Italian Job anno 1991

Named after the winner of the Tour de France 1925 and '26, Bottecchia (Ottavio) bicycles are still produced in Italy.
My road-bike is her 20th year and still in perfect condition. Altough not a premium cycle,it's real joy to ride
Not marked "Hi-Ten" steel tubing for the frame by Italian mass-producer Biemme,Miche fork-neck bearing-set,Miche hubs&skewers,Mavic eyleted inox rims and inox spokes,Miche Monolith crankset and 6-speed casette,as I can figure out we have a DID(?)chain,Suntour Blaze Accushift front&rear derailleurs,Modolo Mach1 brake-set and brake-levers,Carnielli (the own name of the bike's manufacturer)heat treated alu handlebars,SR seatpost and SelleItalia saddle. All this weights 26 lbs/11,5 kg

few more pics

Bottecchia

That is a sight for sore eyes - lovely. How long have you had it? How did you acquire it?

I have a very soft spot for Bottecchias - my third proper road bike was an SL-tubed model, which has recently passed away (cracked half-way round the seat stay, courtesy of the rust-moth, after too much winter abuse). I can still recall the excitement at seeing it for the first time - beautiful red paintwork freshly waxed and gleaming - love at first sight.

They often seem to have quite steep head angles and mine certainly was very 'responsive' (or nervous?!).
I love the script font on yours. Well done for keeping it in such great condition.

David

luckily preserved

Hello David!
Not only books (lat.:Habent sua fata libelli) and people,but even objects -such as bikes- have their own fortune.This bicycle was sold as new in Austria,but soon after the first owner left the country:moved overseas,so the bike remained unridden for circa 15 years -luckily enough stored in a dry place.The parents of that guy took Boti to a nearby second-hand cycle reseller,where from it was picked up and delivered to my country.I purchased it a few years ago. Regarding to the excellent,almost unridden,absolutely rust-free(I'm quite sure it was never used among moist circumstances) state the approx.90Ł (converted to your currency) price was not extreme...
Rides fantastic,handles perfect -I'm really fond of this cycle!
Italians know something about vehicles(foods&meals,fashion,wines,etc)

Hi!
Intresting read, I have an OLMO which I knew very little about due to it being modified into a single speed and resprayed, Your frame looks almost exactly the same!! I wonder if they were produced in the same factory?
Stu.

same genetics

Hello!

I wouldn't be surprised,if your Olmo and my Bottechia were almost the same,just like twins. Even the producer of the Bottechia bikes let the frame-manufacturing to a mass-producer: it was Biemme. So it is very likely,that Italian bike-frames under other names were made/built in larger numbers
on the very same factory line...
It is a well known industrial practice called "badge engineering",for instance in auto-industry: Opel-Wauxhall(etc.)

fdoc

Yeah that is what I was thinking? Does your bike have a 1" headset? That was confusing me as it has the later allen key brake set up.
Cheers,
Stu

headset size

Yes,that's the size of the headset.

and nicely equipped.
The Mach1 is not bad for a single pivot, the blaze should shift amazingly well

were speculating on upgrade

When I bought this bike,I was about to upgrade it with Shimano or Campa parts from the same era. Riding it a few times the Bottecchia convinced me,that the factory equipment configuration is quite OK