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1980's Bottecchia, which model is this?
Posted by
@The_Finnisher
Posted by
@The_Finnisher
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
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So, what happened was that I bought this 61cm Bottecchia today:
More pics here: https://imgur.com/a/iKg1sHF
I probably overpaid, but the frame seems to be the right size for me and it's pretty comfortable to ride.
My first question is does anyone know which model it is? It reminds a lot of this Tour from 1989 catalog, but it is probably older:
Catalog: https://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/txsaarin/katalogit/bottecchia89.pdf
I think at least the rims and stem are not original.
My second question is, do you see it worth restoring (with a reasonable price, few hundred euros (not including new paint job))? Everything seems to work (gears, brakes etc.) The paintjob is obviously in pretty bad condition and I'm worried about the rust. It looks like there's chrome underneath the paint as seen in the pics. Not sure what to do about the paintjob though; try to remove it all or try to remove the existing rust spots somehow?
Also the brakes feel kind of stiff, though I don't know if that's just how they're supposed to be. I rode early 90's Bianchi a while back which had Campagnolo Xenon brakes and brake levers and those felt super light compared to these. The ones on this bike really require force whereas with the Xenon a light pull with two fingers was enough. But maybe the brakes just needs some maintenance, like the rest of the bike.
I would love to restore the bike, but I have zero experience so I have no idea what I am doing :D But you need to start from somewhere, right?
I would be really interested to hear your thoughts and all tips (youtube videos etc.) are welcome.