12:44 AM

What have we here…

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Gems CAN be found nowadays, you just need to be very good with looking for details.  I didn’t know right away what it was when I paid the $25 for it but it was straight, had no dents, and came with Campagnolo dropouts so I knew I was set. 
 
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It’s been repainted but the chrome still shows through and that’s a good start.  The seat lug is quite Italian, it reminded me of my old Olmo.  There was also a very aesthetically unpleasing serial code stamped RIGHT on the seat tube.  The headbadge is quite worn but just enough of it is there to tickle the fancy of any aspiring sleuth.  Under the paint next to the serial is an imprint of an elliptical sticker. 
 
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So from my experience I knew that the elliptical sticker had to have been a Campagnolo sticker, making this probably an Italian bike.  Next I picked on the unsightly serial number… There was only one company that’s commonly done this to their bikes: Atala.  I did a quick search for “Atala Seat Lug” on Google Images and found the match:  Here

Turns out this frame is an Atala Professional,  quite a nice bike for its day to say the least. 

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