Our Mission: Serving the community while
inspiring people to learn the art of bicycle repair.

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Location: 3961 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA MAP

Volunteer days are back, in a new format! They're the second and fourth Saturdays, on a smaller scale. See our Eventbrite site at bikex.eventbrite.com for details and to RSVP. Grab your spot and join in on the wrenching for good! See the event calendar for more events and volunteer days.

Donate bicycles and parts by appointment. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and details of what you have. We have specific drop-off times on Wednesday and Friday and other times by special arrangement. We'll let you know if we have a need for your items and get you drop-off details.

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange is a Section 501c(3) non-profit organization.

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Bike of the Month: 1974 Allegro Special, Refurbished by Cap'n Jonny

Here's our most recent featured bike, donated by an owner moving from the Bay Area up to the Sierra, and fully refurbished by our tireless volunteer Cap'n Jonny. Enjoy a brief trip back in time:

Founded in 1914 in Neuchatel (French Canton), Switzerland by Arnold Grandjean, Allegro gained a reputation for being one of the premier manufacturers of racing bicycles in Switzerland.  By the 1960’s they were the largest bicycle manufacturer in Switzerland. From the late '50s to the mid-'70s they were being imported into the U.S in large numbers. 

1974 Allegro Special road bike. © bikex.org


Expected to have been built in 1973, this bike has spent most of its time in a barn (roughly 30 years) before it was bought by the previous owner about 15 years ago. At that point, the paint was problematic and the steerer threads (originally French-threaded) were destroyed.

1974 Allegro Special road bike. © bikex.org

The previous owner had a new English steerer installed and modified the frame with a braze-on to support a Rohloff hub. In order to install this braze-on, however, the seat stay braze-on was partially cut off because it interfered with the rear brake. After fixing up the frame, the owner powder coated the bike with beautiful blue paint and applied some decals that were close to the original frame decals.

1974 Allegro Special road bike. © bikex.org

This brings the bike to our shop at BikeX. The inspiration for this bike was to create a refined cruiser - with North Road bars it is a fast, but relaxed ride with a mix of top quality parts that any sophisticated two-wheel connoisseur would appreciate.

1974 Allegro Special road bike. © bikex.org

This bike is a tall, a 63cm frame, but only weighs a speedy 25.6lbs. Sunrace thumb shifters control a Suntour Cyclone derailleur through the seven rear gears with ease. This bike takes the hills with ease.1974 Allegro Special road bike. © bikex.org

 

The Suntour Superbe brakes were as good as anything out there in their day and they put the bite on the Araya rims, which with their Shimano 105 hubs, want to spin forever.

This bike will be soon available on our site at shop.bikex.org. Drop us a line if you want first dibs!

Enjoy reading about our featured refurbished bicycles? You can read our past Featured Bicycles posts here. Featured bicycles are typically bikes we sell to cover parts for bikes we donate and operating expenses. You can browse our for-sale bikes here: https://shop.bikex.org

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Wondering where the rest of the home page articles went?  Turn to our Past Articles, Past Featured Volunteers, or Past Featured Bicycles pages to see them.