Re: [CR]Atala grand prix shifting problems

From: "Fred Rafael Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Atala grand prix shifting problems
To: "Diego F. Dominguez" <arepair@sinfo.net>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <004c01c259f0$db4c77c0$910c2ec8@sfsdjbw5tw0jbt>
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 10:05:52 -0700 (PDT)

> I have an atala grand prix aprox. from 68-70 it has > a rear dellairur campagnolo valentino extra... Diego, For whatever it's worth, I'm certain your bike must be from the (early) '70s. The Atala Grand Prix bikes I saw during the '60s all were made from Columbus tubing and equipped with Record hubs and derailleurs (or NR for the RD in the case of later bikes). Also, most (all?) had the TTT Gran Prix stem: http://www.employees.org/~fredness/image05a.jpg At the time - when I was _much_ younger - I was under the impression that the model name was take from the stem or vice versa. Does your's have a sticker that says "Tullio Tubing"? I always wondered what that really was? In any event, those bikes rode well and were reasonably light considering the cost of the bicycle. Strangely, the '70s version used a sort of "antique" style font for their decals, so they were more retro looking than the '60s bikes which used a sort of cursive OCR style font (which was very futuristic looking in those days).

But as Sheldon suggests, change that RD! Any modern $25 Shimano thing will work just fine. On my brother's bike, I replaced the Valentino with a Suntour VGT. (This was around 1975 but you can still find them around if you want the bike to remain "period" in appearance.) Anyway, the difference was dramatic even with an ordinary, black Regina Corsa freewheel. Best regards, Fred Rednor - currently in Arlington, Virginia but once upon a time from 15th Street in Atala-land

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