During this frustrating search for a Campagnolo freewheel, I’ve collected all sorts of background on Atala bicycles and more is on the way, since I ordered Bike! A Tribute to the World’s Greatest Cycling Designers, which includes a feature on Atala bikes. If interested, there are several websites with excerpts from the book if you do a Google search.
A lot of information I’ve gathered conflicts with my original plan to outfit my bike entirely in Campagnolo parts, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing! It seems a major reason I’ve been having difficulty finding what I want is that Campagnolo freewheels were made with a lighter alloy that wore out relatively quickly.
I wondered about the idea of Campagnolo freewheels becoming expensive collectors’ items, instead of a part being put to use on a bike, but now there seems to be a reason – they don’t last. You can guarantee I won’t be shelling out big bucks for a nicely packaged, mint condition, Italian-geared paperweight!
Campagnolo at one time apparently purchased better parts from a German company and stamped their name on them. Later Campagnolo simply paired freewheels of other manufacturers with their component group, or gruppo, if you want to sound like a true aficionado of Italian bicycles.
I first heard rumors of this quirky practice on a couple online bike forums and then confirmed it using websites like Lightweight Classic Vintage Bicycles (also known as Classic Rendezvous) and Old Roads.com, through which I was able to hook up with downloads of some old Atala and Campagnolo catalogs from the ‘70s and ‘80s. I then contacted a few folks through eBay and craigslist who were selling vintage bicycles with full Campagnolo gruppo in order to find out what type of freewheel was included on their bikes.
Wouldn’t you know it, in about a dozen cases, I’ve yet to find ONE bike that has a Campagnolo freewheel? The really funny thing is that the most common freewheel found on vintage Italian bikes is Regina – the type I had in my possession a couple weeks ago. Now keep in mind, at that point it was too early to just give up on my search, and I would have had to go through all the trouble to remove it from the wheel-less hubs, AND I would have had to take care of relisting the hubs and skewers, so I don’t see that ever being the correct option!
I’ve also found Campagnolo drives paired with freewheels made by Maillard and Sachs, which eventually absorbed Maillard and is now SRAM. Older Atala bicycles had freewheels by G Caimi, a company that became Everest. Interestingly, I’ve discovered that some newer Atalas had full Shimano setups, not only because of a lower cost to the consumer, but also because the Japanese were doing some innovative things, particularly with freewheels. They were using a design that had more easily interchangeable cogs, which had also been enhanced by deeper grooves and shaped teeth that provided smoother shifting.
Initially I pondered the presence of the Shimano derailleur and freewheel that were on my bike at the time of purchase, but considering that nearly every other part on the bike was Campagnolo, I don’t think those parts were original. Although Shimano and SunTour certainly put out quality products, I do think it’s a bit sacrilegious to have anything but Italian parts on an Italian bike. I remember my brother-in-law letting me have it when he saw Shimano parts on my Pinarello when I bought it!
In summary, I’m pretty much giving up on the “full Campy” treatment now, and I’m weighing the cost/quality issues to make a decision on whether to use a Regina or G Caimi freewheel. Oh, and to leave this entry on a high note, the left-handed drill bit worked like a charm to remove the broken bolt from my Colnago! Now I just have to contend with the apprehension that this "wrong way" bottom bracket issue will happen again.
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