# remember a 70s-80s roadbike brand - alpine??



## weps (Feb 2, 2006)

friend of mine just gave me one. he said it was old, so i figured by his standard it was mid 90s or something. but its much older. no braze ons for shifters, cables or anything. lugged frame and very dusty and direty. looked like mostly nuevo record with wide flange hubs from what i could tell.

i'll have it home tonight ot tomorrow for a good cleaning. what do i need to post pics? membership?


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## BobHufford (Jun 9, 2004)

Yeah -- I tried to buy an Alpine trackbike on craigslist just today.

From the CR list:

"Alpine Cycles were a product of Georgetown Cycle and Sport. I believe Alpine might have been started and then GC&S bought them. They were located between Rockville and Bethesda, Maryland in Congressional. Danny Wagner gave us a frame as a prize for a road race that our resort sponsored. It was one of their early frames and left a lot to be desired. The quality and workmanship took a steep climb in a short period of time. There were several folks that worked on the frames during that period....I am not mistaken Danny sold off Alpine Cycles when GC&S closed its doors in I believe in the late '80's or
so.."

"Alpine, Built by Fred Kelly, early to mid 1980s, in the Washington DC area.
Fred Kelly consulted Tom Kellogg when he first started his business. Consequently, Alpine frames have a similar look to early Tom Kellogg frames. Very clean workmanship."

" These were very nice frames built in D.C. or nearby Rockville, Maryland during the '70s through the mid to late 1980s. I don't recall the original frame builder's name but eventually the owner and lead builder was a fellow named Fred Kelly.
You still see a number of them in the D.C. area and every one I've seen (a couple of dozen frames) was nicely made. I've borrowed a couple for test rides and found that their good reputation was well founded.
By the way, in those days if you took a frame into Mel Pinto's shop for a frame repair, it was sent out to Alpine."

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO


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## weps (Feb 2, 2006)

BobHufford said:


> Yeah -- I tried to buy an Alpine trackbike on craigslist just today.
> 
> From the CR list: ....


bob, thanks for all of the info and details! i wasn't finding much on the web at all. although, i do have to admit not being familiar with the CR list? curios and relics??

I've attached a few pics that are consistant with what you say, but this frame has 'made in england'. perhaps it was slightly before they started building their own frames or from the early years.

either way, i'd like to know what you guys think of the bike and what the best course would be. the paint has aged to a nice color which i think would be hard to duplicate. and i do like the brush work around the lugs. however, there is an area of rust and the frame has some scratches which have also oxidized. i'm thinking jsut to remove the reflectors, bottles, the scott bar, and see how it looks after a good cleaning.

eta, i wanted to go back to my original post and update the subject to mention the pics, but couldnt do that. am i missing something?


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## BobHufford (Jun 9, 2004)

Your bike looks great!

That bike I tried to get was picked up by a CR member (for $150) and apparently was also made in England as well. The story was that they were apparently built by Condor, Mercian and other builders before being built over here. Here are the pics of that one.

http://bspencer6.photosite.com/Album2/

The CR is Classic Rendezvous -- a discussion group dedicated to pre-1983 lightweight road bikes (and "keepers of the flame"). They have lots of rules, but also lots of good info.

http://www.bikelist.org/mailman/listinfo/classicrendezvous

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO


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## weps (Feb 2, 2006)

BobHufford said:


> Your bike looks great!


lol..and the one you were going for looks 1000x better. i especially like the wrap on the seat stays. 

it's the same company though, which was good to see. and likely means i'll try to preserve the frame as is and not do any paint work. i didn't have a chance to do anything with it over the weekend, but the frame you showed looked like it had some nicks and scrapes and still cleaned up very nicely. the reynolds decal was almost gone as well. im guessing they used 531 from that era?

i'll see if i can put together some type of blog or gallery of the progress. i think there is a lot of territory with this bike that will be new to me and i'd welcome any advice.


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## BobHufford (Jun 9, 2004)

(Since we have been talking about what we collect besides bikes and where we live, I hope you forgive this one last roadbike post)

Here is probably more than you'll ever want to know about the history of the Alpine marque:

http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=classicrendezvous.10602.1232.eml

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO


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## weps (Feb 2, 2006)

BobHufford said:


> (Since we have been talking about what we collect besides bikes and where we live, I hope you forgive this one last roadbike post)
> 
> Here is probably more than you'll ever want to know about the history of the Alpine marque:
> 
> http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=classicrendezvous.10602.1232.eml


i wouldn't object if you posted recipes that you make after riding. and i'll certainly never turn down historical details for any bike i own. i appreciate that you took the time to post them.

however, i am new here so i should probably be the one apologizing if my thread on other interests and this one on a roadbike is out of place. someone please let me know.

thx


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## FrenchFriedFrog (Jan 12, 2007)

*My new old Alpine*

Thanks Bob for that link to a great piece of (very peculiar) history. Now, is Fred Kelly the same guy who recently stopped building Kelly bikes (the ones used by the regional Colavita team in 2006)? By a sort of coincidence, Joey Spragins of Trinity Bicycles (www.trinitybicycles.com) gave me an Alpine frame, and he rode for Colavita too (and still rides a Kelly Bonestock).

Also, Im assuming that my new, old Alpine is from the same builders as the ones you've been discussing. It looks like it was from the mid to late 80s (see pics below).

Another coincidence, of sorts, is that the Alpine frame is replacing my old "Alpina" frame, which I got as a junior racing in South Africa. It has Reynolds 653 tubing. Alpina was the Schwinn of South Africa (I'm not even sure it still exists).

Anyway, this new Alpine is a beauty, with the same components, which are mostly still in near-perfect working order (I had to replace the headset and the cables): Dura-Ace 8-spd from 1990, Cinelli bars and stem, Time pedals, and a San Marco Rolls saddle. The Time pedals have never been serviced, and though one pedal weighs more than two of my new Time pedals, my new ones already need servicing. Maybe I just ride more now than ever, now that I have less time.

Joey did a fancy job with the bar tape (this must be a thing from randonneur-style bikes): one layer cork, then one layer fabric tape with twine and shelaquered a couple of times.

Here are some pictures, first of my old frame built up, then of the Alpine:


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## FrenchFriedFrog (Jan 12, 2007)

Come to think of it, just by looking at the pics posted and linked, my frame is probably not the same Alpine. I'll check once I get the bike from the shop. I first of all have to determine where it was made! I think probably Taiwan... not that that's bad or anything.


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## stan4bikes (May 24, 2006)

what kind of alien MTB's are these? ooh, very scary for any kinda offroad action methinks!


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## FrenchFriedFrog (Jan 12, 2007)

Stan,

What would be a vintage mountain bike? Only half a rhetorical question


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## FrenchFriedFrog (Jan 12, 2007)

*Kelly*

The Kelly bikes used by Colavite were made by Chris Kelly, and not Fred Kelly.


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