Vintage Bicycle: Early 1970s Bottecchia De Luxe

A Facebook Marketplace find
The pictures on Facebook appeared to show an old bike in unusually good shape. Sure, time had dulled the aluminum parts (stem, brakes, levers, handlebars), but the steel frame, components, and mounting hardware looked rust free, making it a unicorn of sorts. Or at least a Pegasus. So I set up a meeting with the seller and bought it.

It reminded me of Greg LeMond's famous time trial bike
Bottecchia, an Italian brand, isn't well known in the US. But in 1989, many Americans saw news segments and photos of Greg LeMond racing against the clock on a red and white Bottecchia. It was newsworthy because he accomplished the unimaginable--he came back from a 50-second deficit to win the Tour de France on its final day by a scant 8 seconds.

Miracle man

It's important to note that Greg LeMond had nearly died from a horrific hunting accident two years earlier, so his participation in the grueling, 2000-mile, 21-day race was already a miracle and ripe for news coverage.

To be clear, though, the Bottecchia pictured here never saw any racing glory. The De Luxe was an entry-level model. Nevertheless, it's still beautiful, and it hearkens me back to when...

LeMond's inspiring story launched my humble racing career 

I happened to be sitting in front of a television when one of the networks broadcast the final stage of the '89 Tour. Quite by accident, I shared the experience with my girlfriend at the time and her roommate, Suzy. All three of us cheered aloud for the American racer, even though we had never heard of him and had never even watched professional bicycling before.

When the broadcast ended, Suzy asked me if I raced bicycles. Surprised and flattered, I said I didn't.

"Why not?" she asked. "You ride all the time."

I didn't have a good answer for her. But the truth was, I'd never once considered competing before, and I wasn't even sure bike races came to our corner of Ohio.

But that exciting broadcast had made anything seem possible, so I asked myself, Why not? Why don't I try racing? And a few weeks later, after some research and sleepless nights, I entered my first road race (on a sport-touring bicycle I'd bought from Sears). And that was all it took. I fell in love with the sport.

They say, "Never meet your heroes"
Many years later, I met Greg LeMond and shook his hand. I was so star struck, I barely got my first name out. Thankfully, he seemed to understand. And after he signed a poster for me, he gave me a kind smile. Despite the old adage--Never meet your heroes--he was a really nice, down-to-earth guy.

I was honored to have met him and delighted when he told some racing stories, while I stood there just a few feet away.

I never made the headlines, but...
A decade of here-and-there racing, sandwiched between real responsibilities, never earned me more than a few medals and trophies. But those little victories were some of the most confidence-inducing accomplishments of my 20s and 30s; in part, because I hadn't participated in organized sports as a kid (and regretted it); and, in part, because the fast and dangerous sport of bicycle racing allowed me to momentarily escape my cautious and quiet personality. Racing enabled me to see a more daring side of myself, a side I liked, in moderation.

Back to this old, red bike
After 50+ years, the Bottecchia's grease and oil had dried up completely. So I disassembled everything (except for the bottom bracket--a local bike shop took care of the cotter pins and rebuild for me), and I was delighted to find all the cones and races were pit free. Even the bearings themselves appeared pristine (when examined beneath an inspection microscope). So I reassembled everything with new grease and patiently adjusted the load on the bearings. Afterwards, I polished all the chrome and aluminum parts (except for braking surfaces) with Turtle Wax All-Metal Polish and buffed the paint with Meguiar's Cleaner Wax.

Restoration challenges
The rear derailleur's pulleys (brittle, old plastic) were cracked and missing teeth. And Shimano replacement parts wouldn't fit the vintage French derailleur because the bolts that held the original Simplex pulleys were too large in diameter.

 

Fortunately, after searching through blogs, I heard of a place, Love City Cycles, that manufactures conversion kits with wider bushings and drilled out caps. They sell these kits on Ebay, and those modified pulleys fit perfectly.

I also had some issues maintaining the correct tension on the rear friction shifter. It would loosen slightly after several shifts, resulting in chain noise. I have since read that a bit of blue Loctite on the bolt threads will remedy this, and I'm eager to try that in the spring. Note: later Simplex shifters (1971, for example) came with thumbscrews to help with this problem.

Specs as pictured:

 
Weight: 30.1 lbs / 13.65 kg
Frame: lugged steel, fully chromed then selectively painted (no decal declaring metal composition)
Wheels: 27-inch, 36-spoke, steel rims with textured braking surfaces; aluminum QR hubs
Crankset: 3-piece, steel, cottered
Chainrings: steel, 52, 44
Freewheel: steel, 14, 17, 20, 24, 28
Shifters: Simplex, friction, pre-1971 (no thumbscrews to adjust/hold tension)
Front derailleur: Simplex
Read derailleur: Simplex
Pedals: MKS AR-2 (replacements; original steel rat traps were not serviceable)
Seatpost: Origin 8 (replacement; original clamp had nonstandard rail width)
Saddle: Origin 8, Sport Uno-S (replacement; original "Grand-Prix" no longer had padding/cover, only a timeworn plastic base)
Stem: aluminum, 90mm
Handlebars: aluminum, 37 cm (c to c) at drops, 39 cm at hook ends
Brakes: Universal, brake pads are replacements, same color
Tires: 27 x 1 1/4, Carideng (made in Belgium), reinforced nylon, original and still hanging in there

Bell: Crane, Suzu mini copper (new, and wondering if I'll still like it after it patinates)

 

What year is this bike?
I'm not sure. I searched images, blogs, resale sites, and interest groups (foreign and domestic) and narrowed it to 1970-1971, based on catalog images from other years and educated guesses.

Please help if you can
If you know vintage Bottecchias well and can pinpoint the date of manufacture, please enlighten me (and others) in the comments below. Thank you so much.