Having never worked on bikes before I decided to learn with a restoration of this Bottecchia bike (`1986?). The bike was in pretty rough shape before I started working on it. Losts of mismatched parts. I stripped the bike down, and had the frame media blasted, then powder coated white. Then I added the red fade in a spray booth (rosso corsa). I found a company in the UK that sold the decal, applied them, and put a 2k clear coat over everything. I polished up the campy drive train, wet sanded when I needed to, then used a metal buffing wheel and polish to really bring out the shine. I removed the paint using an angle grinder from the stem and polished that up as well. The brakes were in pretty good shape and just needed a polish along with new brake pads. New components include the wheels (27"), tires, saddle, brake levers, freewheel. I found a SunTour NOS 7 speed on ebay to give me another gear, while still keeping the 126mm spacing.
I gave it the christening ride in the catskills last weekend, 62 mi, 3800 elevation. with a 42 – 23 gear ratio, the climbs were all out of the saddle.
This is my first bike build and I learned a lot in the process. I was on a budget for the build, obviously it would be nice to get some sweet campy hubs, and pedals, maybe one day in the future. I didnt know where to post it, hopefully you all dig it here! Good to keep a bike out of a landfill!
by Capital_Security_119