Old Red

This Bottecchia frame was a swap meet find. It sort of fell into my hands the same way lots of pieces do. I had been looking at it trying to figure out the age and style, and as you can tell from the head lugs, it doesn't look like any of the 60's era frames.

Many of the typical and familiar Bottecchia traits are found; paint over chrome frame, lugged in an industrial style, and half chrome on the fork and stays. Because of the non-descriptive stamped dropouts, I figured it was a club racer of some sort and offered a commensurate amount of cash.

It wasn't until I got home that I realized this was probably somewhat unique. The head badge itself is considerably different from the bike boom Bottecchia badges. It has a single crank stamped with BIR (I think - the strike was half-assed) - a marque I've not been able to find any information about. The seat tube has a unique Giro d'Italia decal. It also has Ballila brake calipers and an average set of steel bars - which is what suggests club racer to me.

It polished up to a very nice patina, even with a number of scratches. It appears to have been well used. But with no other evidence of rust, I think I'll just rebuild it as is. The bottom bracket was simple to rebuild and spins easily. The dropouts align perfectly, so I imagine it was a well maintained machine.


I already have appropriate Ballila brake levers and I think I'll go with a Cyclo rear derailleur and a 4 speed freewheel. Hubs and rims should be easy to find for this era - suggestions are welcome.

I've only seen a couple of Bottecchia's older than the fairly common 60's frames, so this is difficult to date. But the components and the lack of any other decals found on US import bikes suggests it probably made its way to the US via a more unique method - possibly eBay from Europe.


I have a feeling that when this one is complete, it will ride like butter. It will no doubt be riding on a set of non-anodized tubular rims and my favorite workhorse tubular tires (Servizio Course - what a great name) from Yellow Jersey - the venerable bike shop found on State Street in Madison Wisconsin.