randyjawa 

I recently gave all of my 27" wheel sets to Bicycles for Humanity. But I did keep a vintage set, or two, back for my own needs, what ever they might prove to be. And, guess what...

As it turns out, I got an old Bottecchia, 1968 is best guess. It had one Fiamme alloy rim and one Nisi alloy rim, both 27" units fitted.

Would a 1968 Italian bike come equipped with either or these rims? If so, which one?

I so hope it is the Fiamme rims. It just so happens that one of the tucked away sets is a beautiful duo of Fiamme units, just a wee bit narrower than the one fitted to the Bottecchia.





Correct or not, I will run the rims, since they are so nice. Besides, I built the set up yesterday and fitted them to the bicycle. Today, I will straighten the frame set, take lots of pictures and write a better How To Do It feature article on MY "TEN SPEEDS".

bibliobob

My '62-64ish Cinelli Mod. B came stock with 27" Fiamme clinchers, which appear to be the same as yours. Man, I wish that I had an extra set of nice Italian 27" clinchers. Look forward to seeing some photos of the completed Bott!

Sixty Fiver

Over the past week have picked up a nice pair of Weinmann 16/630 eyeletted single walled rims and a built up set of wheels with Nisi 27 inch clinchers, butted spokes, and a Normandy Competition rear and MCB front hub.

Now I need some bikes to put these into...

T-Mar

My info doesn't go back quite that far but the boom era lineup would suggest neither are OEM. My 1973 literature shows that, with the exception of the top two, tubular equipped models, the rest of the line used steel rims. The catalog doesn't mention brand or model but the pictures show Fiamme red label on the top two models. A 1971 road test also mentions Fiamme red label.

If the frame has Campagnolo dropouts, it was almost certainly orignally equipped with tubulars and the clinchers were a common coversion, though I would have expected 28". On the hand, 27" suggests a possible upgrade from steel rims and the presence of stamped dropouts would support this view.

randyjawa 

This Bottecchia is a mystery to me, T-Mar. It has very unusual lugs for a Bottecchia. The drops are pressed steel. My first guess would be a Bottecchia "Special". Now, about the original wheels...

I have found quite a few vintage Bottecchia road bicycles, in my travels, and many were fitted with the Campy Tipo high flange hubs(I am not sure what to call them - see pic). Both hubs on the Bottecchia in question are of 1968 vintage.



Armed with that little piece of information, I deduced the bike to be 1968 and that the hubs were original issue. Now for the rim issue...

The forks were bent a bit (another story, to say the least), suggesting that the front wheel rim would have been changed out. That would make the rear wheel the most likely candidate for original issue.

At any rate, I still intend to use the Fiamme rims, original or not. I like them and I absolutely hate patterned steel rims. The pattern on the manufacturer specified steel rims braking surface is too noisy! Every time you put on the brakes - buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

rootboy 

Yes, those are Campy Nuovo Tipo HF hubs. I'm with you on the "patterned" rims. I have a set of these hubs on a pair of Rigida steel rims with patterned braking surfaces. Annoying.

bigbossman 

I flipped a 70's Lygie last year that came with those Fiamme rims in 27". Still have the wheel set in the shed....

T-Mar

Randy, not having late 1960's literature makes it impossible to say with absloute certainty. There's one Bottechia model in the 1973 with Nuovo Tipo hubs and it's spec'd with steel rims. However, other boom era Italian models spec'd with Nuovo Tipo hibs, such as the Atala Gran Prix, had 27", aluminun rims. YIt could go either way.

With stamped dropouts, it's almost certain the orignal wheels were 27" and not a conversion from tubulars. Still, they could have been an upgrade from the orignal wheels and a post upgrade crash would explain the difference in rims. Are there any other clues to age? What are the other major components? Pics?

noglider 

I know Italian bike stuff has the most pizazz, but I don't like Italian rims as much as French rims. I worked at a shop that catered to the racing and wannabe crowd, and we would build full-Campy bikes with French rims, because they were the best.

randyjawa 

I really like this old Bottecchia. It is very different from any other I have seen. I know, I already mentioned that earlier.

I can also add that the forks issue is not the only one I faced with this frame set. I am assembling the bicycle now. Time to test ride the bicycle to see if all my fussing had any positive impact. If not, I will run over the bike with my Ford.

Anyway, a few pics, bent forks and all...

T-Mar

I was hoping pics would help but the only thing they do is confirm a pre-1973 model. Too bad about the rear derailleur being replaced. It would have indicated which side of 1969 to place the bicycle.

Nick Bain

Ambrosio ftw just got some off ebay