your Voice mail but as of this moment, I have not had a response from you.

I am interested in your bike as I have a 1989 ALAN Record 386 that I have had since new and on which I have accumulated more than 70,000 miles.

I intend to be in the office all day. Please call me at one of the numbers included in my signature file and we can discuss a possible acquisition on my behalf.

Regards,

Don Cordier*


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