Classic & Vintage - Bottechia.

I recently purchased an old road bike from a thrift shop for $15.00 bucks. It has downtube shifters, two rings in front and a front deraillieur of a design that I'm not familiar with. It has a shaft that moves horizontally through the body of the deraillieur. Can anyone explain to me how to tune this front d? Also, any info anyone has on Bottechia would be appreciated. Thanks, Gurgus.

Gurgus,
From the Mike Kone buyers guide (written a few years ago)

Bottechia:
Pretty much the same quality level and pricing issues as an Atala. One exception is some pretty interesting early-to-mid 80's Super Record bikes that were based on European team bikes. These are pretty neat. Figure such an S.R.equipped model at about $800. There are many relatively early Bottechia bikes in the U.S. One model in particular has Universal brakes, Nervar crank, and Record derailers Such a bike is worth perhap $375.

I'm interested in the front Derailleur. Is it rod activated (suicide lever?).
Pics would be helpful.
You can also check out Classic Rendezvous for additional info on Bottechia, they are an
old firm were around a long time

Marty

Is this what the FD looks like:

Have a look at this link to a 1960 Schwinn owner's manual for the Schwinn Lightweight. It looks very similar to your pic and tells how to adjust the derailleur.

http://www.geocities.com/sldbowners/1960/60om11.html

Oh, and try keepin your head up if you shift. Yikes!

I posted the Pic to see if that is the type of derailleur he has. We still don't know
whats on the bike.
Why do you think they call it suicide shifter?

Marty

ahhhhh, whoops.

It has downtube shifters


.....

.....

dhhho

Ok,

so what kind of FD has a horizontal shaft moving thru it?

Marty

Ok,

so what kind of FD has a horizontal shaft moving thru it?

Marty

Simplex.

If it is a Simplex, then the correct way to adjust it is to set the D/T lever all the way forward with the cable loosened at the derailleur. Adjust the inner stop with the cable loose. The inside plate of the derailleur chain guide(cage) should be ~1/16-1/8" away from the chain with the chain on the small chainring/large cog. It may be helpful to rotate the derailleur body on the frame tube so that the front of the derailleur cage is toed in slightly. Or you can just use a set of needle nose pliers to bend in the front of the outer cage plate slightly. Since the shift from the large chainring to the small chainring is done entirely by spring action, this will facilitate a smoother shift.

After you get the inside stop adjusted, tighten the cable and the cable anchor bolt. Shift the chain onto the small cog in the rear. While pedaling, shift the to large chainring by pulling back on the lever. Set the spacing of the outside derailleur cage plate so that it is ~1/16-1/8" away from the chain. This is accomplished by loosening a small bolt on the cage that secures it to the horizontal rod. You can move the cage on the horizontal rod to set the outer limit. You can also rotate the cage on the rod so that the bottom of the outside plate is roughly concentric with the circle of the chainring. Do no over tighten this bolt when you retighten it! After you set the outer limit, it will be necessary to go back to the inner limit and recheck it. You may have to go back and forth a few times to get if right.

This is not a precision unit.

Remember when you are riding to let off pressure on the pedals slightly when you are shifting in the front.

Campagnolo also made at least two horizontal pushrod front derailleurs: the Gran Sport of the 1950s and early 1960s and the Valentino of the late 1960s. Adjustment is similar to the Simplex Prestige: position the cage for just-adequate chain clearance in low gear, then adjust the limit screw for just-adequate clearance in high gear. If not properly maintained, these rapidly became very sloppy as the aluminum body wore against the steel shaft. The one benefit of the Campags. over the Simplex units was that the cage moved slightly upward as it moved outward, for improved shifting and gear capacity.

thanks.

I wish it had that suicide shifter! That thing is cool looking. Aside from the it's different apperance, it is a regular front deraillieur. I haven't got a digital camera, but I might be able to borrow one from a buddy of mine for some photos. Thanks for the info!

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=www.classicrendezvous.com/images/Italian/Bottech_Yavorsksy1_9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Bottechia_F-Yavorsky2.htm&h=748&w=1142&sz=361&tbnid=4sYVRI4G4NgJ:&tbnh=98&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbottechia%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG

Hi all. This is the exact bike that I found for $15 at a thrift shop. Sadly, it's in nowhere near as nice shape a this one is. I just posted this link in case anyone was interested. Sorry, I have no idea how to post a pic here on the forums.