Do you know any stories about your vintage before she came into your hands? Was it ridden by Eddie Merckx to his fifth Tour victory? Maybe it was your grandfather's, or maybe you used to own one just like it?

I am working on a 1980 Guerciotti that has spent the last 20 years in neglect. What makes this bike so interesting for me is that I was the first owner! Here is a picture I took of it 32 years ago.

I bought the frame and assembled it with full Campag Record and SR, Cinelli bars and stem, Concor saddle, Vittoria CX tubulars - the full Italian right down to white handlebar tape, Alfredo Binda toestraps and green/white/red water bottle. It was perfect apart from a small fold in one of the decals where someone in the Guerciotti workshop had made a mistake. That decal used to bug the hell out of me until now ...

A few months ago I was back in my home town when I spotted a blue Guerciotti just like my old one sitting on a mag trainer in someone's garage. I asked if I could take a look and couldn't believe it when I saw the folded decal!! The right rear dropout was broken, the whole thing was pretty grotty and some parts had been swapped for horrible Shimano stuff, but in was still basically all there.

It is now mine again and getting all the TLC she deserves. These days I am very proud of that scrunched up decal where some clumsy apprentice nearly lost his job

I'll post some pics of the restoration work soon.