First Post and Noob question
 

Hi.

I just inherited an old bike from the in-laws. It's an Atala Corsa GS with Ofmega components. After searching the archives I've discovered the following: Mid to late 80's Atala's are better than 60's and 70's versions and that Ofmega made some decent (and some not so decent) components. What I wasn't able to discover was do I have a high end bike or a mid-grade version for the wannabe racer? Several things make me suspect the latter. The bike has tubular rims but the Ofmega components don't have any indication of what group they are. The bike has Tullio (never heard of it) tubing and says "Campione del Mondo 1982-1983-1984-1985-1986" in several places. It appears to be the right size for me so it looks like a good value (free). But should I approach it as a restoration project or is a frankenbike approach OK?

Thanks,
TWW

Frankenbike sounds scary...It sounds like you have a pretty nice machine on your hands. I'd strive to take good care of it, repair what needs repaired, replace what you must and get it back on the road.

Hi tww, first, we need photos to assess the bike :) .

Second, don't be afraid to ask questions. Everyone here is happy to help get that bike back on the road.

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

http://www.quickservekids.com/var/ww.../pink_star.jpg

Howdy! you'll like it here on the C n V......now where are those pics!!!

Wow that was quick. Pics will take a few days. I'm still at the in-laws on a borrowed computer. The good news is that the bikes in good condition. Grimy but complete. The paint doesn't even have any scratches. Grease, bar tape, cables, and tires should do it. Anybody have any idea if the ofmega group on this bike is worth preserving?

Probably.

We are pretty quick around here. Even if your post had managed to get to the second page, I would have bumped it up.

There is no such thing as an unanswered thread in C & V. But, we are pretty demanding about photos ;) .

East Hill

Pics as promised
 

OK. Made it home. Here's what I got:

The bike's got a little scratched paint on the bottom of the downtube and the chrome fork crown is pitted and rusty, but except for the clips and straps it's all there. Everything's pretty cruddy from neglect but there's no sign of abuse. The brake pads hardly have any wear and the chainring teeth look brand new.

The lowered seat, missing clips and straps, and flipped bars all say that it spent some time pulling a milkcart; but is it a racehorse or a nag? I'd appreciate your opinions.

I'm going to guess a lower end model. I believe Tullio tubing is hi-tensile steel. Better mid-range models would have used at least Columbus Aelle or maybe Gara Tretubi (3 main tubes) depending on the model year. The pics aren't high enough resolution to make out a lot of detail here's what I think I can see: no chrome - chrome fork at least was common on better models in the 80's, stamped dropouts - better models would have had forged dropouts with adjuster screws, cheaper spokes - they look dull gray rather than stainless or chrome plated, possibly shrader valves on the tubes (hard to tell at this resolution) which might indicate 27" rims. Are you sure they are tubular? What size are they? It appears to be in nice shape but I doubt it's a high-end or even mid-range model.

The photos were as high res as the forum would allow me to upload.

Tubes are presta valve and the rims are definitely tubular. The hubs have a CR or GR marking that I saw somewhere on the board might mean Gian Roberts (doesn't mean anything to me yet) and indicate a lower end hub. The only chrome is the fork crown.

I think I'm getting what you mean about the drop outs. My '87 Schwinn traveller (my only other frame of reference) doesn't have anything of the sort. This bike has a steel insert in each dropout with a set screw to adjust the axle position. If they would fit I was considering stealing them for the Schwinn. It's partway through a fixed gear conversion and they could be very useful in that application.

Hey! How do I get that red "newbie" thing out from under my handle?

Interesting that it has tubulars on it. I don't know the Atala lineup that well but I suppose it's possible they were using tubulars on some lower end models or somebody changed them at some point.

To change your "Newbie" handle, go to User Control Panel (upper right of the screen) -> Edit Profile -> Custom User Title and change it.

Also for pictures, upload them to a picture website like Photobucket or similar and then link to the URL of the picture. Just click that yellow square on the editor that looks like it has mountains on it and enter the address to the pictures. Then you can put pretty much any size you want.

Post some bigger pics of the frame and components and maybe somebody can get a better idea of what we're looking at.

Tells me that it's 1987 or newer. :)

It'd have to be at least 1987. It's a freewheel not a freehub (I think, I'm goofing off at work right now - I'll check tonight) so it's pre-1990 or so. Is that a narrow enough range? Somebody tell me where to look for a serial number and how to read it and I'll try to narrow it further.

Are you looking for something like that? I might could be persuaded to part with it. This will make my 4th project bike. I'm sure you're familiar with the disease. I pulled out my old bike to fix it up and in no time at all others are following me home.

Rear derailleur is a Ofmega Mistral. My browser is messing up right now so can't get to any of the other photos to see what else I can recognize. Check out this link: http://www.velobase.com/ViewSingleBr...y=Italy&From=C

A thorough cleaning, new chain and other 'expendables', repack the BB, hubs and headset with grease. And then ride ride ride.

As someone who has ridden a decidedly lower-zoot Atala than yours for over 30 years I predict that after a little PM you'll be happy with your 'new' bike.
Top

FWIW, you can attach higher-resolution images if you save them at a lower jpg "quality" setting. All the photo programs I use have that option, but yours might not. The attached photo of my Trek 400, for example, is only 45KB, saved at a "25" quality setting in Ifranview (freeware).

OK. Try again with the images...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...a/atala001.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...a/atala002.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...a/atala003.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...a/atala004.jpg

Hey it worked! I'm learning all kinds of things here. Now after all that I think it's gotta hang in the garage until next winter. There's the Schwinn fixie to finish and an old Kona MTB waiting in line next. It'll be great to have a bike for the roads again though.

:roflmao:

At least East Hill won't have to come by in the future and politely remind you that photos are a good thing :) . You can rest on your laurels for the moment!

East Hill

Something tells me that front derailleur isn't going to work too well where it is positioned right now.

Secondly, I've never seen those ofmega cranks, they look fairly low on the food chain though. Regardless, should be a fun ride after a bit of work.

Thanks everybody for the welcome and the patience.

I sorta skipped an introduction and posted down here first. So I just wandered over to Introductions to see about things and East Hill was everywhere. It looks to me like you're the official ambassador for all of the Bikeforumdom.

...and look at that I've been upgraded from Newbie too.

She is (almost) the one woman welcoming crew. We were noobs around here at one point, well most of us were. I most certainly was. And started out much the same way. With a bike I knew virtually nothing about, a lot of questions, and thankful for the answers I was supplied by the forum. The least I can do is help do the same for others now that I know a few things. :)

Ya'll have been helping out since last August. It took until October to get over my natural caginess and register so I could use the search function. From there it was four more months before I crossed the threshold and posted.

I like saying hi! Makes people feel more at home. Besides, that way I can steer more people over here :D . It makes for a much better community when people aren't afraid to ask questions, and get treated with respect.

East Hill