2wheelsintx

I have been a rider of mountain bikes and I am currently in the market for a road bike. I like steel framed bikes, so I am looking in that direction. There is a seller in my area that has an ad up for a 88 Bottecchia for $600 and seems high. I will be checking it out today around lunch.

https://flickr.com/gp/63648683@N04/bMpDLi

Here are my questions: are classic italian steel bikes expensive to repair? Do they fit a lot of modern parts? The seller claims that it has full campy gruppo, brooks saddle, it is stored indoors, and never dropped or wrecked. Does 600 seem high for this bike?

Thanks in advance for your speedy replies.

Chombi

It looks like a very nice Bottechia and in very good condition. It really depends on what tubing the frame was built with. Can you find out?
The what seems to be Campy Victory gruppo on it is a definite plus on any bike (The Victory Gruppo seems to be developing quite a following lately), but usually lands the bike in upper mid level model territory (not top of the line), so I suspect that the frame tubing is nothing exotic at that price and if the component group is original to the bike. Again, it all depends on what the frame tubing is.

Chombi

FastJake

Looks like an awesome bike but without knowing more information $600 feels high.

I know you said you like steel bikes and if you're into the C&V thing that's great. But if you're just looking for a road bike to do some cross training on or whatever have you thought about whether you'd be happy with DT friction shifters? For the same price as the Bottecchia you could pick up a nice modern road bike with indexed shifting, etc. I know this is a C&V section but I ride both old and new bikes and like people to consider their options especially if this is your first road bike.

metabike

Dissenting opinion: I rode a Victory group in the mid to late '80's and after moving on to Veloce & Ultegra , I can confidently say that the Victory rear derailleur was stone-age in its performance (shoot, even Tiagra is world-class compared to that clunky, chunky thing). And just try to find chain rings to fit the crankset's odd bolt circle! (Must have been a French collaboration on that design is my theory.) I will admit that everything else was pretty decent though, the seat post in particular was beautiful. I do agree that, without knowing the tubing, $600 is kind of high.

rumrunn6

I got a modern used Bottechia for $350 w aluminum frame carbon fork and brifters. I love it. I think it's made in Korea but so what.

2wheelsintx

UPDATE:

I went ahead and made the purchase and picked up that '88 Bottecchia. It is very apparent that the previouse owner babied this bike. He is an older gentleman and a collector of many Italian steel frames. He had this one in his studio sitting up where he repairs stringed instruments. Quite a sight. The only thing that really needed to be replaced was the back tire. Oh and I snagged it for $450. Good price for a bike in such great condition.

I was expecting indexed shifters, but to my dismay, I enjoyed the skill required to accurately shift to the desired gear with friction shifters. Yes, there will be a learning curve, but it is enjoyable so far. Since picking it up I have put 20 miles on it and seem to be improving the gear changes.

I purchased this bike for cardio training to compliment my strength training in the morning and hey maybe ill ride the ms150 race (houston to austin) next year. My thoughts; these shifters were used before for racing at an earlier time, so why not now?

From my research I have found that friction shifters are one of the most durable ways of changing gears since you are the one making the adjustments. I like that. Maybe one day I will convert to index shifting for the rear cassette, but for now, I am fine.

FASTJAKE: I was in the market for only one bike. I have ridden new aluminum as well as carbon, but enjoy the look and feel of a steel frame, period.

metabike: When I took it to a LBS yesterday to pick up a new tube and tire, the man working with noted the frame and said that the tubing material was good, not their top of the line, but good. I dont remember what he said it was, but I'll find out when I get home. I am still learning about road bikes as well as the classic steel frame and components so I am experiencing a learning gap right now.

For ****s and giggles, what would be the ballpark cost to convert to indexed downtube shifters or sti shifters?

rumrunn6

my 2 cents enjoy the friction shifters I have a nice 1985 schwinn letour w cromoly steel and friction shifters on the downtubes. it took some gettgin used to but I rode it for a couple years and got my money's worth.

I do like my Botecchia brifters though, I am much faster with them and always in the right gear. plus it's got a triple FD.

I would suspect if you change the shifters and brake levers you'd want to change the FD and RD too and all that time and money can be put to your next bike.

Chombi

I would have said to try and keep the bike original with friction shifters and as I prefer friction shifting myself, but by 1988, there certainly were enough early indexed systems out there already to choose from, so it won't be "period incorrect" to change over to them.
Congratulations on the aquisition, take care of the beautiful classic Bottechia and I hope you have very many enjoyable miles on it in the years to come!

Chombi

FastJake

For indexed DT shifters you could possibly do it for $100-200 using used parts (and using parts respectable enough to hang on that frame.) I don't know much about old Campy as I am a Shimano fan but I'm pretty sure you'd have to replace the rear derailer as well as the freewheel and possibly get a new rear wheel with a cassette to make it index.

For brifters you're looking at the expenses listed above plus a couple hundred extra for the brifters themselves plus the associated expenses like new bar tape, cables, housing, etc. If you plan on paying a shop to do this work figure $50-100 extra for labor. These are just rough estimates but you get the idea. It'll be expensive.

Henry III

Luckily indexed Campy downtube shifters don't have that huge of a following compaired to the Ergo/Ultra brifters or friction shifters. What size freewheel does it have on the rear? Just do a search on eBay for indexed Campagnolo shifters and you can quite a few reasonable(under $100) NOS indexed shifter sets. I don't recall the freewheel size in the rear but freewheels are cheap. So I don't see this conversion over a hundred. Just shifters and if your cables are still good then use them and if your freewheel is a 7 speed then even cheaper. I would do the swap as it's cheap and simple. Campy is all I work on and have on my bikes and wife's bike. Friends don't let friends ride ShimaNO.

Labor if you bring it should be pretty cheap also if the shop knows their heads from their azzes and it's not even Campy, Shimano, Sram thing about what they work on. It's a simple downtube shifter swap in which you don't even need tools to take them off or install them. You just have to adjust your derailleurs after pulling off the cables. So hell install them yourself and bring it in to get the derailleurs setup. If it runs you over 40 I would tell them to get bent and find another shop or do it yourself.

FastJake

So the OP wouldn't need a new rear derailer?

Henry III

Why would he or need a new wheel? He's just changing downtube shifters or possibly putting a freewheel to match the shifters. Your making it out to be a complete overhaul. For all the bikes you flip and go through I thought you would of said it's a easy peasy swap because it is.

FastJake

Maybe you've misunderstood me. I said the OP might need a rear wheel with a cassette, which was meant to mean "it depends how many speeds you go with."

I'm still wondering whether he'd need a new rear derailer to index. I thought when Campy tried indexing the first time (Synchro) they used the same cable pull as their old friction derailers. But when they came out with and indexing system that actually worked they overhauled the whole system. So my question there was whether the OP's rear derailer would be compatible with whatever indexed shifters he might put on there.

eja_ bottecchia

Welcome to the Bottecchia Family. You got yourself a great bike.

Here is some general Bottecchia "stuff."







My 1989 Bottecchia SLX with new Campy Athena 11V gruppo.

jon c. 

Nice bike!

Personally, I'd never switch from friction downtube.

eja_ bottecchia

I thought long and hard about it. Looks-wise, the Athena gruppo fits in nicely with older bikes. The change from 7V to 11V has made riding this bike a lot more fun. The convenience of brifters cannot be understimated.

Having said that, I do miss the old shifters. Btw, they were not, however, friction shifters. They were second-generation Synchros and they worked like a dream.

I kept the old components, just in case.

Henry III

That's super classy and I love seeing vintage quality steel frames being updated with the aluminum Campy 11 spd Athena group. What more could you ask for? A quality built frame for a fraction of what something like that would cost nowadays.

The aluminum group looks super nice on lighter colored frames over the carbon groups. The Shimano stuff just looks odd in my opinion on vintage steel or anything for that matter. While Sram offers the Rival in aluminum which doesn't look decent but I don't dig that double tap stuff and doesn't seem as stout. It's a good thing they're really good on replacing broken brifters no questions asked from what I've seen.

eja_ bottecchia

Henry, thanks. I am really happy with the conversion. It was like putting power brakes and power steering in a 1932 Ford. Not exactly original, but heck, they make the ride so much better.