FixedCommuter

Hey BF

I am seriously considering getting a 1972 Bottechia I found online. Just a few quick questions, seeing as how I havent really heard of Bottechia before.

1: Does Bottechia make solid frames?

2: Are Neval drilled cranks any good?

3: Is a 63cm Bottechia with a campy rear/front derailleur and a Neval drilled front crank worth 220 USD? It needs some work and has a few minor rust spots, but it has drop end shifters and campy brakes as well.

Thanks for the advice!

bobbycorno

Bottecchias were made by Carnielli, in Vittorio Veneto. Good quality production bikes, about on a level with Bianchi, etc. I had a Bottecchia Pro back in the 70's - Columbus SL, full Campy w/ Universal brakes. Nice bike. Kinda wish I still had it. Sounds like this one is the next model down. Same frame, some less expensive components. Are you sure the cranks are "Neval" and not Nervar? Nervar cranks were good quality, a step below Campy. Hard to find parts for any more, but quite serviceable. And at $220, I'd be tempted to buy it myself. It's even my size... Where did you say this bike is? ;-)

SP
Bend, OR

bobbycorno

PS - The "Bottecchias" you see on eBay these days are no relation to the bikes of the '70s and '80s. Carnielli must've let their rights to the name lapse and now somebody is slapping Bottecchia on generic east-Asian bikes. Same thing that's happened with Mercier, Dawes and Windsor, to name a few.

SP
Bend, OR

FixedCommuter

thanks for the help man. im thinking i might end up making it into an old hot rod bike.