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And it's bloody brilliant.
Bottom of the range, 600 quid off the shelf, replaced drive train with 105 and threw on some old wheels kysrums I had going spare. Total weight is 8.3 kgs.
Sure it's got upgraded parts, particularly the wheels, but the frame itself is brilliant. Rides no worse than my carbon canyon ultimate, not hugely heavier once the boat anchor Wheelset was replaced, comfy.. Comparing it to an old alu trek and px Pro carbon I have owned its night and day.
As a bike tart i'll always want to buy nice carbon stuff, but in reality its great to know you can get pretty much exactly the same performance on a road bike for not much at all.
Had mine for six months now... allez elite i got for 800 ex demo. I too have owned expensive carbon bikes and this frame is just as good.
Not just me then! It really is a cracking frame and you even get a full carbon fork.
Other than the snob factor it's hard to see why your average rider needs anything more.
I bought it for winter duties. Do you have mudguards on yours, and if so which fit?
Not yet but will be looking soon. Shame Spech dont sell as a frameset, i reckon they would shift loads
I got some miche wheels for mine, 1500g, and some roubaix 28mm tyres, its super comfy. I went for a 56cm but am feeling i could do with a smaller frame size. I had to fit an inline seatpost and push tje seat forward to get a nice position. I am considering getting the lowest spec allez and swapping the 105 parts over.
Bugger bugger bugger, had seriously considered getting one when they first updated the frame, had a spreadsheet dedicated to comparing the cost of an upgraded Allez vs. a stock more expensive bike. Eventually grew impatient waiting for the Red Hook paint job to be revealed and then the recall happened.
Maybe could justify as a winter bike...
got a more than s/h one a while back off @donald from here, he'd in turn bought it s/h, I think they are great little road bikes -- I had initially bought a shop demo 56cm but it was too big - just - and the 54cm is ideal.
I don't need it to smash out miles or mph, but it's a great ride when a road ride - on proper road tyres - is what you need to do..
I pout on some SKS mudguards on the rear, the front had a new fork so it was a clip on affair on front. Needed some work to restore so bars, B/B, drivetrain and various other bits have been upgraded...
Love my 2011 Allez,I think they're great value for money,
Two years ago I upgraded the groupset to 10 speed Tiagra & this year upgraded the wheels to Shimano RS 11.
I get curious about getting something lighter & better specced,but I'd rather spend the money on a holiday!
I believe the new one is quite a bit lighter frame and fork wise. The bottom of the range one comes with claris and the heavy wheels, but as far as upgrade potential goes it's perfect. As I said, 8.3 kg with pedals, garmin mount and bottle cage once I'd stuck on some better wheels and changed the groupset. That's in a medium.
Would not hesitate to recommend if anyone is considering one
What year is the upgraded better frame?
2018 was the first of the lighter framesets, 350gm saving comes from the full carbon fork.
I’m sure the frame is great but you took more than 1.2 kg off the overall bike weight. If you had to buy those parts new what would have been the upgrade cost?
Shifters, front mech and rear mech cost me 150 quid new. Crank was 50 quid second hand. Tbf I only upgraded the drive train as I wanted to have 11 speed across both bikes, and those changes saved 250 grammes.
It weighed 8.55 by just changing the wheels and tyres. You could get a st of similar weight wheels for 200 quid with tyres. Once I sold the bits I took off it I'm in for 850 quid.
So beautifully STW.
Shifters, front mech and rear mech cost me 150 quid new. Crank was 50 quid second hand. Tbf I only upgraded the drive train as I wanted to have 11 speed across both bikes, and those changes saved 250 grammes.
105 11 speed Brifters, plus front and rear mech new for £150? I’m struggling to see how you could do that new. New cassette and chain?
It weighed 8.55 by just changing the wheels and tyres. You could get a st of similar weight wheels for 200 quid with tyres. Once I sold the bits I took off it I’m in for 850 quid.
I’m not sure about £200, £300 maybe? Yes you could sell the removed parts to make some money back.
I’m not knocking your efforts, I love taking a bike and upgrading it, I do however think you may be well underestimating the true cost of this. I reckon you are looking at £600 - £700 on upgrades if purchased new
It's not simply the weight though, what attracted me was the weight, alu frame, threaded BB, mudguard mounts, tyre clearance and rim brakes (cos I'm funny like that).
I planned to throw possibly £750 at it, recoup a smidge selling unused parts, so say £600.
The equivalent I eventually plumped for was a Rose Xeon GF. Similar weight, nice parts, but press fit BB, less tyre clearance, abd had to bodge guards on.
Basically the Allez is surprisingly niche for such a mainstream bike! 😉
Weights and upgrades aside, its a great bike and you`d be hard pushed to find a 105 equipped bike better than the allez for under £1k.
I wonder how much the recall has affected sales and trust in the model?
mudguard mounts
The forks haven't got mounts.
simondbarnes, I understood that the recalled models (2018) had the forks replaced with Tarmac forks, e.g. reduced clearance and no mounts. Thought the 2019 models had the mounts?
Edit: images of 2019 models seem to have an eyelet on the fork legs...
I wonder how much the recall has affected sales and trust in the model?
Hardly any I expect, new purchasers probably won't know. the only segment I can imagine 'may' be impacted would be current allez owners affected by the recall who were also considering buying another allez....
The 2019 models don't seem to get the full carbon fork .
My fork is a 2019 model, is full carbon with mounts.
105 11 speed Brifters, plus front and rear mech new for £150? I’m struggling to see how you could do that new. New cassette and chain?
Yep.. 100 quid for both shifters from merlin and 15 quid for the front mech. Chain was also new, cassette wasn't.
I’m not sure about £200, £300 maybe?
Mate picked up a set of prime race from crc with bc code for 140 quid not so long ago. They weigh less than my kysrum elites. If you scour the web you can find some ridiculous bargains.
The key thing to remember though is other than the wheels the rest of the bike is not crying out for upgrading. Nothing wrong with claris, but I wanted to run my stages on the bike so needed a new crank and when I saw the price of the shifters it was too tempting not to upgrade to 105.
A good ali frame is nice to ride and there are a few specialists turning out some excellent ali bikes.
Yep.. 100 quid for both shifters from merlin and 15 quid for the front mech. Chain was also new, cassette wasn’t.
a ton for a set of 5800 shifters is a ridiculous bargain, well done there.
I agree that you can pick up some bargains, but I was using your kysrum elites as a reference point for pricing, the prime and fulcrums are cheap but they are also known for hub issues.
Basically, you are any outlier, most people would have to pay quite a bit more for the upgrades you are talking about. Not suggesting they weren't a good thing for an excellent frame. just adding a bit of realism 🙂
First hit on Google, not that hard
They were only 100 when I bought them, with all cables and outers! Agree ridiculous bargain, I almost expected only one to arrive! Other great bargain I picked up from them was a ti pro saddle for 20 quid new.. Reduced from 80. Saved another 100 g there for not an awful lot of cash.
Tbf the bargains can be had by anyone if you bide your time. Walking into your lbs I'd agree you'd be paying far more.
No issues with the prime wheels I have btw, which run the same hubs. Agree you won't get kysrums for that price, but they are no lighter than the primes, and if I'd have been buying new I would not have been choosing them as they are overpriced Imo. Point is that you could stick a pair of 150 quid wheels and 50 quid tyres on the allez out the box and have a phenomenal bike for 70o quid.
Right, I love my allez so much I just bought another one!
not worried by the recall then? 😉
Eh? Was that not on 2018 models?
Trail wager, why did you get another? Which one?
Not happy with size of mine. So bought a smaller size. Will swap over the upgraded wheels etc and sell on.
I don't use my Allez, It's a 2013/4 ish model, carbon forks, no mudguard mounts, done about 1500 miles so all original.
Should I sell it?
& for how much?
(small frame)
Just got a phone call from Tredz…… not sure if its genuine or not but they told me that the Allez has been discontinued and they wont be able to fulfill the order !!!
I don't get it, why would Tredz not be able to sell me a 2019 Allez, and why they say its been pulled from sale and discontinued unless its actually true?
Try Bike Scene in Guisborough, I'd be very surprised if they couldn't get you one.
Rutland had them in stock. Seems odd that they have discontinued them.. Still showing on the spesh website.
The Allez has not been discontinued.
Also, good aluminium frames are better than cheap carbon frames.
I have gone back to Tredz to challenge this, and it turns out I was miss informed. The have not discontinued the Allez, but have run out of stock and wont have any more until the next production run starts.
Eh? Was that not on 2018 models?
yes, hence the wink!
I've got a 2018 Allez Red Hook and it's a cracking bike, especially for the money.
I've changed the wheels to Fulcrum Racing Quattro with 25mm Vittoria Corsas (skin wall of course) put a FSA SLK carbon post and a Spesh Power Expert saddle on there too.
It's certainly as good as carbon bikes I've had in the past.
road.cc review confirming latest models DON'T have eyelets on forks, seems like there's two or three different forks out there, very confusing.
road.cc review confirming latest models DON’T have eyelets on forks, seems like there’s two or three different forks out there, very confusing
Mine certainly hasn't, it as a Tarmac FACT SL4 fork as is common to the rest of the Elites AFAIK
<span style="display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The only thing letting it down is the fact that the new fork doesn't take proper mudguards like the frame (though we're told the 2019 model's fork will have full mudguard eyelets).</span>
Didn't read the review very well it seems.
The red hook doesn't have eyelets.. My bottom of the range one does. The fork is still all carbon however
Didn't read the review very wellwell
D'oh, neither I did, just assumed the reviewed bike WAS the 2019 model, seems a daft time of year to be reviewing the 2018 models...
Can I just double double check tyre clearances on the 2019 models with the updated fork?
There seems to be some contradiction between reviews as to whether you can get 28s and mudguards in there. I've heard it said on here that you definitely can't get 28s + guards in, but I don't know if that was using the 'temporary fix' post recall fork (i.e. the one without mudguard eyelets).
Got my order in at Edinburgh bikes to try out a 58 Allez Elite, this weekends faffing taking the summer bike off turbo, fitting winter tyres, readjusting mudguards (and get my fillings rattled out on lumpy wet roads) convinced me I need a dedicated winter bike...
It has mudguard eyelets, but I'll be honest I don't think you could fit a proper mudguard in there with even a 25 mm tyre. If you could it would be very tight.
Bit of a sham given all the advertising says it has mounts, but as you'll see, no room for the guards up front imo
I've not tried myself as whilst I was going to take a punt on some blumentals on my 25 inch tyres, I realised that if I have perm guards on I can't get the bike in the boot of my estate without the seats down
Other than that it's a wonderful bike for the cash. Shame you need a 58 as I'm in edinburgh and you could have taken mine for a spin..but its a 54.
Yeah, I would be annoyed if it couldn't take them given the Specialized blurb bigging up the tyre clearance.
My only ace up my sleeve is that I've already successfully mounted sawn off front mudguards that terminate at the back of the fork, allowed me to fit guards on my summer bike. Even if I can get a 28 in without the guards I'll be happy.
I see all the nice colours have been snaffled so I've had to go with the 'chameleon' on gloss black, interested to see what it looks like in the flesh. Also need to fit 170mm cranks, thankfully EBC have suggested they might cut me a deal to swap them...
Finally joined the club.
58cm weighs in at 9.2kg with guards and pedals, didn't weigh it with bottle cage or garmin mount. Saved 300g immediately swapping stock tyres for GP 4Seasons but then put 200g back on swapping stock crankset for Tiagra (wanted shorter cranks and Shimano 4 bolt pattern for my existing oval ring). Wish I'd done my research, didn't know how light the stock PRaxis cranks where!
Popped some Swisstop pads in and the brakes feel fine.
Disappointed at tyre/mudguard clearance but have already had a moan about that elsewhere. Still have some tricks up my sleeve to increase clearance at the rear.
Bike definitely feels fast and compares really well to my ~£1800 Rose Xeon summer bike with Ultegra and nice wheels. In time could see myself swapping summer bike parts to Allez frame and replacing Allez with a Kinesis 4 Seasons frame, maybe next winter...
Cat had never seen a bike before, cue much investigation, culminating in a spirited attempt to shred my freshly applied bar tape...
Yes a good alloy frame is really nice to ride.
Cat had never seen a bike before, cue much investigation, culminating in a spirited attempt to shred my freshly applied bar tape…
Maybe the colour of the tape wasn't to it's taste (I won't comment on that)
It's true, I can't control my worst instincts when it comes to bar tape colour, just wanted something to offset the black on black paint job elsewhere! It's more 'neon' in the flesh...
They really are lovely bikes aren't they. I just weighed mine, comes in at 8.36kg for a medium with pedals, cages, and garmin mount.
Spec is full 105 (other than the brake calipers), ksyrium elites with corsa g tyres, and a lighter carbon post and ti saddle.
I've got a 2006 Allez Comp with 105. I acquired it circa 2009 crash-damaged from a work colleague for £100 as he had hit a car and broken the carbon fork. I bought a new carbon fork for circa £50 and fitted it and have used it for commuting duties since then.
I'm lucky enough to be multi-biked but I love the Allez, it's so smooth and a real do it all bike.
According to Strava I've covered 24,860km on it but I'v only been recording since circa mid-2012. another few thousand can easily be added to that.