Specialized Allez Sprint
Strange as it might sound, the original Allez was steel and hand-built in Japan between 1981 and 1984 by Yoshi Konno, who founded Cherubim and 3Rensho in the 1970s. Identifiable by its long, pointed lugs and sloping fork crowns, it’s highly sought-after today, the product of a man who learned his craft dismantling and rebuilding old Cinelli frames and who went on to forge an enviable reputation for Keirin-winning bikes.
But success can breed tragedy. Konno was allegedly a hard drinker and this contributed to a car accident in 1995 that left him paralysed and led to the closure of 3Rensho. Konno died in
