There is an auction on Italian eBay, that Steven Maasland pointed out, for some later Balilla brakes. Sadly, I can't provide any answers to his questions beyong hearing stories like this about other smaller Italian manufacturers all the time. But I have no way of knowing which ones are completely true, which ones are exaggerations and which ones are misunderstandings.
Anyway, what also intrigued me, was the 52cm frame this seller had for sale. It's made from Falck tubing and has an actual Falck decal:
http://cgi.ebay.it/
In the past, I've dealt with frames that were sold as being made from Falck tubes but I don't remember seeing actual insignias on the frame. (I've never felt there was a reason to doubt the Falck representations. That is, if you're looking at a frame that feels as light as a Columbus frame; and has all the same dimensions; and whose steering tube looks like a Columbus frame; and the vendor says "well it's from Falck", why would I doubt it?)
Perhaps the circa 1980s Oschner frames that were made from
Falck tubes had those decals but I've never handled one of
those bikes. The ones with which I'm familiar were Italian
bikes from the 1960s and '70s.
Cheers,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
> The text that accompanies the following Italian ebay auction:
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.it/
>
> States that there ia a relationship between Balilla brakes,
> Galli and
> Sannino. Has anybody ever heard this before? The translation
> of the
> auction text says:
>
> Complete set of lightened racing brakes, made up of levers
> and calipers.
> They come from a racing bike from the early 80's, perfectly
> maintained
> and functional. The Balilla brand is part of the Italian
> cycling
> history: The launch ramp for Sannino products, through whom
> these became
> known throughout the world. They date from 1981, the year in
> which the
> Piedmontese company sponsored the Polish national team, as
> well as the
> juniors and women's team of the former USSR. In 1982, Cicli
> Sannino
> transferred to their new baase in via Montemagno in Turin,
> subentering
> into the company Galli, responsible for the famous Balilla
> bicycle
> brakes. A new look that permitted them to work throughout the
> whole
> production cycle, from brazing, to painting, up until the
> building up of
> the fianl product, the bicycle.
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ
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