Bottecchia?

[oldfatslow]

A friend, without a lot of bike knowledge, bought this for her son.

Can anyone here provide insight on the bike beyond the obvious (lugged steel)?

I was guessing late 80's early 90's and it looks like Shimano 600 or Ultegra derailleur, bottom of the line early Shimano STI, and 105 brakes (yes better pictures would help -- no I don't have them).

I already asked that she have a mechanic check it over. The picture of the headtube appears to show the stem bolt about to come out of the headset (way too high). Given the stem adjustment it wouldn't surprise me if there is other stuff I can't see which is goofed up as well.

If you have any insight as to the year/make/model that would be awesome.

[FlashUNC]

Those are actually more recent vintage STI levers. And yes, advise her strongly not to ride that thing until the stem is adjusted properly. When you can see the expansion nut, the stem is way out of whack.

[bthornt]

Greg Lemond rode a Bottechia (at least, branded Bottechia) bike in the 1989 TDF, which he won. He rode for ADR, and I believe the ADR colors are those that you see in this bike.

[purpurite]

That's exactly what it is, and it's beautiful. I'd rock that thing in a heartbeat.


BTW, this: http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=140166

[malcolm]

That's exactly what it is, and it's beautiful. I'd rock that thing in a heartbeat.


BTW, this: http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=140166

this that is a beautiful frame

[bfd]

Those are actually more recent vintage STI levers. And yes, advise her strongly not to ride that thing until the stem is adjusted properly. When you can see the expansion nut, the stem is way out of whack.

If you need to get the bar up that high, get yourself a Nitto technomic that has a long extension to get the bars up high:

http://www.benscycle.com/p-2515-nitto-technomic-quill-stem.aspx

Btw, that Bottecchia is a copy of what Greg rode back in the 1989 Tour. Looks like a silver Columbus Cromor decal above the shifter bosses on the downtube. Good Luck!

[vqdriver]

i ran across a handful of these when i had my own bottecchia. the adr paint scheme was available on the model below my own Columbus SL, and on the model above mine. i think that was Columbus slx or tsx, i don't remember. but judging by the spec, i'll guess it's the one below. nice frame tho.

those levers were a way to get 8sp sti shifters when you could no longer source the original 600 tricolor (DA back then wasn't compatible). lower on the rung but they work fine and i think were the only shimano levers with the odd 'campy' thumb paddle thing.

remove the stem and seatpost and take a gander inside for corrosion. you can easily check the headset bearings at that time and regrease. getting inside the bb is going to take more effort but worth doing.

barring bad interior corrosion, i think it's a nice find.

[Black Dog]

looks like Columbus chromar (sp?)

[Fivethumbs]

If your friend's son likes being awesome then that bike is perfect. It's the Team ADR livery from the 89 Tour (although they rode the two tone red and white ones too). I have the top of the line ADR model in SPX with chrome fork and rear triangle. It's a keeper. Cromor is a quality cromoly tube set that is almost on par with SL. If I found another in my size in Cromor I would buy it and I bet I wouldn't even be able to tell the difference when I rode it.

[paredown]

i ran across a handful of these when i had my own bottecchia. the adr paint scheme was available on the model below my own Columbus SL, and on the model above mine. i think that was Columbus slx or tsx, i don't remember. but judging by the spec, i'll guess it's the one below. nice frame tho.

those levers were a way to get 8sp sti shifters when you could no longer source the original 600 tricolor (DA back then wasn't compatible). lower on the rung but they work fine and i think were the only shimano levers with the odd 'campy' thumb paddle thing.

remove the stem and seatpost and take a gander inside for corrosion. you can easily check the headset bearings at that time and regrease. getting inside the bb is going to take more effort but worth doing.

barring bad interior corrosion, i think it's a nice find.

I think that the higher spec tubing frames also came with chrome rear stays and possibly front fork? It has been awhile since I have looked at them though, so don't quote me...

[zmudshark]

Nice bike, nothing wrong with Cromor tubing. That looks like a decent mid level bike in great condition.

[ceolwulf]

Very nice. A low-end Bottecchia from the early '70s was my only road bike for a long time. Made of gas pipe and still somehow rode beautifully.

[Shoeman]

I had the same bike in the low end version with the Painted Fork. The tubeset was Columbus Aelle, heavy as could be with straight gauge gas pipe. But believe it or not the thing rode just like a big old Cadillac. One of the better ridding bike I've owned.

[nesteel]

I'd hardly label Columbus Aelle, or its harder to find, short lived brother Aelle R, as gas pipe.

[Keith A]

I think that the higher spec tubing frames also came with chrome rear stays and possibly front fork? It has been awhile since I have looked at them though, so don't quote me...I have a SLX version and it has a chromed fork, seat and chain stays. They were and are nice bikes.

[vqdriver]

I think that the higher spec tubing frames also came with chrome rear stays and possibly front fork? It has been awhile since I have looked at them though, so don't quote me...

You're probably right. Iirc mine had a ds chrome chainstay and nds and seatstays were painted.

[oldfatslow]

Here's the Colombus sticker. It's Gara tubing.

I found the following online.

BicycleInfoProject
http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/columbus/columbuschart.htm
Columbus Gara -- Road set especially suited for amateur and touring cyclists who demand stout, lightweight racing frames. Cr Mo Steel - Weight: 2300g

She's going to have it checked over by a mechanic. Thank you for all of the detective work.

[echelon_john]

I had this bike in the Aelle version; no chrome. A guy outside Boston (Belmont) was blowing out a bunch of them in the mid-late 90s. The frame is probably 90-91; they were made to match the ADR-color-themed bikes Lemond rode in the '89 Tour.

Great riding bike; very steep ST and HT angles (like 73.5/74 IIRC) in my 63cm size, so somewhat unusual compared to today's slacker STs.

[Fivethumbs]

My bike is a 63 cm too. Gara Tre Tubi means the three main tubes are Gara with the seat and chain stays of lesser steel like Hi Tensile. Here are some catalog scans:

[acorn_user]

I think I can explain what's going with the STIs. I bet the rest of the components are 105 7 speed. Those Sora levers are really the only 7 speed STi shifters you can get (except the old RSX ones). So if you don't want to upgrade the whole lot to 8 speed, you are stuck with Sora. I have a bike in the same situation; usually it's because you have a hub that will only take 7 speed cassettes or freewheels, so you'd have to replace the shifters, cassette, chain and rear wheel to run 8 or 8 speed.