Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Need more info and value idea con this Botecchia

I found this Bottechia on sale and it feels really good. Tubing appears to be TSX from the bottom bracket stamp, and the bike appears to be in good shape. I always wanted a good steel project bike. This appears to give me a very rideable nice one. I would like some input from the C&V great minds that inhabit this forum

¡Claro que sí!

If the price is right, I wouldn't hesitate.

He is asking 500, which sounds very reasonable, even more if you think it is down here where people sell mostly crap for that or more money, ha!

He is asking 500, which sounds very reasonable, even more if you think it is down here where people sell mostly crap for that or more money, ha!

Given the condition, 500 seems a little steep, but you're the expert of your market. Or are we talking 500 pesos? That would be a steal! :lol:

It is dollars, hahaha. If it were pesos, it would be a done deal! I do not think it is a steal or a fantastic deal. But I regularily scout everywhere for good used steel down here, and there is NOTHING. And this is throughout 6 months of looking. That's what makes it a good value. I can get it down here, without any further fuss. Yes, I could ebay something, bring it over, maybe pay some taxes, hefty shipping. If this frame is good steel, and components are good enough (in a way meaning it would be worth 350 in the US), then it is worth the 500 down here, because I won't be able to get anything like this placed down here for that money.

The main thing here is, am I seriously overpaying 500 for this? Is this a very nice frame, or just an OK frame? I can't tell the components from the photos, but would appear to be early 90s Campa Veloce, maybe 8sp. I would like to restore it (maybe even repaint), make it a nice second road bike. The wheels appear to be crappy Vuelta they sell down here (chinese). But I can go out and get some Open Pros or CXP22s and rebuild those. It is very tough to compare the US were you can find dozens of bikes any given day on ebay, craig's, etc. Here, this is a very rare thing. If the frame and comps are very good, I am willing to overpay a bit. Since it is here and now and I can start my project instead of thinking about it. If it is just OK, I'll wait and see.

Thanks for the input, and sorry for the complicated situational adddendum.

I'm not a Bottecchia expert, but that frame does look like a nice one. If it is indeed TSX, that was top of the line at the time. You're right about the components, probably Veloce or Athena. Nothing special, but perfectly functional. Curious why they would be on a TSX frame. Perhaps replacements or a budget group that made the complete bike hit a lower price point. Or originally sold as a frameset only.

Here are a couple relevant threads:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=353838

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=368048

More here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=bxH&q=bottecchia+tsx+site%3Abikeforums.net&btnG=Search

I'll agree and say $500 is a little steep.

You can look at it from 2 perspectives...

1. How much can you get by parting it out?
Whenver I'm looking to buy a bike I ask myself, "if I need to sell this bike, will I get more for it if I part it out?" If you can get more for it parting it out you'll never loose money. So, the question is, How much can you get for it 'parted out'?

2. Would the whole (complete bike) be greater than the sum of the parts (build it piece by piece). In other words, what would it cost to build versus buying it as a whole? Obviously you can but it for $500. To build your looking at:

Wheelset with component group: $150
Misc. stuff like bars, stem and seat: $60

Essentialy your looking at $210 for everything but the frame. Honestly, $210 is steep, very steep, for a Veloce or Athena 'kit'. That leaves $290 for the frameset. Is a TSX Bottechia frameset worth $290? I dont know. It seems as if its the SLX/SL/SP and 531 frames that bring big money.

I think $400, if you plan on kepping, it is fair.

Well, also think about what else, decent, is available in the M.C. market for that price. It's a big city, but does it have a wide, competitive market? From what I hear, not, so maybe $500 is getting you the best buy for the money short of driving up to San Diego.

I found this Bottechia on sale and it feels really good. Tubing appears to be TSX from the bottom bracket stamp, and the bike appears to be in good shape. I always wanted a good steel project bike. This appears to give me a very rideable nice one. I would like some input from the C&V great minds that inhabit this forum

If I had $500, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. Cleaned up and well presented, these full chrome Bott's sell for around $800 on Ebay.

Thanks for the input. Seller is MIA, let's see when he re appears. I have decided I want it, even at 500 (Im trying to negotiate down a bit). I really want a project bike to justify the whole toolset I have been buying for the last 2 years :). Besides, nothing like a classy looking bike as this one to get excited.

While it is impossible to give an exact value of a bike, especially without seeing it in person, I can give you a idea of what these bikes have sold for in the past year on eBay in the US. I tried to note the basic information - tubing, component group, color, size, condition, and sale price. The red, white & chrome bikes tend to sell for more than the black, white, & chrome. The SLX frames were from the mid to late 80's while the TSX frames are from the early 90's but are otherwise indentical. These were Bottecchia's top of the line bikes of the period. As you can see, $400 would not be unreasonable for a bare frame while the complete bike most similar to the one you are looking at went for $600 which I suspect was a fairly good deal.

Complete Bikes
late 80's SLX/Record, red/white/chrome, 62cm, very good condition, $1000.00
late 80's SLX/Record, red/white/chrome, 56cm, excellent condition, but w/Victory crank, $1675.00
late 80's SLX/Record, black/white, 55cm, good condition, $910.00
late 80's SLX/Record, red/white/chrome, 60cm, excellent condition, $1325.00
early 90's TSX tubing black/white/chrome with Triomphe group, 53cm, good condition, $600


Bare Frames
1984 SLX/SPX black/white/chrome frame, 59cm, very good condition, $401.99
1988 SLX tubing, red/white/chrome, 57cm, good condition, $432.77
1990 TSX, red/white/chrome, 57cm, good condition, $317.50

Thanks Kommisar, for ending this thread with a definitive period.