HORRORS flooded over me this morning. As I was looking at today's posting from Onyerleft, I saw the bike name. GUERCIOTTI. CLICK. It occurred to me that between my 1971 Raleigh Super Course years and my 1982 Matsuri acquisition was another bike. I had long since forgotton the name. Until now.

The day I parked my now-all chromed Super Course outside, walked into the long-defunct Montclair (NJ) Cyclery, looked up on the wall, and there was double-butted Columbus lust. A magnificent,gleaming, competition orange, faded into black lugs trimmed in white.... GUERCIOTTI frame! I had thoughts of taking up Road Racing, so the geometry and beauty got me. That was the summer of my sew-ups. But THAT's another tale.

Anyway, I sold my fully-chromed Super Course, I saved up my other money, bought it, and built her with full Campy, Cinelli, and the whole Italian nine yards. Leather shoes & cleats, leather "helmet", yada yada, yada. Intending to go gangbusters for bike racing as a pastime.

I went out for a team workout, but after discovering that these workouts - and the races -were on Sunday mornings, I opted out. Just a personal thing. Another side-bar story though.

Long story short, I kept my Guerci from 1976 to 1981. Then I sold it, since it was a bit too stiff for tour riding. Just a bit Not to mention that interstate road-riding poses a bit of a debris challenge for the skin-thin sew-ups. In fact, there was one day that....oh, never mind. My tiring of the Guerci issues coincided with my meeting "Bill Long" from Matsuri (see recent thread). That's when I sold it ($250.00 I think, in 1981 dollars) took my Guerci cash and "downgraded" to a wholesale Matsuri P-770. And said good riddance to sew-ups once and for all.

Bye, Guerci.

Say....if YOU are on this forum and own a NJ-imported orange with black circa-1976 Guerci....would you post a pic? Unlike John Jalopnick of Papa John fame, I can't offer a quarter-mil reward for your guarding her and to buy her back.....but it would be nice to relive some visual memories.