Another Atala

Just recently bought another Atala bike on Ebay this time from Holland. I think this might be the Super Touriste model from the 70's and probably the lower end of the range as it had non descript dropouts but has some nice lug work and brake cable routing through the top tube. Needs abit of work as the previously owner did a shondy bronze brush paint job on it, rust spots everywhere and the headbadge is completely faded but luckily I have a perfect replacement for it. I'm going to strip the paint and give it the grey and blue Atala team colors with blue fill in on the lug work so hopefully it should look pretty sweet. Parts wise it came with "second division" Italian Gian Robert derailleurs from the early 70's period but I 'll replace them with old Campagnolo Gran Sport stuff thats hiding in my parts bin somewhere. The bike is actually running 12 speeds with a rather weird very closely packed triple rings on the Atala marked crank and 4 speed Everest cluster on the rear. Brakes calipers are Atala branded but had non standard Modolo levers which will be replaced by Ballila ones which should suit it better.
Hopefully the weather should get better over here and also get some more free time from work so I can sink my teeth into it!

What an 'interesting' selection of gear ratios. I suspect there may be a bit of overlapping of ratios looking at the sprocket and chainwheel sizes.

Am I right? (or wrong as usual :roll: )

Pity it isn't one of the plastic GR rear mechs. To find one of those still in working condition would be a bonus!

Re:

I think you may be right about the ratios. The big lump of the crank has only a 2 teeth difference between the 3 rings and the rear is a close ratio cluster - sorry haven't had a chance to even check the teeth count on it. I'm going to drop one of the rings up front when I rebuild it.
Didn't know that they made plastic derailleurs back then but sure enough I checked on the net and Gian Robert had one back in the mid 60's. I remember Sachs marketed some resin/plastic mtb derailleurs in the 90's and my LBS mechanic recommended them as they had a nice shifting action but later he changed his opinion as he got a number of broken and cracked ones back and disgruntled customers.

The (in)famous plastic Gian Robert mech. Imported into the UK by Ron Kitching, one of his less successful ranges. It appeared around the same time as the plastic Simplex Prestige which was a nice mech with a smooth change - and half the price of a Campag Gran Sport! However, it wasn't anywhere near (or even far away!) as good. I remember a mate having one but it didn't last very long! Very thin and feeble looking.

Re:

Made me laugh the marketing blurb "constructed in the wonder plastic - polyproplene."

Re:

Had a free day today and a break between the rainy weather so got round to stripping all the parts off the frame and strip the dodgy paint job. The previous owner had bodge welded a rear derailleur hanger. It isn't pretty and needs a bit of filing on the joins. Most of the parts came off without too much hassle except the drive side bottom bracket. Can't understand why they used 3 notched cups back in the day. I have a Park tool for them but doesn't exactly have a snug fit and can mangle the notches if done up too tight. Discovered middle ring of the 50/46/44 cranks was warped because the previous owner used mismatched spacers so will convert them to just a 50/44 combo and matched to the 4 speed 19-22 teeth Everest freewheel. Luckily the paint came off easily enough and showed traces of the original colour which was a raging Kawasaki green.

Old Ned":1r1inyab said:

What an 'interesting' selection of gear ratios. I suspect there may be a bit of overlapping of ratios looking at the sprocket and chainwheel sizes.

Am I right? (or wrong as usual :roll: )

Pity it isn't one of the plastic GR rear mechs. To find one of those still in working condition would be a bonus!

Click to expand...

Like this one?



I'll admit, I've not tried to ride it yet...

DrewSavage":14ubbmmc said:

Old Ned":14ubbmmc said:

What an 'interesting' selection of gear ratios. I suspect there may be a bit of overlapping of ratios looking at the sprocket and chainwheel sizes.

Am I right? (or wrong as usual :roll: )

Pity it isn't one of the plastic GR rear mechs. To find one of those still in working condition would be a bonus!

Click to expand...

Like this one?



I'll admit, I've not tried to ride it yet...

Click to expand...

Oooh, now that is a 'collectors piece'. The one my mate had was (I think) white arms with black ends, something similar to the original Simplex Prestige.

Like this -

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/ ... lastic.htm

And also the Disraeli Gears website -

http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/Gia ... le%29.html

Re:

Dug out some Campy Nuovo Gran Sport parts that will replace the Gian Robert ones but still need some shifters. Received some Atala decals today from Cyclomondo. Really good quality and great service from them. Frame is now stripped of old paint and waiting for some spare time to get some primer on it.

Re:

Do you have a colour in mind?