Bottecchia fan
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 3,520
Bikes: 1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo (frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame), 1974 Peugeot UO-8
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Originally Posted by
Road Fan
I had a Falcon in this class, not a bad ride, but not as good as the Real Italian I got after it..
Agreed, more money tends to buy a better bike and time tends to imrprove technology so a later bike at the same level would be likely to perform better.
Originally Posted by
Road Fan
I think the Valentinos shifted a bit worse than the Simplex. I rode my friends' Raleigh Gran Prix and UO-8s, and the Simplex usually worked better than the Campy..
Again, agreed, at least when they were new. The Prestige derailleurs on my UO8 still shift very nicely. I don't know how many miles they have on them. We bought the bike used around '92 and my wife never rode it much so the derailleurs could be fairly low mileage.
Originally Posted by
Road Fan
I think this bike could date back to as early as 1966 thru 1970. After '70 this class of Italians were starting to come through with some Japanese gruppos. Better function, same frames and saddles.
I don't know about that. I've never seen anything Italian as early as '70 with Japanese components. My 1974 Bottecchia Special (about the same level as that Torpado) came with Simplex Prestige derailleurs, an Ofmega crank, Campy Tipo hubs, Fiamme aluminum yellow label clincher rims, Universal brakes, and Clement tires. Nothing at all Japanese. I usually think of Japanese components just starting on bikes of that class in the mid 70's.
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1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo(frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame),
1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame),
1974 Peugeot UO-8, 1988 Panasonic PT-3500, 2002 Bianchi Veloce, 2004 Bianchi Pista