All Things Allsop

[Dave Petersen]

Allsop is one of our local home grown companies here in Bellingham. It started with the Boot-In and later went into music associated equipment, but now they are out of both markets and are making various items on the periphery of activities; things such as office desk items, sports armbands, etc. I'm a retired band teacher and one of my former students was an Allsop. His dad came in with several boxes (about 50 bottles to a box) of leftover valve oil for brass instruments which they had discontinued selling. Needless to say, from then on my bands were well oiled!

Oh, I remember that now -- I had an Allsop cleaning system for my tapes. Actually I still have it.

 

[Uncle-A]

View attachment 11373
One safety strap was attached to the above Comps. It was almost totally scuzzy black and was going to throw it out but I have not seen another so now it stays.
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I had the Allsop metal bindings on my Hexcel Comp's back in the day. They worked just fine and were light. The wings on the toe were short so not a lot of leverage to pull the toe out of the Honey Comb Hexcel Ski.

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Don't know where all the parts went. You can see on the Hexcels the shadow of the square mounting for the peg that went into a cup in the sole of the boot. The CPMs have the mounting plate for the heelpiece. I had several pairs of skis with Allsops mounted in the early 1970s.

 

[Uncle-A]

Don't know where all the parts went. You can see on the Hexcels the shadow of the square mounting for the peg that went into a cup in the sole of the boot. The CPMs have the mounting plate for the heelpiece. I had several pairs of skis with Allsops mounted in the early 1970s.

The Allsop was a good match for the Hexcel skis because of the short toe wings that did not give a lot of leverage to pull the screws out of the ski. People blamed Hexcel for poor screw holding but some of it had to do with binding mounted on the Hexcel and if it was mounted correctly. The long toe wings on a Look II toe was easy to pull out of a Hexcel if mounter poorly.
The Heel that is missing from the Kastle may be a result of the locking devise that held the heel in place on the plate. It was made of plastic for light weight but they did not hold up very well over time and heavy use. It was tricky to adjust the heel to toe distance because when locking in the heel it would move a slight bit forward and if not done correctly it could change the distance between toe and heel too much. I had that Alsop binding on my 200 CM Hexcel Comps, I did love those skis.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Hexcel supplied an epoxy to go into screw holes and specified that the skis be suspended upside down for 24 hours subsequent to binding mounting. When that practice was followed, there were few instances of screws pulling out of the skis.

 

[Uncle-A]

Hexcel supplied an epoxy to go into screw holes and specified that the skis be suspended upside down for 24 hours subsequent to binding mounting. When that practice was followed, there were few instances of screws pulling out of the skis.

Yes that is correct, the key was you had to ream out the honeycomb and inject the slow dry epoxy they provided (one kit with each pair of skis) and hang the skis upside down so the epoxy would dry and form a lock nut on the inside of the ski. You could purchase extra kits for remounts and boot adjustments.

Hexcel Epoxy Syringe

• Uncle-A
• Aug 30, 2017

 

[Crank]

I had Allsop Shock poles for a long time. Good product!

 

[Uncle-A]

I found this pin in an old junk box. I put the dime in the photo for size reference.

 

[Joal]

Thought I had posted this already. Still some time warp between epicski and here. Can't remember if the heel piece could come apart or if I was a little worried about not getting it back together. Probably should leave well enough alone.

 

[skipress]

I worked with Allsop in the UK, post bindings but we did reasonably well with the boot in and the poles. The shock absorber was a nice selling point though the mechanism was definitely not as Swiss watch as you might assume. The head of their ski division, Frank Earl[e] was one of the funniest guys I ever worked with.

Love to see a copy of the Zudnick poster they did, it's got my old UK office phone number lurking at the bottom.

 

[Sethmasia]

The binding was built backward, with the pivot for lateral release under the ball of the foot instead of under the tibial axis (at the heel). This meant it couldn't pass standard binding release tests adopted after 1982.

 

[Sibhusky]

Allsop poles, still in use, although they were "refurbished" last year (I pulled off duct tape, bought new, matching, baskets and MacGyvered them on). I love the wrist straps because they stay open and it's easy to slide my mittens in. (Yes, they are dangerous.) I think I got these 1979-1980 with a ski package. That would mean they have 1798 days on them.

 

[Uncle-A]

Allsop poles, still in use, although they were "refurbished" last year (I pulled off duct tape, bought new, matching, baskets and MacGyvered them on). I love the wrist straps because they stay open and it's easy to slide my mittens in. (Yes, they are dangerous.) I think I got these 1979-1980 with a ski package. That would mean they have 1798 days on them.
View attachment 201899

Nice job on the refurbished poles, I see the washer on top of the basket, what did you use on the bottom of the basket?

 

[Bad Bob]

Does anybody still have original Alsop baskets? They have to be as rare as Head pole baskets.
Went through a share of both of them back in the day.

 

[Sibhusky]

Nice job on the refurbished poles, I see the washer on top of the basket, what did you use on the bottom of the basket?

Belt and suspenders

 

[JDrennen3]

Don't know why there are not more shock absorber type poles out there these days.
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I would love a pair 50". I can't find these things.

 

[JDrennen3]

Don't know why there are not more shock absorber type poles out there

Don't know why there are not more shock absorber type poles out there these days.
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I'm looking for a pair of Allsop poles ( 50" ). Can you help me out?

 

[Joal]

A little late but sorry, no.