Re: [CR]Rare Umberto Dei bicycle for sale on Ebay

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Chater-Lea)

Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 13:21:53 -0800
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Rare Umberto Dei bicycle for sale on Ebay
References: <20050513175426.40630.qmail@web52504.mail.yahoo.com>


Don Wilson wrote:
>
> Now this is why I am proud to be a part of this list.
> An Umberto Dei alert! Read the CR summary. Can someone
> school me on this marque from the 50s onward?

When I went to the Milan trade show in '89 and again '95 I saw some extremely beautiful Umerto Dei men's and women's city bikes of the rod brake and chaincase 1920-30s varity. The bikes even had matching leather accessories! There was also a beutifully produced and expensive looking brochure showing four different city bikes and on the cover was reproduced the most beautiful Dei catalogs spanning a hundred years. The Umberto Dei company was owned by Atala at that point (I think Atala and Bianchi were the two biggest bike companies in Italy at that time).

Here's the summary Don mentioned by Steven Maasland: http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Umberto_Dei.htm

and Joel Metz Umberto Dei web site: http://www.blackbirdsf.org/dei

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA

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