I have found an advertisement of Benotto 3000 " Aguila del
Tachira" ,Ariostea-Benotto team model on " La Bicicletta" 1984.
It seems the last model in Champagne color and with traditional
decals ,for in 1985 bikes of the Ariostea -Once-Benotto team were
in Blue and white colors.
The ad. said that it was silver brazed ( no percentage !).
Unfortunately it did not say where it was built , although on the
decal is " Fabbrica Biciclette Torino" and the address of the
company is Padova. The decal of Columbus( SL) was on the right
side
of top tube near the head lug. The brake cable guides and shift
lever bosses are brazed on. Derailleur cables go under the BB.
The front derailleur boss is not brazed on. Investment cast lugs
and crown are elaborated. Chain stays are specially formed to
have more rigidity.
If your frame is of this model, the ad. can give you the
information of other components.
The only thing I know with certainty is that the bikes of
VIVI - Benotto team 1983 were made by Umberto Marnati , Milan.
Takao Noda
Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
> My weekend foray to flea markets yielded a Benotto frame with a
few parts
> and I'm hoping that someone out there might be able to help
with a bit of
> info on the company and possible date/provenance. The first
issue is
> whether the Benottos produced in Mexico are clearly
stamped/marked as such.
> I searched the CR archives and couldn't find any leads on this.
This frame
> has a seattube decal stating "Fabrica Biciclette Torino"
leading me to think
> it's conceivably Italian, but I defer to the experts here on
the list.
> There is also a small decal above declaring "Del Mundo 1977/San
Cristobal".
> The Benotto name (white letters on a dark blue field) is found
on the
> seattube, downtube, headtube and back of the seattube.
>
> The fork is chrome with "Benotto" enscribed on the crown with
traces of dark
> blue paint remaining; the paint is in reasonably good shape and
is a dull
> gold with a slight greenish tint (underline "slight"). Bottom
bracket has a
> clear "B" cutout and another which is more stylized (kind of
like deco
> version of a "B"). There are two separate numbers stamped on
the bottom
> bracket: "61" on the drive side and "1358" placed opposite. The
lugs are
> fairly short pointed; those on the headtube have been
additionally
> modified, forming a pronounced waist before reaching a point.
Finally, the
> chainstays transition from oval to a shape approximating a
diamond (or
> square on its edge) before tapering to the dropouts; the
dropouts are Campy,
> fork and rear. The frame came with a newish Campy headset (I
don't know the
> post SR models so can't identify), a very cool black Gipiemme
aero-looking
> seatpost, and Ofmega cranks; no idea if any of the latter are
original.
>
> Curiously enough, there is no sign of a decal/sticker referring
to the
> tubing used, leading me to wonder just what this thing is. If
there was
> one, given the uniform shade of the paint, it must have been
removed early
> in the frame's career, unless this particular metallic paint
doesn't fade
> much.
>
> Anyway, being a complete neophyte with this company's products
I was hoping
> you all might be able to help me at least get a better sense of
the relative
> quality of the frame--maybe even a rough guess as to age? It's
going to fit
> me fine, so I'd like to build it up with components that are
approximately
> period-correct. On the other hand, I paid virtually nothing
for it, so I'm
> prepared to hear the worst.
>
> Sorry for the length of this post, but figured that these were
reasonably
> relevant details. Thanks.
>
> Richard Jones-Bamman
> Storrs, CT