Hey All,
New to the forum, new to road bikes. So, I'm told I have a pretty nice piece of Italian steel here. I was looking for a good steel bike to commute to work on and I found one that was also good looking! I bought it off of CL from a guy who seems to build up a lot of bikes and sell them. He told me it was an '89 team ADR replica. Been searching the previous posts and have learned a lot so far. But I'm wondering if I really have an '89 and I'm wondering wondering if he just made a really good looking bike and threw some stickers on it. Notice in the pics (I'm tired of reading these posts that start with you guys yelling at us guys about needing pics!! :-) ) that one of the championship stickers has a final date of '89 and one has a final date of '85...Also, I can't find anybody talking about a Bottecchia with Sachs gear on it. The serial number on the bottom has one number showing, painted over?? Is it really the Columbus Aelle tre tubi? Could you tell me a little bit about what I have here? I love the bike, do I have something nice? Also the rear cassette has 8 sprockets on it, thought these bikes could only get 6 or 7 in there?
Alright, I'll reserve the rest of my questions for follow up...Thank you, love the forum, looking forward to learning more!

Between the mix of campy/sach/gipiemmi components that are on there now, it is highly likely that someone changed out some of the parts at one time. THe sachs components were somewhat of a budget concession that makes sense on a lower tier aelle frame, they are probably original to the bike.
The '85 sticker is for a Bottechia winning the the Italian national championships, the 89 sticker for Lemond winning world championships. Is there perhaps another sticker to commemorate the 89 TDF win?

Those ADR replica frames came out in '89 and were available in at least three versions. Yours is the lowest level tubing, next up was SL with the chrome fork and chainstay, highest was SLX with internal top tube cable guides and chromed stays (although I've heard form other owners claiming to have an SL with internals and another with SLX and cable guides like mine). Mine's an SL, originally came with first year Athena in gray finish (also '89). Now has NOS 8 speed Dura Ace. All of them ride very nicely.

No, surprisingly enough the crazy kitbashed running gear is more or less how they came.


(not the image I thought it was, there was another one with the different component groups.)

I had one of these myself, mine had suntour radius shifters, tripmphe cranks and FD, and a suntour RD.







Here's an album with more images of mine, mostly after the clean and revamp- https://imgur.com/a/DGEPs

I gave her a clean and put a 9s veloce group on it. Sadly it didn't fit, so it lives in the bay area now and is ridden by a young man very excited to be on a supremely flamboyant piece of italian steel.




For whatever reason, I didn't think the lower level ones came around until AFTER Lemond's 89 tour win.

Here's the catalog page I was looking for, notice the aris and radius build groups:



Sourced here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...a-catalog.html
See also: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...a-catalog.html

My daughter has an Italian bike from about 1990, and yours reminds me of hers. It's a mid-level bike, or you could call it an entry-level racing bike. It probably cost half of what a "real" racing bike did and rides 90% as well.

Since the frame lists the years when Bottecchia bikes won championships, and it includes 1989, this must be a 1990 or later year. Right, folks?

Flamboyant in San Fran, ah yes, I see what you did there ...Some of my friends do like the paint more than others...
Thank you very much for the responses-I need to work on the engine a lot before I put any money into the bike, but being the frame that it is (for future reference) would y'all say I should leave everything as it is or is it worth putting anything into it? Also, I read in another thread that Bottecchia chromed the entire frame and then painted over it. I love the chrome bits, could I strip some paint to find polish-able chrome underneath?
Love the look of those wheels in one of the pics, could anybody suggest some not too expensive wheels to make the bike even better? And for that matter, could you tell me if better wheels make you go faster ? I'm working on the engine, but if doesn't help me get to work any faster or in more comfort, than I'm not too interested in spending much money...
Thanks again!

From what I have figured out so far, I would say that is a true statement. If you search Bottecchia in this forum, you'll find a ton of info on the bikes...My problem is that I didn't know where my bike fit into all that info...

Also, are these brakes any good? I had disk brakes on the mountain bike, so maybe I'm expecting too much. Or maybe I need to adjust them, but it seems like my stopping power sucks...

I linked both the 89 and 90 catalogs, only the 90 mentions the ADR color scheme.

The aelle frames (like ours) aren't chromed underneath. The ones with a chrome chainstay are fully chromed.

@snuffy76, beware of upgrade-itis. It is an infectious disease with some gruesome symptoms. Try not to catch it. If you want to dabble in upgrades, go for tires, which can make substantial differences.

Your bike is fine as it is, as long as it fits comfortably and rides the way you like it. Make changes as needed, and you'll know when you need something.

Bikes that are painted on top of chrome usually don't have nice, scratchless chrome under the paint. It usually doesn't pay to remove the paint from chrome, and you don't even know if there is chrome under your paint.

Weigh the wheels with the best scale you can get, and find out what weight wheels other people are riding for some perspective. Same with tires. But wheels are expensive and don't necessarily make a big difference. Tires are going to wear out, so you get to try new tires every so often. In fact, tires are so much fun (for me) to experiment with, durability is the least important criterion for choosing tires. I like them to ride well, most of all. Puncture resistance isn't even all that important, since I'm pretty handy at changing tubes, and I don't get many punctures any more.

It's not a high end bike, but it's no slouch, either. It's handsome, and it's in fantastic shape, and it's nicely made. The brakes might work well. We can't tell you, but you can tell us. If you don't think they stop well, buy Kool-Stop brake pads. There are no better pads, and they are inexpensive. We all love them. It's probably all you'll need to do with the brakes.

If you're curious about which tires to buy, start a new thread on tires. You'll get a huge variety of responses, some conflicting, and that's what makes things interesting. Tell us what criteria are important to you in tires.

You have a very nice racing bike. Don't get hung up on upgrading to "top-of-the line"-- that is very expensive and will yield an improvement that is barely --if at all-- perceptible. Top-end components are usually superior in their quality more than their design. The mid-range stuff usually works as well but over the long run will not last as well, supposedly anyway.
I would be more concerned about the bike's suitability for commuting. Racers are built to go fast and sacrifice all other attributes to that end. Their "utility window" is pretty narrow. The frames don't have enough clearance to run large tires (for bumpy road surfaces) or fenders (rain), and they don't have attachment points for luggage racks (if you want to carry anything). You can get crummy clip-on fenders and racks, but they won't work nearly as well and the bike was not made to maneuver with a load. It can be done of course, but it's not ideal. Your particular commuting situation will determine what type of bike would be best. For the Bottechia, with good road surfaces, a very light load (in a small backpack), and fair weather would be best, and it would probably work quite well. For rough streets, moderate loads, or rainy conditions, it would be rather inadequate. You can clamp lights to any bike for night riding.

Some of us like commuting on racing bikes, and snuffy76 didn't even say he intends to use it for commuting.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION], Yeah my first post was a bit wordy, but I am commuting with it. As a matter of fact, due to 2 jobs, 2 kids, a wife, a dog and 8 chickens, the ONLY riding I do is commuting to work. That was the idea, I was trying to figure out a way to get in shape without removing time from other things...I'm also exclusively on the W&OD trail and never dare venture into traffic! I'm def not getting hung up on upgrading, just curious about the value of it based on the frame I have...but the advice is still well taken. Thank you! (btw, remember the psychic cafe on 10th st & 7th ave? I used to bar tend there for a while! :-) ) [MENTION=140427]kroozer[/MENTION], Thanks for the response! I treat the commute like a time trial, I've got everything I need staged at work. So, at the most, I've got a light back pack and I'll probably get some kind of seat bag to replace that. So, I don't "need" the utility bike, I just want to go fast as possible. I AM interested in a seat and possible aero bar set up though if I can make it comfy... As I get more into the lifestyle, and get farther out on my start points I might think about adding a better bike for the mission to the stable, but for now I like the bottecchia! If it looks like rain, I just drive :-)
I've also realized and learned the gains from spending money pail in comparison to pedaling faster...but I was curious if changing wheels made a significant difference. I'm going to take noglide's advice too and figure out the best tires to run as well...
Thanks again!

btw, I think I paid $600 for it last year off of CL, everyone think I did ok? I'm thinking after research, it might of been a little much...

Price is irrelevant if you feel you received good value.

Please, no aero on the W&OD. Great way to harm yourself or spear an innocent MUP user.

Agreed! Besides, the money is spent. Now the question is how to use the bike in the best way possible.

Please explain? How much danger of collision is there?
[MENTION=375512]snuffy76[/MENTION], thank you for the clarification. A lot of people lean very practical and don't recommend your approach. but a lot depends on individual style. I am now using a 1982 McLean racing bike for commuting and errands. I recently installed a front rack and panniers. The front tire is a 25mm, and now that has to change. Riding over cobblestone streets in my neighborhood led the bike to tell me to ride gently, so I did. I'm going to put a fat tire in front. Nevertheless, this McLean is a perfectly fine bike for my many purposes. I'm also using it to train for track racing. I can cruise on this bike, with a load, at 19mph. I plan to increase that speed.

My point is, try commuting on it. If you're like me, it will be great. If not, get another bike, or modify it to suit you. That's all!

Tom, it's too narrow, too populated, and too full of slow moving, wandering, baby stroller pushing couples and singles and dog walkers with long leashes. Every time I ride the W&OD I expect to see a horrific crash. It's truly a MUP, people just need to respect that and not treat it like their private race facility.

OP, you do have a very nice bike there. I have owned my Bottecchia since 1989, when I bought it new. The only upgrade I have done to it was to change the original Campy groupset to Campy Athena 11 speed.

Don't worry about using 7, 8 or 9 speed. The rear spacing in your bike is probably 130 mm, which allows for all of those speeds.

Good luck to you and happy riding your "new" Bottecchia.

point well taken, i haveseen the scenario youspeak of. as it is now, i ride as fast as possible, but i slow way down andcall out when passing Walkers. if i was in the Aero position approaching slower traffic, i would treat it the way i do now whenI'm in the bottom of my drops, far away from the brake levers. i would slow down and sit.up and cover both brake levers with 2 fingers. seemslike it would be ok with that attitude, but maybe with experience.I'll come to agree with you. neverthe less, thankyou!

Oh, so no riding as if aero matters. I thought you were saying there was a risk of spearing people.

These bikes are 126mm- I had to coldset mine.

Mine is 130mm. I had no problem fitting an Ambrosio Excellence wheel with a Record hub and an 11 speed cassette.

It's great that yours came set at 130mm, but unlike you, I can speak to the actual bike the OP is riding- I've had two of them now, both with aelle tubing in the ADR colors, and both were 126mm. I'd wager his is as well.

Any ideas on the SL2 designation on Bottechia frames?