CroMo Mike 

Very impressive job of bringing her back from that condition!

SurferRosa

Here's it is as-purchased yesterday with a full Tri Color 8-speed STI group (except pedals).


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The bb shell reads SL 03191 59. I assume it's a 1991 59cm Columbus SL tubed Professional. Thoughts, @T-Mar?
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Right now, the plan is to swap component groups between this bike and my too-small '87 Falcon with its beloved Victory/Triomphe/Athena. Side note: do we just call this stuff "Corsa era"?

I just purchased some gray cable housing for the Triomphe non-aero levers. But @tyler_fred has me thinking I should have gone with all white. One day, I'll find some Campy aeros. White hoods would look pretty slick.

georges1

nice bike what about the first generation of campy record with shamal wheels,delta brakes and syncro II shifters?

SurferRosa

T-Mar reached out and thought it was an early '90s bike as well. I just check the date codes on the tri-color stuff, and they're all from late (sept-dec) in '91.
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Chuckk

Not as pretty as the classic Bottecchias, But maybe somebody knows about later ones.
I believe this is from the late 90's - close to the 1999 end of Carnielli ownership.
Bottecchia "Reparto Corse" of Columbus Brain tubing.
Components aren't going to help date it, because it was an inheritance, and the frame and loose parts were taken to a shop to be assembled.
Nice stuff, Ultegra 9sp with D-A hubs. Serial 55A276


Bottom bracket is Italian as is the serial number style

I started a thread on it when I got the bike, but it went nowhere - I'm hoping that posting in the brand thread might attract some info.

tendency

Any of you with an 80s-early 90s 63cm that's thinking of selling, well, you know where to find me

SurferRosa

Took me a week to move the '80s Campy off one bike onto my new '91 Bottecchia SL.













I love it. Feels fast on these narrow GP5000s and new 32h Sun rims. The Triomphe/Victory shifting over the new 7-speed cluster is as crisp and quiet as ever. Really gotta be on your toes with the quick steering on rough pavement. Unlike the bike this will replace, there's no toe overlap, which is so welcome. The only drawback is I can't remove an inflated rear wheel from the frame, even this 25mm that measures 23.5.

tendency

dang - that's a real beaut!

botty kayer

RIP my 57cm 89 Bottecchia from a few pages back, crash dented top and down tubes and dinged fork.

I still have all the groupset working fine and all fixtures and fittings, so thought, what the heck lets venture into ebay to see if there's anything suitable as a replacement.....there was.

I've not got it yet, its currently on its way to me from Italy. It differs from my previous one in that this is a much better fit for me, seat tube 60.5cm and top tube 58 compared to my old 57cm one. Other differences are the tubing, my last one was SLX, and this newer larger frame is SPX. This new one has the block Bottecchia decal, rather than the curvy italic ones I had previously. To be honest I prefer the italic script but its a minor detail.

The only other differences are my old one had the rear brake cable routed through the top tube, and this new one has external rear brake cable routing, and this new one has some extra Bottecchia decals on the fork and seat stays that my old one did not have..

This new one I was also told is an ex team frame,as per top tube decals, which cant be relied upon of course as they could have been added any time. But I have heard here the team ones did have the external brake routing. The decals on the top tube say ADR Bottecchia, and the frame seems to have the same Carnielli 80's anniversary sticker (1939-1989) as my 89 model. 1989 of course being the year Lemond won his 2nd TDF.

I was told this frame belonged to ex Italian pro Marco Lietti, but from what I can see he never rode for ADR. He did ride for Malvor/Bottecchia for 88/89, but not ADR. Was Malvor more of a 2nd tier team? The bottom bracket has Lietti stamped on it. I don't know what color scheme bikes the Malvor Team rode in 88/89, but if they did ride this classic red and white color scheme, he wouldn't have been riding a bike with ADR decals surely.

Like myself Marco was a larger gent, so the frame seems about his size, and the 60.5 x 58 stamped on the other side of the BB shell to one pictured below, seems a specific size, they didn't normally do off the shelf frames in 0.5cm increments did they?

Marco seemed to be more suited to the classics, and rode only for Italian teams, it seems as a domestique during his 10 year pro career. He did have a moment of glory in 91 when riding for Arisotea he got in a break with Lemond and beat him in the final stretch to win stage 16 of the 1991 TDF.

I attach the pics I have from the original listing, the decals seems in line with the period and from what I can gather it appears to be of 89 vintage. Any thoughts on the ADR/Malvor decal mix up? Was Marco maybe originally scheduled to ride to ADR and they made a frame for him, but then maybe his place on ADR was taken and he was bumped down to Malvor? DId he ride for ADR for some one off races? I'm not really bothered about the pro history as I wanted a replacement frame for the one I had, but any extra pro history would definitely be an added bonus so I'd be interested in any thoughts from the BF groupetto

botty kayer

Oh and the eagle eyed may spot the BB shell looks to have been faced at approx 45 degrees, as used with old Mavic groups, so looks like bike had a Mavic groupset, which ADR rode in 89. The chainstay has an old Mavic decal.

botty kayer

And the Elite bottle cage looks original too, and I have just been on ebay and managed to find a red one too, so have snapped that up

georges1

A very nice frame and nice bike, nice to see mavic cxp30 rims laced to da hubs, the cxp 30 rim quality is legendary. Enjoy your bike

cfernandez 

Botty

I was wondering what happened to your Bottecchia when I saw a recent post of your showing your collection of bikes and the Bottecchia was missing in the pictures. Unfortunate on the crash, but it looks like that you got a proper fitting replacement with a cool little story with it. Cheers and no more crashing!

BTW, hope you did not hurt yourself in the crash.

botty kayer

Thanks cfernandez, I had cracked ribs, unfortunately I'm at an age now where I don't bounce off the road I break, so amen to no more crashing, by me or anyone else.

Obviously just got the nervous wait now and hope the new ones survives the journey through the perils of the Italian and UK postal system

botty kayer

Well the frame arrived, and I've waxed it and polished the chrome and its buffed up lovely. I've got it running 20 speed Campag, mostly Chorus but with Record brakes and hubs with Ambrosio Excellence rims and 28c Turbo Cotton tyres. 3T bars and stem and the classic Mavic Starfish crankset as ridden by ADR/Bottecchia in 89. I've had to fit 10 Speed Stronglight rings to get it running smoothly with the more modern groupset. A few modern touches to make it ride and stop better than the original, but still a classic looking 80's Italian with lashings of chrome and nice details.





Delighted to have found a matching original red cage on ebay to go with the white one that came with the frame, and that Starfish cranks looks great.

And as the sun was out I thought I'd give it a shot with some shiny Shamal wheels.

2cam16

^^^^ That's a beaut!

martl

My "Team Hoonved" replica. Full SR with some enhancements - Almarc leather wrapped bars, ICS shifters.
as local hero Didi Thurau rode for Hoonved (and the matte black/chrome finish is pretty sexy) they were in high demand. So much so that apparently this frame, as witnessed by some paint chips in the BB area, originally was red and got repainted at the factory before shipping.

Original first hand owner had it converted to 3x at some point, i re- equipped it with SR parts but kept the newer clincher wheels (also Campa Record)

botty kayer

Saddle angle above was slightly off, so today's ride resolved that.

Since I've got the new frame and seen it up close, I thought it would be useful to document some of the differences between my previous 89 Bottecchia and this (alleged) Team one. I've already previously noted the Team one has external top tube routing compared to the internal top tube routing on my previous frame. This Team one also has extra Bottecchia decals on the fork and chainstays, and has what looks like period correct Regina, Wolber and Mavic stickers



My previous one had cut outs on the chrome lugs on the headtube and seatstay lugs, while the Team one has no cut outs on the chrome headtube and seatstay lugs.

Also my old one had longer painted red 'socks' on the chainstay, where the red paint goes beyond the lugs, seen here:

The Team one has red ankle socks, with the red only going as far as the lug....

And finally, on my old one, and all the other non Team ones I recall seeing, the italic 'B' on the top of the fork crown was painted in white. but on the Team ones the 'B' is painted red.

I've got these 2 Mario Schifano jerseys designed for the 89 TDF to wear.

The dots on the KOM one has profiles of famous mountains from the tour.

cfernandez 

I finally got around to putting on the MAVIC components I had. I thought I would cheat and use the Campagnolo BB I had for the MAVIC crankset, but my Campagnolo spindle was too short for the MAVIC crankset. Therefore, the Campagnolo crankset stayed. Here it is on it's maiden ride with a San Diego vintage bike club a few weeks back.




After talking to a few members of the club, one of them told me that California Bicycle, Inc in La Jolla, California has the MAVIC tool to chamfer the bottom bracket so I can install my BB and crankset. They also have the proper tool to install my MAVIC headset. Joy! Went there the following week and dropped it off at 11:00 am and picked it up at 5:00 pm that day. The owner of the shop and the father of the family owned business did the job. He said that he worked as a mechanic on the Tour in the past and had not seen MAVIC components in a while or used his MAVIC tools for an equal amount of time. He really liked the bike.



I just have to get new tires and period MAVIC wheelset for this to be done, at least for now. I have also added a black Avocet computer after this photo was taken, maybe I can find a red one in the future. It is obviously not a replica of what Lemond rode, but is as close as I probably will get it. The brakes calipers and levers are Modolos, just a paintjob (if you remove the paint and polish) away from the MAVIC 440's that are on Lemond's bike. I like the 630 crankset I have and don't know if I will get the "Starfish" later.

romperrr 

Those are indeed tight clearances between the rear wheel and seat tube. Lots like a beautiful, quick bike.

Chombi1 

Here's my 89 Chorus SL with full first gen Chorus, but with black hoods if you want to see what it might look like with such. I went with the black hoods as I did not have any white ones in my stash when I built the bike. I don't think it looks bad with the black Concor Supercorsa saddle, but maybe white one would be the ideal if you go with a white saddle.......

What I really like about these late 80's Bottechias is, they still had a lot of chrome on their frames, at the time most manufacturers were not putting chrome on their bikes anymore,

Chuckk

When I was trying to find out more on my "Turn of the Century" Bottecchia, I did a lot of internet searching and found out some of the modern history.
Carnielli sold Bottecchia to "A group of entrepreneurs" in 1999.
I know i saw team Bottecchias in some of the Italian races in the last few years.
They seemed to have developed a successful E-bike, which led to their
Purchase by Fantic Motor (Scooters) in 2022
Within a couple months, the Bottecchia factory had a giant fire in the middle of the night.
(Hummmm)
And Fantic also owns the Rossin name.
This is what I remember reading, and corrections and additions are welcome!
(If you missed my '99? Bottecchia posting, I'm still looking for input!)

Mr.Toolbox

Here's my bike. Does any one know which year it might be from?

SurferRosa

For this '91 SL, I added a new Cinelli stem/bars, Athena/Chorus brakeset, white pedal straps, and Fizik tape.



My biggest decision was white or black bar tape. (First world problems...)



Looove the ride. So smooth. Braking is now excellent. Pretty close for this build being complete.

styggno1

Since the early to mid 80ies I have longed for a certain Bottecchia. At that time here in Stockholm, Sweden, there was an Estonian guy who had a small "hole in the wall" bikeshop and he imported Bottecchias. His reputation spanned from being a total con man to being super nice. To me he was super nice. For those of you who are familiar with the lyrics of Sixto Rodriguez song "Cause" you will get the picture...

Already then I was into vintage bikes and he was sharing knowledge, anecdotes and sold me (cheap) the parts that I needed. I have heard of others who paid dearly for crap and felt cheated. Who knows what caused this discrepancy.

The first time I saw a "Team Malvor" colour scheme Bottecchia in his shop I was stunned. Stunned. At that time I was into less is more and this was sort of highly forbidden porn... "I should not like this... but oh... does it feel good..."

Since then I have collected vintage bikes for 40 years and as you might notice I have now changed my header from "39 years and 39 bikes" to 40 years and 40 bikes.

I put this frame to 1984 or early 1985. I base this on:
1. The paint and decals. After careful scrutiny of paint and decals they are without a doubt original. The decals that are boasting world championships end at 1966 and the decals commemorating Italian championships end at 1967. I e - not the later decals - starting with the 1985 worlds and continuing further years.
2. Columbus decal type (pre 1984 - but they probably had some older decals for a while). This means SL - or more likely, considering the frame size - SP.
3. Under the BB cables (catalouges and "Team Malvor" team cards show a transition period 1983 to 1985)
4. No portacataena rear drop out (being phased out 83-84).
5 (weak point but anyway) Only one bottle cage holder.
6. Braze on front derailleur (post 1982-83).
7.The head tube badge is a decal. During this time the team named frames seem to have decals. Before and after there seem to be badges - no firm evidence here...)

I have written it here over and over again - Sweden is not the place for high end vintage bikes. For reasons told before. But when found they are cheap. This was cheaper than most. Complete bike with a hodge podge mix of good condition 80ies Chorus and 8V 90ies Veloce. Sold at auction for the equivilant of 200 USD...








A quest has come to an end. A time to celebrate and at the same time a bit of grail emptiness. I do have some other hobbies and within another hobby I wrote this some years ago:

"Do not surrender to - what I have named - "grail emptiness". The feeling of meaninglessness and anxiety that can hit you when you have reached one of your goals. The emptiness and sometimes disorientation has its explanation.

Take comfort in the knowledge that collecting is not solely about the possession of things. It is as much, or more and for some, maybe to the full extent - about the quest. The research, the hunt, the journey, meetings, contacts - and the dreaming.

You are not alone in your grail emptiness. I would say we all suffer from it in different ways and forms. I tackle it by finding a new grail to covet and long for. Sometimes I alternate between hobbies to find new inspiration.

I found this some time ago and I think it is well put:
“The main thing is that I discovered that half the fun of owning a watch is, like the fulfillment of all desires, about the pursuit –shopping around is fun and ownership is the beginning of something, but also the end.” Jack Forster, Contributor, Forbes Magazine"

End of (self quote).

I have gathered a set of a very early C-Record (1984 crank arms, etc) for a 1984-5 De Rosa frame that I have. BUT it might going in the direction of this frame instead.