Does anyone have pics of Greg Lemond riding a non-time trial steel Bottecchia?
 

I am currently building a red/white Bottecchia SLX frame with Mavic components as a tribute Greg Lemond bike from the 1989 season. I got this idea recently when I found a posting for a nearly complete drivetrain of Mavic SSC components for a great price and bought it.

1) Mavic retro-friction shifters
2) Mavic 630 crankset (not Starfish) - I want to use this crankset and not have to buy the starfish one)
3) Mavic 851 rear derailleur
4) Mavic 860 front derailleur (clamp-on - need the braze-on version or the small braze-on part by itself so I can swap it in to my 860)
5) Mavic 612 bottom bracket (need to chamfer the bottom bracket shell 45 degrees - don't have the tool. Velo Pasadena has the tool though. $65 and a 3 week wait.)
6) Mavic 355 headset (proprietary tool to install/adjust is needed - don't have the tool. Steve from Open Road Cyclery says he has it. If anyone has the tool to borrow or buy I would love to have it)
7) missing Mavic brakeset ( I personally prefer the look of the Mavic 440's over the Mavic Super Pro)
8) missing Mavic stem
9) missing Mavic handlebar
10) missing correct seatpost
11) missing Mavic wheelset

These were in riding condition but not abused. They look great. It will be a work in progress while riding the bike at the same time. Right now the frame is outfitted with mostly Campagnolo components. Parts will be swapped out as I attain more of the "correct" parts. I researched the Greg Lemond Fans website /Facebook and found other pics on the web of Greg riding the steel Bottecchia road frame. The pics on the web, don't show details very well as he is often surrounded by other riders when the shot is taken and many components are hidden or just not in the shot. Mainly, I want to see a crankset/brake combo on one bike. Greg is often seen using the newer Mavic "Starfish" crankset on his TVT framed bikes, but with the older black Mavic Super Pro brakeset (similar to Modolo's Professional series). However, he does use the Mavic 630 crankset (sometimes) when going up the mountain stages with those same brakes (again TVT framed not steel Bottecchia).

One picture that most everyone probably has seen using a steel Bottecchia frame is on the front cover of his "Greg Lemond's Complete Book of Bicycling". He is using most of the current Mavic equipment of the time, but I cannot see the rear derailleur, is it the 840 or the 851(erector set looking one)?

Anyways, this tribute bike will never be an exact copy or replica bike mainly because my frame has chrome rear stays and cursive writing and not the block writing on his bikes. However, it would be great to say here is close copy of the bike that he used on this particular stage or race.

If anyone has any pics of what I need or if anyone has a lead on my missing parts or tools I would be immensely grateful. Ciao!

Cy

Oh yes pics . . .
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2c5b4cc523.jpg
Using 840 rear derailleur, starfish crankset and 440 brakeset
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8c339c00a5.jpg
can't see the rear derailleur or crankset ( but probably using the starfish. 440 brakes
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f9669fefea.jpg
Cover of his book that I own
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...54d4429a9a.jpg
This is bike has a letter stating that it is owned by a physician in the mid-west and is one of Greg Lemond's bikes. Starfish crankset BUT 852 rear derailleur not the 840 shown above. Also the rear stays are chromed similar to mine. Only one with chromed stays that I have seen, but Greg is not sitting on this one is he.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...79a81bcd3b.jpg
TVT framed '89 Tour bike. Using the older Mavic caliper brakeset. Probably in the mountains from the background. Probably using the lighter Mavic crankset that I have.

Hi,

at the link below you will find the bike of Lemond's teammate. 20 pictures. I think you get answers to all your questions from this. I saved all 20 images to my PC if someone needs it later and if the link doesn't work I'd love to send it to anyone in PM

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-...51307-217-6681

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f8f8a9691d.jpg

Thanks @Old Fireleg!

I actually have the same pic of Mario Beccia riding his team bike used in the eBay ad. Thanks for the lead as it was very helpful. It looks like the team used a different headset than what I have. It looks like they may have used the 305 headset instead of the 355.

I either need to acquire a strafish crankset or find a pic of a steel red/white team bike (with Greg hopefully on it) using the older Mavic SCC 630 which he did use on the tour but on his TVT bikes.

Anyone have a pic with Greg using this crankset on the steel frame? Doesn't matter if is during the TdF or another race where he may have used that combination. Thanks!

Save me from buying another crankset . . .

pic below:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1a3b73d6de.jpg
Using the Mavic SCC 630 crankset up the mountains.

... And what if you let go of Greg and build a 100% authentic 1987 Paini-Bottecchia-Sidi team bike?
I have a 1988 Bottecchia catalog (I think this year is missing from the WWW and I will make up for the shortage)
SLX specifications: non hided brake cable guide, old styl Columbus SLX sticker set, Cinelli spoiler BB shell and capital block letters. For you, this last two details are important for determining the year ’87. The question arises, are your script frame stickers original? I think the old styl block stickers could be restored without remorse. Of course with a Mavic set, with a little Modolo addition.
Oh and something else, in ’87 Bottecchia didn’t use start number eyes yet but full chromed seatstays, for you these would be fine too.
I know good old Greg... ... but in the other corner is a 100% teambike. I would think about that ...

This site and the guys that run it may be able to help.

Greg LeMond Fans - Greg's

They also have a facebook page where pictures are being posted all the time.

How did bike sponsorship work back then? I know a lot of the big names rode custom frames with sponsor decals, but did sponsors generally supply spares or team bikes for newer/neopro riders?

@Old Fireleg - It's funny that you mention the Paini-Bottecchia-Sidi team bike. I purchased this last year when I was going to do the 2020 Eroica California (which was cancelled for this year)

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...27074fc975.jpg

As for creating the Paini-Bottecchia-Sidi team bike. I am not 100% sure if my bike is an '87, '88 or even an '89. Another forum member here had a pic of their bike on an old post and he said it was an '87 so I reference of his bike. I cannot find a Bottecchia catalog that definitively shows what year my bike is. I definitely don't have the Cinneli spoiler on the BB shell though. I can easily remove the script "Bottecchia" letters as there is no clearcoat on them and replace them with the "BLOCK" style. Here is a link to the post that has lots of close-ups of my Bottecchia to look at. https://www.bikeforums.net/21563063-post80.html

Judge for yourself. Maybe you can determine what year it is :-)

@jamesdak - I have been to their website and saw a pic of the 1989 Bottechia, but it is the purple/yellow scheme that ADR used sometimes, not the iconic red/white.
@sheddle - the regular framed Bottecchia's (not the time trial farme) Greg L. used were built by Carnielli who owned Bottecchia. It was thought that Roland Sands might have built Greg's bikes during '89, but Roland was asked this same question and from several sources, he said, "no I did not build those bikes". The carbon bikes he rode durring mountain stages were re-badges TVT frames from France with Bottecchia stickers on them. The steel Bottecchias were Bottecchias.

Old Fireleg what do you mean by, "in ’87 Bottecchia didn’t use start number eyes yet but full chromed seatstays"? What are "start number eyes"?

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e11f3c5a06.jpg
Whose brilliant idea was white on yellow graphics?

I believe you mean Roland Della Santa.
Also known as race number eyes, brazed to the top tube.
Brent

Thanks Brent, for your help. Perfect decoding.:thumb: Suddenly I did a mirror translation of my own language.

Hello mate...I realise that I'm about 9 months delayed re: my response to this post/thread but I was led to this from your post within your Fakebook post upon the 'Greg LeMond fans' forum & am simply wondering how you fared with your pursuit of the remaining Mavic components that you were seeking &/or whether your build of the red/white Bottecchia SLX that Monsieur LeMond road in the 'standard' road stages of the '89 TDF with ADR-Agrigel?

I'd love to see how it looks if it's now completed & if you require anything else re: Mavic parts, I may be able to help...I went a bit overboard with my pursuit of all of my favourite Mavic SSC components from the late '80s & early '90s - 305 headset, 365/370 stems, 350/351 drop 'bars, 355/357 TT bars, 440/451 brake levers & calipers (& the Dia Compe levers that he also used in the '89 TDF), 820/821 downtube shifters (& the engraved SLJ version of the Mavic 820 shifters), 610 bottom brackets (114mm & 116mm), 631 'starfish' & the 631/2 cranksets, 860/862 front mech's (in both clamp-on & braze-on versions & also with the outline logo to match the 840/841 front mech' & the solid logo to match the 851 front mech'), 840/841 rear mech's & the 'erector set' 851 rear mech...& then also a heap of 571, 571/2 & 571/2 HG hubsets (in both 32H & 36H) w/ some proprietary Mavic cassette designs to fit the 571 & 571/2 freehubs...I still plan to use much of it for my 5 imminent 'tout Mavic' builds but a) I have more than double my requirements of almost everything & b) I like helping others when I can, particularly kindred spirits when it comes to cycling! As an example of the stupid amount of the components that I have, I have 6 x 840 rear mech's (as well as a VERY rare 841 with a longer cage) but only need 2 of them & I have 7 x 851 rear mech's but I only require 3, for my 3 x ADR-Agrigel '89 TDF builds...& I only require 3 x 820 shifters (again, for the ADR-Agrigel builds) & I have 3 of those but I have 2 of the Simplex SLJ shifters that I don't plan to use (although Greg did actually use the Simplex-engraved models in the '89 TDF but I'm a hardcore Mavic fan!) & then 6 1/2 sets of the 821 indexed shifters when I only need 2 sets of them - 1 with the composite style spacers (for the TVT92) & 1 w/ with the standard steel frame braze-on lug style spacers...it really was quite the addiction for me for a few years, even once I knew that I had more than enough of each component for all of the builds!!

OK, that's more than enough babbling from me but if I am able to help you in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me & hopefully I can help...but I'm actually hoping that you have finished the bike & I'd much prefer to see some photos of the finished product!

Cheers & best wishes from sunny "Down Under", mate...Matt.

PS. Sorry mate, just me again - but FAR less verbose this time...at least, I hope so!

When you mentioned the 355 headset, that must have been a typo, as the main BB from Mavic & the one that LeMond used in the '89 TDF was the 305, whereas the 355 is actually the matte grey 'bullhorn' bar, or the one that sat at the bottom of the TT setup that he used during the '89 TDF TT's, with the matching matte grey 357 aerobar/tri-bar sitting above it - which looked a great deal like the SCOTT aerobar that was attributed to Boome Lennon...but if you were referring to the 305 headset, then that doesn't require any proprietary tools to fit &/or adjust it, so perhaps you mean the 310 headset, as shown below upon the Velobase site?

VeloBase.com - Component: Mavic 310

And finally, re: the crankset that LeMond used in the '89 TDF, apart from the one that he used upon his neon yellow TVT92 during the one stage that's always shown in that same photo as above, I never saw him use anything but the 631 'starfish' upon both his Bottecchia Equipe SLX 'road stage' bike & Bottecchia Kronostrada Columbus AIR 'TT' bike...but just to confuse things some more, the site that I've linked below shows Greg's '89 World's bike that he rode to victory a couple of months after his miraculous comeback victory in the TDF, although the 'neon yellow' upon it seems to have faded horribly to become more of a dull lime colour but Mavic themselves swear that it's the very same bike. Anyway, the crank upon this bike seems to be the same crank as the one that we can see upon the neon yellow TVT92 during that stage in the '89 TDF & as it's completely flat - unlike the 630 & 635 crank arms, which have that centre section of them hollowed away to reduce weight - it instead seems to be an entirely different crankset that I've never been able to locate...?!

https://bikerumor.com/2014/08/05/bik...89-tvt-carbon/

So much for a more succinct reply this time, eh mate?! My apologies but hopefully I was able to help in some small way...?! And perhaps you have now solved this 'dilemma' with the crankset that he used, when I'm STILL unable to...?!

MAVIC had a non-fluted pista crankset called the 636 which looked very much like this. The pista cranks are mentioned but not shown in MAVIC catalogues of the very late 1980s. Still enough of them have surfaced to indicate they were a legitimate commercial product.

While the subject cranksets could be a modified pista crankset they could also be custom. Reportedly, the 630/635 cranks were based on SR forgings that were shipped to MAVIC who performed supplementary machining, including the fluting operations. This approach allows easy customized variations.

Hey T-Mar...nice work re: your phenomenal knowledge of this crankset, first off! Although I'm obviously aware of both the 630 & its triple-ring iteration, the 635, I wasn't even previously aware of the designation for the pista crank in question & nor is its even mentioned within the typically excellent Velobase website...

Yeah, I was actually going to paste the eBay link for a current listing of a 636 crank that I've now pasted below but I'd already written more than enough by then!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333965776...oAAOSwRz1gVbDJ

Between the identical shape & the fact that they each have the external chainring bolts - unlike the 631 & 632 - they would have to be one & the same, plus it would only have required 5 spacers to allow a second chainring to be added to it...I think that the 636 looks great, although I'm a very big fan of the 631 & 632, between their unique styling & concealed chainring bolts...

Anyway mate, thanks for teaching me something new today!

Going back to the OP's original post of 9 months ago, Lemond used various steel, non-TT frames during 1989 and at least one of them had the chrome plating plate stays, which gets him one step close to a replica bicycle. Here's a photo from that year's Paris-Roubaix.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b770c0bdf4.jpg