Help needed with vintage Bottecchia road bike replacement parts.

[Will.Evans.11]

A bike that nice also deserves some nicer shifters 105 ones of the right era aren’t too tricky to pick up, or as I presume you’re not using them with indexing with a 5 speed block and 8 speed derailleur, any decent pair of shifters would be an improvement looks-wise.

Of course I realise I’m adding an additional job there, but it is one that doesn’t require any special tools. Maybe one for the future.

I’d be curious to know what the wheels are; they definitely won’t be original as those would have been 8-speed. The hubs look like they could be Sachs or similar…

That is definitely something I'd like to look into in the future! The black plastic ones do look a little incongruous haha.

As for the wheels, I'd also be surprised if they were original. When I spoke to the bike shop it's currently at, they said that it was quite an unusual mix of components. Think I might get it back from the shop for a few days to try and properly determine what is *currently* on it.

 

[sjcprojects]

The brakes you have are from 1991 (if they are Shimano 600, which I think they look like - or could be 105), and I would guess the bike is from around that time, so those are probably original, and it would most likely have had a full 600 or 105 groupset on it when new. It would have had a 7 or 8-speed set-up.

It would certainly be interesting to see more photos...

 

[Will.Evans.11]

Both my derailleurs are Shimano 105, so I imagine it was once full 105! I'm going to get the bike back on Tuesday morning (too busy with work in the meantime, unfortunately ), so I'll get a whole load more detailed photos then and post them here.

I also found this 105 crankset that (appears) to be a similar vintage and to my eye I can't think of why it wouldn't work with my setup:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25644951...-9955-1659d0e1297d|iid:1|vlpname:vlp_homepage
What do you think?

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Hi all,

I'm new here, so unsure if this is the correct place to post! But I am in need of some help with replacing some parts on my vintage Bottecchia road bike.

Here it is:View attachment 832067

I bought it on eBay a few years ago from a very nice older gentleman, and I love it. But now its rear wheel/block needs replacing, as well as the crank set, as both are very heavily worn. But I am unsure of where to start looking for vintage parts, or how to be sure they will be compatible with my bike. Though with a cursory look on eBay, it does appear that similar Stronglight crank sets are somewhat available.

I'm quite young and something of a novice in this field, so I am looking for any advice or help where I can get it.

Here is another photo if it is any help
View attachment 832068

Thank you,
Will.

So you're quite young? Welcome. By that you mean you're probably under 50? Well, we welcome youngsters here. Be assured you'll get all the help you need!
Lovely machine BTW.

 

[sjcprojects]

That crankset is certainly the right era and should work fine. The only question is whether when the Stronglight one was fitted, they also changed the bottom bracket at the same time, but I would think that's unlikely. If they didn't change it, it'll almost certainly also be Shimano and will be perfect for the 105 crankset. I have the same one on one of my bikes, which is the original from 1994 and still going strong - it's a very solid groupset.

As the smaller ring on the one you've found is 39T, you won't notice too big a difference from the 36T on the Stronglight, unless you regularly do lots of steep climbs

 

[bikeworkshop]

The columbus badge will tell you the tubes used in construction, which will give you an idea of quality.
I think it's a moderately basic frameset from a high end brand - built up with whatever someone had lying around - it's too consistently inconsistent to be upgrades or maintenance.
The best way forward would be to work towards a consistent groupset, either the champagne 105 like the rear derailleur, or tricolore 600 like the brakes. Good investment too.

If you're near Bristol we have all this stuff.

But first you need to replace the pedals!
Then the rear wheel, chainset, saddle and shifters.
Sell the old parts to help the bill.

Paintwork is lovely, it will make a nice looking bike

 

[sjcprojects]

Your bike seems to have the paint scheme of the 1994 ZG Mobili – Selle Italia – Bottecchia team, like these ones:

https://premium-cycling.com/product...ntic-bike-of-carlos-maya-team-zg-mobili-1994/
https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/81365563
but there are some differences. It's definitely from 94 based on this, though. The sponsor decals on the chain stays at first made me think it might be an actual ex-team bike frame, but it doesn't have a brazed on number tag on the top tube (as those above examples do, like pretty much all pro bikes did at the time), so it's almost certainly not.

It does 'deserve' a nice set of wheels and other upgrades, but then that can be a slippery slope both time and money-wise so I guess those are things to think about in the longer-run once it's back on the road - although I have to say a decent set of 7/8 speed wheels with something like 105/600 hubs and Mavic rims can be picked up for not that much more than it'll cost to replace the freewheel at a bike shop. But I'm aware that I may just be over-complicating things when your aim is mainly to get riding again (which after all, is the most important thing, to actually ride it!).