So, things happened, life kept me from the bikes for a while, more things happened, and now the Bottecchia is finished. Actually, it was finished a while ago but today I finally got it out on a real ride and decided I should probably finish off this thread.

Short ride today, but it was enough to remind me of how much I used to love this bike. It's also the first time in many years that I'd ridden with friction shifters. Twas fun, but felt weird for a while. In fact, it was the first time since the early 90's that I'd ridden anything but brifters or Shimano trigger shifters. I haven't reached towards a downtube to shift since I built up my Specialized Epic back in 1992! Its been too long, it felt weird, but once my brain drug up the memories of how its all done it felt great.

So everything worked fine, the seat is hard but so far usable (hopefully it will break in some), and I still need to get a pair of offset pad holders as discussed above. For now I shaved the pads a bit.

Here's a couple quick shots from the day. I'm sitting here in my house, with a big smile on my face, looking at the Bottecchia leaning against the wall.

Bottecchia Professional by Ed Lutz, on Flickr

Bottecchia Professional by Ed Lutz, on Flickr