The Man of Steel (bike frames)

   I’ve been trying to post regularly on Mondays, but after finishing schoolwork with my son Carrick, I took a long ride then went to see Iron Man 3 with him and my brother-in-law, so I've been delayed by a day. I grew up a comic book collector and seldom miss any of the Marvel movies when they come out. As a matter of fact, I was wearing a Captain America cycling jersey (photo right) when I was hit by a car in 2008. I don’t hold anything against Cap because of it – he was my favorite growing up, and always will be!

   With a couple recent repair customers and the NHL playoffs otherwise keeping my attention, I haven’t been devoting too much of my free time to my side projects. I also took a trip up to Connecticut to pick up a triathlon bike for Sue (photo below). Now that she is has made the multi-training a permanent part of her life, I figured she should have the proper equipment, instead of just some aero bars bolted onto a road bike.

 

 

   I have been watching eBay regularly for parts to complete the Atala bike project I’m tackling. This bike is one that I had considered back when I was looking to replace the heavy Motobécane cyclocross bicycle I used to have. A shop in Pottstown that sells used bikes, particularly some nice vintage machines, had a beautiful red Atala posted on craigslist, but when a fantastic Cannondale appeared at a similar price, I snapped it up.

   When searching for a triathlon bike for Sue, I noticed that the Atala was on craigslist again, at almost half the original asking price, so I went to take a look at it again. It had mostly Campagnolo parts and needed some chrome work, but the paint was really good. You can see in the picture below that it looks pretty great already, but I thought this bike needed some extra love, and I wanted to rescue it.

 

   I’m going to outfit the bike completely in Campagnolo components, and try to get rid of most of the rust. I know I have too many bicycles already, so when I’m done making everything nice and shiny again, I’d like to sell it to someone else into vintage bikes. The Atala should look really sweet, and by making it available to a wider eBay market, I should have no problem making a little profit either.

   Removing the Shimano freewheel required quite a bit of muscle, which is understandable, since the pedaling motion essentially tightens the part onto the rear hub. I always wear a heavy work glove when taking on this operation, not only because it pads my palm nicely when applying the pressure to the wrench, but also because I am uptight about protecting my hand in case something should slip. While removing a stubborn pedal crank, I once smashed my left hand into a chainring, severely cutting the knuckle of my middle finger.

   Although I’ve learned the lesson (the hard way) to never turn the wrench over the top of the chainring or cog, and to instead turn towards the bottom where the hand would slip away from the dangerous teeth, it never hurts to be careful! The added security makes me feel less apprehensive about really putting full power onto the wrench.

   The next step was to remove the mismatched Shimano shift levers and rear derailleur. The bike also had a saddle manufactured by another Italian bicycle company, Bottecchia – definitely the wrong! I have been listing all the parts (photos below) on eBay to defer some of the costs of the Campagnolo components, which I anticipate being a bit more expensive.

 

I’ll report on progress with the shop sign next week, along with any further developments with the bike.