1989 was not only the best TdF ever (in my opinion) but the best bicycles were being ridden. Fignon and team on Raleighs with delta brakes, real Pinarellos and Bottecchias. Before the flux of compact and aluminum there were lugs and steel.

peace

I agree, with the possible exception of the Scott TT bars on LeMond's bike...

about those bars and Lemond's bike. Specially designed dedicated TT bikes were not quite the norm and there was a slight "HARUMPH!!!!" factor amongst some riders about the American and his bike. The next year Lemond used those awful Scott bars with the extra bars extending toward the middle from barends (I can't remember what they were called). Thank goodness that bit of foolishness never caught on (HARUMPH!!!::D )

peace

It was a good year indeed.....

Fignon, despite losing the TDF that year, really was the superior rider of that year and outclassed LeMond all year long. All you have to do is look at their palmares -Milan San Remo, Giro, Tour of Holland, 2nd at TDF, major protagonist at worlds, GP des Nations. Need I say more? Non. Plus I think it was only appropriate that a Frenchman win the the TDF in the French Bicentennial year.

As for their machines....

I think the Raleighs looked awesome -especially the TT rigs with the gussetts. The only thing missing was a little bit of chrome and some Bottecchia-esque lug outline paining in contrasting colors. Plus it had a cinelli spoiler BB. I have gone so far as to design and cut up Raleigh replica decals to put on my Dynatech ti bike. Will take some pics of my retro modern ride and post soon.

The purple Bottecchias were a little too 80s with the neon but the red-white classic are just that, classic. But the script lettering is a must over the block type. The long point lugs, the chrome, and that spoiler BB shell. Mmmm....:thumbsup:

Honorable mention should go to the PDM Concorde rigs. They changed the paint the next year and it was a real shame. Guess what else it has? That bad-ass spoiler BB!

TakmanJapan

I love the Bottecchia....

I love the Bottecchia....

Me too.

When is the last time a rider won the Tour then went on to win the WC? I'll give you a hint, it was in 1989 ... ;)

Notwithstanding the 80's comment above, I'd buy a purple and yellow Bottecchia in a heartbeat.

This Is Sort Of 'off Topic' , But Here Goes ...

Does Anyone Know When Cinelli Brought Out The

'spoiler Bb' ?

My Ambrosi Frame (argentina - Not Ambrosio - Italy)

Has This Same Type As Shown In The Above Photos .

I Have Always Thought That My Bike Was '86/'87 ,

Having Come With A C-record First Generation Grouppo .

Sorry For No Pics , - No Camera & Can Only Recieve

But Not Send Email . Duh !


Regards,
J T

I agree, there was something special about the bikes ridden back then. Truly classic pieces. I own a purple and neon yellow ADR Bottecchia that I will never part with. Last night I watched a Lemond special on Versus. I remember in 1988 he was recovering from the shooting accident. He said he lost so much muscle he could hardly walk a few hundred feet without getting winded. He was signed by PDM but they dropped him because they thought he would never be the rider he once was. In 1989 Lemond was still trying to come back from being shot. Lemond said that at the '89 Giro he was getting dropped by riders he was dropping two years earlier. He went into the '89 Tour with the the "lofty" goal of finishing in the top 20 and maybe a stage win. Pretty amazing he was even near Fignon at the end. The only thing bogus is that he rode almost exclusively a TVT carbon fiber bike badged as a Bottecchia. The team, including a young Johan Museew rode the real Bottecchias. Museew was one of only couple of his team mates that even finished the race. Oh, and I read somewhere that Fignon's Raleigh was really a re-badged custom Cyfac.

as compelling for it's complete unlikelihood as any other comeback (that will go unnamed for fear of setting off a firestorm). He is a true sports hero and all-around nice guy. I can't say he didn't get enough attention because he cast a huge shadow in his day and was a gigantic influence on the cycling world (and it's pay structure).
I've seen those ADR Bottecchias on ebay quite a number of times and though I would like to own won I've never even bid...not quite sure why.

peace

They were called "Drop-ins"

When is the last time a rider won the Tour then went on to win the WC? I'll give you a hint, it was in 1989 ... ;)

Ummm.. the guy who won those two races won ONLY those two races that year....:p

When is the last time a rider won the Tour then went on to win the WC? I'll give you a hint, it was in 1989 ... ;)

Ummm.. the guy who won those two races won ONLY those two races that year....:p


and that was also before they moved the worlds to Sept-Oct

Ask any pro racer which two races they would most like to win. Guess which two they'll pick.

I HAD one of them Concordes in the PDM scheme. Needed rent $$ one month and sold it to a friend of a friend...

Saw it a few years later at the Fiesta Is 'Thursday Nite Worlds' and it was farging BEAT UP! My baby was darn near dead!! I died a little inside me that nite thinking what I'd done to her!

M

Just in case anyone is interested, I do have one of my Bottecchia's for sale over on the RBR classifieds...

I just saw your ad as I was taking mine down; you have no idea (well, actually, you probably do) how much it pains me that I cannot buy that bike this instant.

Cool bike, too big for me.

That LeMond rode that year that was actually made by Bottecchia was the TT bike. The steel flat-stage bikes were made (as were all of Greg's steel frames) by Roland Della Santa, and the climbing bikes were French TVTs, made to Greg's and Della Santa's dimensions.

The 1990 carbon bikes were badged "LeMond", but made by Craig Calfee at Carbonframes. Steel frame was still by Della Santa.

At least that's how I remember it.

The red/white/chrome Bot is, however, one of the best looking frames ever built. Chrome may not get you home, but damn... does it look good.

--Shannon

PS - The only racer pickier than Lemond about bike fit was probably Merckx. Sean Kelly, on the other hand... well, he looked like a sack of grapefruit on the bike. Fast as hell, and hard as rocks, to be sure, but an uglier position on a bike I've not seen. Lemond measured cleaner in the air on a regular road bike than most pros did on aero-bar equipped TT bikes. That's one of the reasons he was probably the best rider against the watch since Anquetil... who also had "perfect" positioning. It's a real shame Greg never went for the hour record.

I just took delivery in May of a custom Della Santa. I must have had five or six conversatons with Roland during the build process, each lasting at least an hour. A few of the conversations were about the bikes he built for Greg. Roland said he never built a rebadged Bottecchia for him. Roland said he built rebadged Huffy's, Lemond's and also Della Santas.

That LeMond rode that year that was actually made by Bottecchia was the TT bike. The steel flat-stage bikes were made (as were all of Greg's steel frames) by Roland Della Santa, and the climbing bikes were French TVTs, made to Greg's and Della Santa's dimensions.

The 1990 carbon bikes were badged "LeMond", but made by Craig Calfee at Carbonframes. Steel frame was still by Della Santa.

At least that's how I remember it.

The red/white/chrome Bot is, however, one of the best looking frames ever built. Chrome may not get you home, but damn... does it look good.

--Shannon

PS - The only racer pickier than Lemond about bike fit was probably Merckx. Sean Kelly, on the other hand... well, he looked like a sack of grapefruit on the bike. Fast as hell, and hard as rocks, to be sure, but an uglier position on a bike I've not seen. Lemond measured cleaner in the air on a regular road bike than most pros did on aero-bar equipped TT bikes. That's one of the reasons he was probably the best rider against the watch since Anquetil... who also had "perfect" positioning. It's a real shame Greg never went for the hour record.Mitsubishi Rayon built some of LeMond's bikes. I don't know if it was after he'd quit racing or not. Shop in Sandy Eggo had a Mitsu Rayon built carbon frame on the wall that fit, but I didn't have the $$ to buy it.

Same webbing as the Calfee.

I COULD be talking out my rear... Has happened before! (and its been a few years since I saw the frame)

M

Sorry for the confusion I seem to have created...

I was speaking about the bikes that Lemond actually rode in competition, not the bikes sold under the LeMond brand, which were built by lots of different companies over the years.

As to the ADR Bot's I hadn't heard that Greg actually rode a real one. I know Della Santa built the "Gitanes" he rode at Renault/ELF, and I'm pretty sure abut the steel Looks from the La Vie Claire era, but I could be wrong there. I always thought that all of Lemond's steel race bikes were built by Della Santa, regardless of whose name was on them, but it seems I'm wrong about that. Maybe the guy with the Della Santa (beautiful bikes, BTW) could get the straight scoop from Roland.

The weirdest example of this has got the be the "Huffy" that Hampsten won the 1988 Giro on. labeled a Huffy, team bikes were built by Serrotta, and Andy's bikes were built by Landshark. This sort of thing is less common than it used to be, as bike shapes have gotten more distinctive, but it still happens.

--Shannon

I had heard basically everything that you'd said and always wondered if it was true. So when I was talking to him about my bike I took the opportunity to ask him personally. I asked Roland if he built the Gitane that Greg rode in the 1983 World Championships and he said "No, it was a genuine Gitane." He said that some of the companies, like Hinault Bikes ridden by La Vie Claire for instance, demanded Greg ride the real thing. As for the La Vie Claire Looks, I don't know, we never talked about those but I thought they were TVT carbon fiber.

I had heard basically everything that you'd said and always wondered if it was true. So when I was talking to him about my bike I took the opportunity to ask him personally. I asked Roland if he built the Gitane that Greg rode in the 1983 World Championships and he said "No, it was a genuine Gitane." He said that some of the companies, like Hinault Bikes ridden by La Vie Claire for instance, demanded Greg ride the real thing. As for the La Vie Claire Looks, I don't know, we never talked about those but I thought they were TVT carbon fiber.

I have a 1988 carbon LOOK and the dopouts have a TVT stamp. I also have a 1989 LOOK and it's dropouts have a LOOK stamp. I believe that LOOK bought either the whole company or the remaining inventory of TVT..

I've never be able to find out who made the Reynolds 753 LOOKs. I've heard Scapin but haven't been able to confirm it.