Classic & Vintage - Old Atala.

I bought an old Atala ladies' 10-speed yesterday off CL, sight unseen because it was a giveaway price, and delivered, and I was hoping to at least find a few parts I needed off it, for my Frejus. The bare frame must weigh 25 or 30 pounds, or more, and the BB has some serious issues, where it unthreads itself & stops the old Nervar cottered crank from spinning, freely or otherwise. :D The wheels are old Maillard high flange hubs on scalloped rims, but pretty rusty, and the tires are old Wolber gum walls, that looked kinda decent, but disintegrate if you try removing them. ;) But I did grab several cool items, like a pair of those old Weinmann 999 brake calipers (one logo missing), a pair of old white Bleumels fenders, a nice old luggage rack (I forget the brand, but it's a keeper), and most importantly, the cable hanger deals, for center-pull brakes. :D Those aren't as easy to find as some people claim they are, LOL. Those cable stops are the main thing that was holding me up, on that old Frejus, they really are necessary. ;) BTW, if any females in Seattle need a 30 pound frame, with some fairly cool lug work, it's free if you can pick it up. If you accept this mission, then getting those cranks & BB off will be your inherited problem. :notamused: ;)

OK, you guys buried my thread, but I found it, eventually. ;) I spent a couple hours Saturday, getting that old Nervar cottered crank out mostly, and several other minor jobs. I totally screwed up, on disassembling the headset, and there are now several BBs running loose on my basement floor. But the headset itself is in pretty good shape, I think, and kinda heavy by today's standards, but not TOO bad, so I think I'll leave it in there & repack. Like I said before, the wheels were rusted really badly, but it was the rims & spokes, and the hubs turned out to be Maillard Normandy high-flanges. I cleaned up & repacked the front, after clipping all the spokes, & it's in excellent condition inside, & spins like new. :) The rear might be trickier, I've never pulled a freewheel before, so I'll probably take it to the LBS for that, then salvage that rear hub & freewheel. BTW, the freewheel is a Regina Gran Sport, and I was amazed at what they go for on fleabay. :twitchy: BTW, I meant to ask, will you all think less of me, if I ride a girl's bike? :D ;) 292434292435292436292437292438292439292440

Cool bike. If it were mine I would brush on a couple coats of white enamel. It would really bring that bike back.
So was that set up as a five speed or ten speed? Upright bars? Saddle?

It was a 10-speed, but probably not "stock". The drop bars are aluminum, but not that well-made, and they're cracking from over-clamping. It had a Simplex RD and a Shimano FD, but I don't remember ever seeing that front before, it's definitely an early model. Overall, this frame's NOT a keeper, so I might just list it on CL, and let someone build it the way they want it. If it were a man's frame, I'd be keeping it, most likely, I love those lugs. :)

Looks like it could be a womens version of a bike that I sold last year: http://imgur.com/a/JK54N
Same downtube logo, same lugs. I think I determined somehow that mine was a 1967. It also had aluminum drop bars. Yours likely had a Simplex FD originally, but someone probably replaced it because the Simplex FDs were horrendous.

That sure looks close, too bad you sold it though. ;) I didn't get a Brooks saddle, but you reminded me about those pedals. They're a little heavy, but they spin like crazy. Do you know what they are? I'm seriously thinking about putting them on my newer Miele, at least to try them out. :)

The pedals on mine were actually in pretty rough shape and didn't spin all that well, the only reason I didn't replace them was because I don't have a pedal wrench and there wasn't enough space to fit a normal wrench between the pedal and crank arm.

Hmmmmm, the lugs on that look suspiciously like the lugs on what I was told was a Torpado....where is the serial number stamped, on the bottom left hand side of the seat tube?

Hmmmmm, the lugs on that look suspiciously like the lugs on what I was told was a Torpado....where is the serial number stamped, on the bottom left hand side of the seat tube?

Serial on mine was top right hand side of the seat tube. You can see it in one of the pictures in this album from when I first got it: http://imgur.com/a/Bagt1

Hmmmmm, the lugs on that look suspiciously like the lugs on what I was told was a Torpado....where is the serial number stamped, on the bottom left hand side of the seat tube?

Actually, the bottom RIGHT side of the seat tube. I saw a pic of a Torpado earlier, maybe yours, & noticed a similarity, but I wasn't sure. I guess they could easily be "related", both being Italian.

Hmmmmm, different location for serial. Mine has a lug integrated seat clamp, no internal cable routing. Fork looks a LOT like that though....have to do some more searching...what does your rear brake bridge look like?

Sorry, my neighbor needed a bit of help there. I mis-typed there, it's actually the TOP right side of the seat post. :) I'll grab another pic or 2, if you're seriously interested. Plus I never grabbed a pic of the seat post collar, it has some "ornate" pattern on it too.

292536292537292538Here we go. I grabbed a pic of the dropouts too, but they're more dirty than rusty. I still haven't wiped down the frame, since it's been here. I'm thinking Tri-Flow on a paper towel should be just the ticket, & it might clear up the worst of the rust, or at least make it easier to see where it is. ;)

I imagine several of the Italian makers shared bits....The chrome seat clamp was on "PatTheSlat"s green one he linked to. From what I am seeing, almost all the lugs on mine match the lugs on yours. Biggest difference so far is the seat post clamp, mine is a brazed on lug. So, great similarity. My pics are in a thread on New Old Torpado Beta...
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/854652-New-Project-Torpado-Beto-(so-I-ve-been-told)?highlight=torpado

Yup, that brake bridge matches mine too.