furiousd

Hi all.

Im pretty new to posting, and I have spent some time researching this bike before making this post. I have had little luck finding a Bottecchia exactly like it. There are no tubing decals, I dont even see where one was painted over or scraped off. I purchased it in a thrift situation, so I dont know the original owner to ask.

This frame is a 60 CM. There is a lot of touch up paint. Mostly Campagnolo. The fork/frame drops are Campy, as are the shifters, derailleurs, headset, and crank. Stem is 3T, and the handlebars are a very large Nitto. Hubs are Performance brand, I think due to skewers and one dust cap marked so. Rims are Mavic MA40; they roll very smooth, fast and quiet. Im assuming that the non Campy items were upgraded/downgraded to Shimano.

The bike is just a hair too big for me, but good enough to ride as I am 6' 1". It really tracks and rides well, I love it.

I would like to know the vintage, tubing, and model. I know it's not newer than 1985 because newest year on the tube decals is 1966.

Bottom bracket has E 2231 60 for SS number.

I want to blast the frame to chrome and add the proper decals to the chrome frame. I paid $140 and rode it home. The stem and seatpost are not stuck, and has since photographed been adjusted.

FarHorizon

Nice bike! I put together lots of Bottechias back in the day, but I don't remember model numbers. Yours is definitely one of the upper scale models and the Campy gear was likely original. You also, IMHO, got maybe the deal of the year on the price. I wish I could tell you more -

Enjoy!

furiousd

Thanks! I love this bike. Out of my collection, its a fav. I know 60cm is large, but I felt it was a good deal too.

TugaDude

Borrowed from Chuck Schmidts Velo-Retro.com website...


Some Campagnolo parts can be dated by codes or patent dates. For example, the Nuovo Record rear derailleur has a patent date that corresponds to its manufacturing date starting in 1970 (example "PAT. 70"); marked "PATENT" without a date before 1970. The lock nut on the hub axle typically is stamped with "CAM. 60" or some other number denoting the last two digits of the year of manufacture. The word "RECORD" was added to the hub barrels around 1963. The original "Open C" style Campagnolo logotype (imagine a U turned on its side) on the Q.R. levers was changed to a "closed C" in 1958 with the introduction of the one-piece alloy Record hubs and a little later to the shift levers. Starting in 1973 the crank arms have a code consisting of a diamond (1970's) or circle (1980's) with a number in the center denoting the last digit of the year of manufacture, and then in 1985-9 with square and number in the center: 11 = 1985, 21 = 1986, 31 = 1987, 41 = 1988, 51 = 1989 plus some other examples.

TugaDude

While not a rule, components are usually good indicators of a bike's vintage.

furiousd

Thanks! The crank appears to be an 84 based on what you provided me. I was thinking this bike may have been an 84, maybe 85. I dont see any markings on the derailleur, other than the stamp on the front; I look harder when there is more light.

TugaDude

That bike looks like it has race-oriented geometry. Not a good or bad thing depending upon how you like to ride. At 6'1", that bike appears that it would fit you.

randyjawa 

How Old Is My Bicycle? might help with the details of figuring out the bicycle's vintage.

CroMo Mike 

Bottecchia had a habit of using their top line frame on their 2nd and sometimes 3rd tier bikes as well. That is probably what you have here. The frame looks very similar to my 1987 Team. Mine is Columbus SLX. It also has the frame material shown on the bottom of the BB shell "SLX". They are chrome under the paint, but the now-hidden chrome is not finished (polished/buffed out) and will not look good if stripped. The frame decals are available on eBay. The Columbus decals had a tendency to come apart and fall off, leaving no trace. Mine was applied over top of the paint. As were all the frame decals.

TugaDude

+1 on the chrome possibly being unpolished. Polishing would have been a waste of time if painted over and also detrimental to adhesion. However, that's not to say it couldn't be taken to a chrome plating company for potential polishing.

CroMo Mike 

The plater would have to start over. The base metal was probably not polished. Some guys have striped them and left them bare, just don't expect it to look like the chrome you see now on the fork stays, and lugs.

furiousd

Thanks for all the input. I have areas on the top tube & seat tube where I have stripped the touch-up paint off. The chrome is smooth and shinny, but not polished. I may go ahead and strip it, and try to polish it the best I can, it doesn't have to shine as well as the lugs or fork. The paint is pretty bad really, stripping should be an improvement; if not, self etching primer and paint.

Thanks again. If anyone knows anything else about this bike that would be great. I have looked for model number or markings on the rear derailleur but see nothing. I still going on the crank, thinking its a 1984.

zukahn1 

Based on the components notably the distinctive crank I would say it is a 82-84 model Campy only made these components for a couple of years in the early 80's.

furiousd

Thanks for your help. That helps put it to 84. I wish there was a definitive way to verify the tubing. It is pretty light weight for a bike its size, surprisingly so.

CroMo Mike 

Look up at where I edited my post above about mine having the tubing type indicatd on the BB next to the serial number. Look on yours for "SL", "SP" or "SLX". If you remove the BB axle and shine a light into the ends of the down tube and seat tube, you might see the spiral grooves (rifling) indicating SLX. There also may be a stamping on the steerer tube if you remove the fork. On the one Bottecchia I stripped, the three main tubes had a tiny Columbus dove logo showing on the main tubes hear one end. In any case, if it's light and rides nice, it's a keeper, and worth your efforts to clean up, upgrade, and, if you must, repaint.

furiousd

Nice info. Thanks. I rode it 10 miles today, its really a great ride. I will bust off the fork, and seatpost tomorrow and see what's there. The only letters/letter I see on the bottom bracket is "E". There is a slight chance it could be an L. I

CroMo Mike 

In your picture the head badge appears to be missing. Most Bottecchias had a neat vintage looking brass badge. A few from that period had a decal. Your bike does not appear to have much rust. Always good to see that.

furiousd

Hi, yes, I assumed it was a decal since it was missing, there is also a lot of touch up on the head. The rust on this bike is minimal, some scaring on the fork from previous rust damage, but not bad.

CroMo Mike 

The brass badge would have been held on by two tiny rivets. If there no holes left, it likely had a decal or the previous owner plugged the holes.