A friend of mine has, among his many bikes, a nice Alan frame. IIRC, the
frame dates from perhaps 1990. Sorry, I don't know the model. He
acquired it when the original owner, another good friend, passed away.
I remember test riding it briefly when it was new. In fact, I recall a
lack of rigidity, such that in a sprint, I could see and hear the chain
scraping alternate sides of the Campy front derailleur.

Anyway: The current owner said he recently heard that Alan front forks
were prone to breaking. Perhaps not as bad as the ancient Viscount fork,
but still risky. I've never heard that, and searching online didn't
reveal any significant problem.

Does anyone here (i.e. Andrew) have any experience or definite knowledge
about this?

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 8/5/2023 7:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
> A friend of mine has, among his many bikes, a nice Alan
> frame. IIRC, the frame dates from perhaps 1990. Sorry, I
> don't know the model. He acquired it when the original
> owner, another good friend, passed away. I remember test
> riding it briefly when it was new. In fact, I recall a lack
> of rigidity, such that in a sprint, I could see and hear the
> chain scraping alternate sides of the Campy front derailleur.
>
> Anyway: The current owner said he recently heard that Alan
> front forks were prone to breaking. Perhaps not as bad as
> the ancient Viscount fork, but still risky. I've never heard
> that, and searching online didn't reveal any significant
> problem.
>
> Does anyone here (i.e. Andrew) have any experience or
> definite knowledge about this?
>

I don't have specific knowledge.

I have not seen a failed Alan fork but they do break at some
low but measurable rate. Not more than other bonded aluminum
forks anyway. I know a couple of customers riding 50 year
old Alans with original fork BTW.

p.s. The Viscount product suffered from casting voids which
is a different thing from rolled aluminum tube.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 7:33:32 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
> On 8/5/2023 7:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
> > A friend of mine has, among his many bikes, a nice Alan
> > frame. IIRC, the frame dates from perhaps 1990. Sorry, I
> > don't know the model. He acquired it when the original
> > owner, another good friend, passed away. I remember test
> > riding it briefly when it was new. In fact, I recall a lack
> > of rigidity, such that in a sprint, I could see and hear the
> > chain scraping alternate sides of the Campy front derailleur.
> >
> > Anyway: The current owner said he recently heard that Alan
> > front forks were prone to breaking. Perhaps not as bad as
> > the ancient Viscount fork, but still risky. I've never heard
> > that, and searching online didn't reveal any significant
> > problem.
> >
> > Does anyone here (i.e. Andrew) have any experience or
> > definite knowledge about this?
> >
> I don't have specific knowledge.
>
> I have not seen a failed Alan fork but they do break at some
> low but measurable rate. Not more than other bonded aluminum
> forks anyway. I know a couple of customers riding 50 year
> old Alans with original fork BTW.
>
> p.s. The Viscount product suffered from casting voids which
> is a different thing from rolled aluminum tube.
>
>
> --
> Andrew Muzi
> <www.yellowjersey.org/>
> Open every day since 1 April, 1971

One of the guys that rides with me has a 50 year old Vitus which is the same thing and he hasn't even had particularly bad flex problems.

On 8/6/2023 9:57 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
> On Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 7:33:32 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>> On 8/5/2023 7:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>>> A friend of mine has, among his many bikes, a nice Alan
>>> frame. IIRC, the frame dates from perhaps 1990. Sorry, I
>>> don't know the model. He acquired it when the original
>>> owner, another good friend, passed away. I remember test
>>> riding it briefly when it was new. In fact, I recall a lack
>>> of rigidity, such that in a sprint, I could see and hear the
>>> chain scraping alternate sides of the Campy front derailleur.
>>>
>>> Anyway: The current owner said he recently heard that Alan
>>> front forks were prone to breaking. Perhaps not as bad as
>>> the ancient Viscount fork, but still risky. I've never heard
>>> that, and searching online didn't reveal any significant
>>> problem.
>>>
>>> Does anyone here (i.e. Andrew) have any experience or
>>> definite knowledge about this?
>>>
>> I don't have specific knowledge.
>>
>> I have not seen a failed Alan fork but they do break at some
>> low but measurable rate. Not more than other bonded aluminum
>> forks anyway. I know a couple of customers riding 50 year
>> old Alans with original fork BTW.
>>
>> p.s. The Viscount product suffered from casting voids which
>> is a different thing from rolled aluminum tube.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Andrew Muzi
>> <www.yellowjersey.org/>
>> Open every day since 1 April, 1971
>
> One of the guys that rides with me has a 50 year old Vitus which is the same thing and he hasn't even had particularly bad flex problems.
>

It's not quite the same thing except 'made of aluminum'.

Vitus 979 has several technical advances over the 10 years
older Alan design not the least of which is a much stronger
fork blade to crown joint. Still, Alan's fork seems
adequate even if less than ideal, noting 979 forks are
significantly lighter.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 8/6/2023 11:54 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> On 8/6/2023 9:57 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
>> On Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 7:33:32 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>>> On 8/5/2023 7:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>>>> A friend of mine has, among his many bikes, a nice Alan
>>>> frame. IIRC, the frame dates from perhaps 1990. Sorry, I
>>>> don't know the model. He acquired it when the original
>>>> owner, another good friend, passed away. I remember test
>>>> riding it briefly when it was new. In fact, I recall a lack
>>>> of rigidity, such that in a sprint, I could see and hear the
>>>> chain scraping alternate sides of the Campy front derailleur.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway: The current owner said he recently heard that Alan
>>>> front forks were prone to breaking. Perhaps not as bad as
>>>> the ancient Viscount fork, but still risky. I've never heard
>>>> that, and searching online didn't reveal any significant
>>>> problem.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone here (i.e. Andrew) have any experience or
>>>> definite knowledge about this?
>>>>
>>> I don't have specific knowledge.
>>>
>>> I have not seen a failed Alan fork but they do break at some
>>> low but measurable rate. Not more than other bonded aluminum
>>> forks anyway. I know a couple of customers riding 50 year
>>> old Alans with original fork BTW.
>>>
>>> p.s. The Viscount product suffered from casting voids which
>>> is a different thing from rolled aluminum tube.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Andrew Muzi
>>> <www.yellowjersey.org/>
>>> Open every day since 1 April, 1971
>>
>> One of the guys that rides with me has a 50 year old Vitus which is
>> the same thing and he hasn't even had particularly bad flex problems.
>>
>
> It's not quite the same thing except 'made of aluminum'.
>
> Vitus 979 has several technical advances over the 10 years older Alan
> design not the least of which is a much stronger fork blade to crown
> joint.  Still, Alan's fork seems adequate even if less than ideal,
> noting 979 forks are significantly lighter.

OK, thanks. I'll pass this along.

--
- Frank Krygowski