Every so often, well, quite often actually, a really interesting bicycle makes it’s way into Edible Pedal. Generally, the most interesting ones, to me, come in the form of touring bikes and bikes built for some type of off pavement use. Sometimes these machines come only as frames.. of which Edible Pedal has quite a few. Doing custom builds from this frame selection is really what we do there. One day, while sifting through all of the frames, I came across one that had been there for a while, but had some how escaped my notice; ironic, since it’s day-glow, mid-eighties, yellow and purple paint job stuck out like a monkey in Alaska. It was a Bottecchia Cyclocross in 57cm; my size. Now, I really don’t have a thing for cyclocross, to me there are far better ways to pedal along dirt trails, many better ways. However, I was looking to build something up for a commuter and to possibly hit up some of the dirt trails down by the river.
The Bottecchia’s paint had to go, however.. I had John Boyer send the frame up to our powder coaters’ for a nice, light blue treatment that was easy on the eyes. For the wheels, I chose a matching pair of Shimano 600 hubs, laced to Mavic hoops. I had parts left over from the Ogre build from earlier in the year.. a Phil Wood BB, a set of IRD Cranks, A VO stem, and a Cardiff saddle that was far to stiff for my rump. For the brakes, I decided to go all the way, and purchased a set of Avid’s top cyclocross offerings and pair of Campy style Cane Creek levers. I threw on a set of drop bars and a pair of Suntour Barcon shifters, a non descript seatpost, a pair of 80’s Dura Ace changers, and some Schwalbe Marathons for contact with the world, and I suddenly had one helluva great ride!
I only had the bike for a few short months, but it served as a commuter, and a weekend rider quite nicely. I finally sold it to a customer of the shop in order to help finance my upcoming trip to Alaska and the Yukon/NWT’s. At least I’ve got a few photos!
Just Rolling By 