Bottecchia CF 78 Team Bike

Mark Heneson, like a lot of other people has seen the Bottecchia range of bikes and he and the others want to know if it would be a good idea to buy a Bottecchia CF 78 bike. We thing it is, but with some reservations. We explain here.

Question:
I have not bought a new bike in 20 years but I was in a crash and cannot fix my trek 1500. I am interested in the Bottecchia sprint CF 78 Team. This is a carbon frame bike with Dura-ace components. I am trying to determine if this is a good bike. Is This a high quality carbon layup? Why would a bike like this use alloy use alloy seat ppro ost, stem and handle bars? What can you tell me about Vuelta xpr wheel set? What else should I know about the bike?

Hi Mark,

Bottecchia used to make very nice frames in Italy, as did Motobecaine and Mercier in France. Now the names are all owned by companies in the U.S. and the frames are manufactured in Taiwan or China, this is not a problem as most carbon frames are made there, including some of the big name companies. Looking at the frame angles it has been built to a modern sporty design, as to the methods of manufacture you know as much as I do, Bottecchia don’t describe their manufacturing processes. Although they do have a good warranty, so they will exchange any problems, so it’s not a worry.

They use alloy bits to keep the price down, they are selling it at $1,750 and to get down to that price they have to use cheaper bits. The bike has Shimano Dura-Ace and carbon FSA cranks, these are top quality components and you know how much they cost in the shops? Add that up and it doesn’t leave much to spend on the other parts and the bars, stem and seat post are at the end of the queue.

The wheels are Vuelta and I have heard fairly good things about them, but they are built to a price and may not last too long, depending on how careful you are with them.

This is a very good buy for the equipment and I’m sure the frame and wheels will serve you well, maybe they are not the best on the market, but you might want to change them in a year or 2 anyway, as many people do with much more expensive frames and parts. I don’t think it would be a big mistake to buy this bike, but you might want to up grade later.