1970's Atala

[Buzzsaw]

Whilst on Christmas holidays in Melbourne I managed to pick up this 1970's Atala road bike. The seller had a treasure trove shed load of bikes and bits - you could go ga ga for days looking for stuff in there. The bike itself once belonged to one of his relatives' and was in pretty good condition with usual scratches, grime and grease. All the bearings will need to be replaced and regreased and surface rust removed from parts. Unfortunately any info on this particular Atala model (at least not top of the line considering the Valentino components) is pretty vague and the internet is not much help. Hopefully someone can work out the at least the frame tubing from the ripped tubing sticker pic.
As for the component spec I can work out here is the list:

3TTT stem
Magistroni headset
Balilla brakes
Atala stamped cottered cranks
Campagnolo Valentino front and rear derailleurs
Nisi Toro tubular rims
Campagnolo frame dropouts
San Marco saddle (will be replaced with Brooks as in pic)
atala stamped hubs
5 speed 14-22 Atom freewheel
Regina chain

I will keep the frame as is so no respray (the decals will be hard to come by) and only get all the running gear cleaned up or replaced if need be. Will post pics once done.

 

[oonaff]

nice! the head set infact the whole lot is a bit special..

 

[torqueless]

That front wheel looks well off-centre (3rd pic) Hope it's the wheel that needs truing and not sideways-bent forks?

Never heard of that tubing. Check the seat-post diameter to get an idea of the level of 'refinement' of the frame-tubing. Invariably, in the UK, Campag. dropouts go hand in hand with quality tubes- whether that is so for Italian bikes I don't know.

If the frame is OK, I reckon that'll scrub up into something nice, without being 'super special'. A 'rider'...

 

[Buzzsaw]

Forks are ok - reason it looks wonky is I didn't do up the quick release properly and the tubular is slapped on to protect the rims only. Yip not much info on the tubing as the internet has as much info as the sticker on the frame - name and origin!?? There's some info on the Atala bike range from 1973 and judging from the parts spec and frame details the model may either be the Gran Prix or the Competizione. The bike will be a user for sure - would make a good ride if I decide to do an European hoilday to ride the L’Eroica one day.

 

[oonaff]

i really like it atala go back to the early 1900 s i read . i bet she doesnt weigh too much either and if you got all the sticker's remade inc the tubing one . then brill .

 

[Martin Rattler]

That has some potential. Very nice! I look forward to seeing updates.

 

[LML999]

Looks like this was Atala's introductory level bike. I bought their intermediate bike in '72, which came with Stronglight cotterless cranks and midtier Campy derailleurs.

Decent bikes, solid frames, lousy decals. I'm surprised there's anything left of yours!

 

[Buzzsaw]

Started stripping parts off today - nice sunny day to do it (complete contrast to UK!!). Judging from the internals it hasn't been used for a very very long time and when it probably was - only used for weekend rides. The grease on all the components was way past it but remarkably the headset bearings were shiny and usable after cleaning off the grungy stuff. First time removing a cottered crank but with the help of Youtube do it yourself vids it was pretty easy. Only problem is removing the 3 notch crank side bottom bracket cup - tried using a single notch tool but won't budge and didn't want to risk damaging it (lucky the cups are pretty robust steel ones) so I may need to order the proper tool on line. Threads on the frame are sweet.
Need all new cables, chain should be ok after a clean, bar tape (probably fabric type), new brake pads and yet to look at the hub bearings but feels pretty crusty (dodgey grease again). The wheels are pretty straight with no wobbles.
Pretty happy with the condition of it overall considering how old it is. Isn't top of the range but hey it's Italian and very ORANGE like a Laverda motorcycle!!

 

[torqueless]

Quick work! I'm glad you lowered the stem a bit (first pic.) IMO the drops need to be more horizontal, and raise the brake levers further up the bars, and shift the nose of the Brooks up a bit, too? Plenty of time for that, though, and up to you, of course. Did you get around to measuring the seatpost diameter?

 

[oonaff]

the headset is a work of art..... its the tubing i want to know about it. is it double butted.? what is it comparable
to ?whats the seat tube diameter ?please :?