Originally Posted by
randyjawa
I wonder about the lack of interest in these wonderful old road bicycles. They look great, ride great and seem to be well built....
Atala was reportedly the the largest Italian brand during the early 1970s bicycle boom. At the time, Atala was quite popular, however not to the extent of their main rival, Bottecchia. Both were imported in the USA by the same distributor, Stuyvesant. However, the view at the time was that the Bottecchia were finished a little better and looked nicer. It didn't hurt that Bottecchia flaunted their palmares in their catalogues.
Atala lost prestige in the wake of the boom. Part of the reason was that Atala was a full range brand. As the avid American cyclist became more educated, they increasingly focused on the high end Italian manufacturers, such as Colango, Guerrciotti and Pinarello. Full range brands were generally regarded as inferior, relative to the specialists.
Still, they could have flourished. Other Italian full range manufacturers, such a Bianchi, continued to grow in the USA market. However, Bianchi set up a separate USA based company and was smart to offload entry level models to Japan, who were the experts at providing value in lower end models. Bianchi also spent huge sums on USA marketing. Finally, Bianchi emphasized their Reparto Corse, a separate division dedicated to only to high end models which, in eyes of the consumer, made them superior to a typical full range manufacturer.
Conversely, Atala continued to be imported by an independent USA distributor and the entry level models continued to be built in Italy, These did not fare well against the Japanese offerings. Stuyvesant did not have as big a marketing budget as Bianchi and had to share what they did have with their other Italian brand, Bottecchia. With relatively little marketing, Atala's exposure and prestige continued to diminish in the USA. The final nail in the coffin was Greg Lemond winning the 1989 Tour de France on a Bottecchia. This cemented Bottecchia's dominance over Atala in the USA market.
None of this is meant to imply that Atala was a bad brand. They just weren't handled as well as they could have been and are therefore less popular. Of course, that means you have a more rare bicycle. Enjoy!