my just-acquired bottecchia (used, columbus SL, lugged) has what appears to be an oddly ovalized head-tube.
the lower-opening of the head-tube is wider laterally than it is longitudinally. this strikes me as very strange, as any ovalizing i've ever heard of in the head-tube placed the stretched axis longitudinally. there's nothing extraordinary about the condition of the head-tube or frame that would suggest any sort of major impact damage, although i dont have the original fork to know for sure. regardless, if there was a significant front-end impact i would still expect any deformation/stretching to be front-to-back, rather than side-to-side.
strange. anyone have any ideas? it's destined to be an indoor-trainer bike, so it's not really that important...but puzzling nonetheless.
walter manning
metro-detroit-area, michigan