Mystery Cromovelato 90s/2000s Atala Dedacciai buildup

[zerogravitas]

Hi all. This bike was my first real introduction to a proper/classically styled roadbike after a cheap aluminium Trek so it has a special place in my heart. Having said that I've used it pretty hard for a few years so I felt it was time for a well deserved total overhaul and some TLC.



This was the bike's pre stripdown guise, barring a few flaked paint areas as this is from a few years ago.



Not much info on this frame out there. As mentioned in my older thread hunting for info on it I think it's a late 1990s/2000ish frame, produced at the end of Atala's financial troubles just before they were bought out in 2002.



The frame and fork are built in lightweight Dedacciai Zero 18 MCDV6 H.T. It is fully chromed and then cromovelato lacquered red over the top, very much in the style of the classic 80s Professionisti model, seen here in the 1987 catalogue; http://2velo.com/atala-bicycle-catalogs/#!

There are no BB stamps, other than the frame size - 56/58 - the only other identifying features are a sticker with 'MCP -00' under the downtube and a 'M' (or 'W') marking on the chainstay bridge plate.
Anyone with any knowledge of late-period Atala do let me know!

I've now stripped the bike, thoroughly cleaned the frame, cleaned and polished the chrome, treated some tiny rust spots, fitted a new Chrous BB and Record headset. I am renovating the 10speed Record group I had on it as well as fitting a new bar, stem, seatpost, saddle and wheelset for good measure.

I've been enjoying reading originalshinkicker's Ti-Raleigh site and used his tip of squirting a little blob of glue into the vent hole to silence a couple of irritating rattly bits of welding debris in the fork and seatstay.

 

[zerogravitas]

Re:



Stage one of the Record refurb was to remove the shifter blades. The previous owner had removed the logos and sanded them back to a satiny finish which wasn't very well done and I didn't really like. The logos on the shifter body were also badly scuffed.



I sanded them down properly...





Then drew up the logos in CAD and lasercut them as stencils...





After some gloss the blades look pretty smart once again!



The very thin graphic on the shifter body came out pretty well too.



I found I was missing one of these little tophat pivot pieces so drew and 3D printed a replacement



All back together and looking quite tidy.

 

[legrandefromage]

Nice work!

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Re:

Second that, top skills!

 

[Rapparee87]

Re:

Beautiful work sir.

 

[zerogravitas]

Thanks all.



Next I stripped the rear derailleur as it also had damage to the carbon and logo, and the anodized cage plates were very scratched and tired.



The cage plates were polished up on the buffing wheel and the main derailleur body cleaned and gently polished



The carbon part of the parallelogram I removed and treated in the same way as the shifter blades, smoothing the surface chips, respraying the white logo and then a gloss coat which was polished out with with T-Cut.







I stripped the brakes down completely (quite a fun little exercise) and gave them a good clean and grease.



I took this opportunity to change the brake pads over too - I have a set of Mavic wheels with their Exalith brake track coating so they need special softer pads.

The final prep I had to do on the group was cleaning up the front derailleur and the cassette and cranks. I was very tempted to give the cranks a mirror polish too but decided against losing the logos - this is a Wabi-sabi build if ever there was one so I'm embracing a few little imperfections here and there.

More tomorrow!

 

[zerogravitas]

Re:

I've been building a collection of parts for this rebuild for almost a year now; I decided to get hold of a new production Flite Titanium a while ago as I think it suits the frame pretty well.



The toptube on this frame is also pretty long for me @58cm so I've found a straight post more comfortable than a layback. I wanted an upgrade from the lightweight but generic and rather ugly Chinese thing I had on so I got hold of one of Velo Orange's Grand Cru posts. It has quite a nice sleek machined top that forms a rail the clamp can be adjusted on.



I've also been wrestling with a Mavic Ksyrium wheelset I bought for the bike - changing the freehub should be a doddle but on this one part of the split axle had corroded and welded itself onto on the bearings.



Some mallet-related persuasion was required to separate them but I got there in the end.

With the frame coming together and in the stand, I've mounted the new stem and bar. I splashed out and bought a NOS 3TTT Evol 2002 stem which has a really elegant shape, sleek and sculpted in a few places without being over designed.



I found a used 3TTT ErgoPower Due bar that matches the stem well and also looks more fitting than the ITM bar I had fitted.

 

[zerogravitas]

Its done!



Heres the spec;

Frame: Mystery Atala in Dedacciai Zero 18 MCDV6 H.T. steel. Possibly produced around 2000.

Fork: matched, also in Dedacciai Zero 18 MCDV6 H.T.

Headset: Campagnolo Record
Stem: 3TTT Evol 2002
Handlebar: 3TTT ErgoPower Due
Bar Tape: BTP synthetic leather

Brake Levers/Brifters: Campagnolo Record 10spd Ultrashift
Brake Calipers: Campagnolo Record
Brake Pads: SwissStop/Mavic Exalith2

Cables: Campagnolo Ultrashift

Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Record 10spd
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Record 10spd

Cassette: Campagnolo Record 10spd
Chain: KMC X10 EL
Cranks: Campagnolo Record 10spd
Chainrings: Campagnolo Record 10spd
Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo Chorus ITA
Pedals: Look Keo Blade

Wheelset; Mavic Ksyrium SLR (2015 I think)
Tyres: Veloflex Corsa EVO
Tubes: Continental Race28

Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Titanium
Seatpost: Velo Orange Grand Cru 0 Setback 27.2mm

Bottle Cage: Elite Cuissi Inox



















Hope you've enjoyed the build.

I've really enjoyed riding it over the last couple of days, the fit is improved for me with the stem swap and the new bar with shorter ramps, the shifting is spot on, the braking with the Exalith coated rims is super sharp and the new headset and bb all make for a real new bike feeling! Great to have an old friend spruced up to top condition again and feeling better than ever. :mrgreen:

 

[TheElectronKid]

Re:

Congratulations on a really nice build.

I'm a big fan of Italian steel frames with "modern" groupsets, though in your case 10 speed Record could have been specced for the year the frame was produced.

The re-finishing on the Ergolevers is superbe and something that I've wanted to do for ages, but haven't had the resources. I reckon there's definitely an opportunity for re-finishing the graphics on Campagnolo 10 speed Ergolevers, particularly the silver ones, because they are one of the best groupset options if you want the retro look with modern style shifting.

 

[zerogravitas]

Thanks! Yes, I am totally with you - steel frames like this with semi-modern groupsets are a perfect combination of style and performance. As you say, alu lever groups give a more retro aesthetic if that is what is desired, especially in combination with more traditional looking wheels with silver spokes.
I love a well thought through retro-mod build, although my one bugbear is modern 4-arm Shimano cranksets (and the Campag equivalent) on thin tubed steel. I think their bulky look just looks out of proportion. I have a newer carbon armed Titanium Record crankset I thought about putting on this bike but there was too much black for my taste...

With refinishing alu levers I guess the main problem would be durability. I guess the original graphic will be screenprinted or laser etched. Sadly the lasercutter I use doesn't do metal etching (that requires a specialist fibre laser). Paint would be an option but definitely won't be as hardwearing. I recently found the account on Instagram of a talented chap who is doing really great work pantographing new logos and then mirror polishing old cranks and levers - not a factory original look but really well done work that looks excellent. I'll try and find a link if you are interested.


The trouble with finishing a project like this is I spend lots of time thinking and looking at other's builds and always end up with lots of new ideas floating around for the next one! I now have a hankering for a Somec and/or a Denti; beautiful frames with wonderful details and paint that would make really fun builds.