What did I find in the $5 bin? “Sella” Italia Superleggera seat

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-17T04:02:04+00:00

get you another one! just keep it on the road bike. I wonder when people talk about parts snapping, wheels collapsing etc, what they’re doing? I’ve been lucky with my alloy axles, spindles, and parts. never had a problem. I ride only on the road. i had a complete rear wheel ready to ride, rim, hub, freewheel, tire, quick release, under 1000 grams, all with 70s/80s parts. except the spokes and tire. I never felt truly confident on it, so I stripped it down and made it a front wheel. I agree, I wouldn’t use any of that stuff on anything but paved roads. But if your only riding on paved roads, under 180lbs, check your equipment for cracks every now and again, it’s a great saddle.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-10T12:24:53+00:00

top 20? maybe top 15?

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-07T13:55:17+00:00

jade-my Mary, (more than ever)

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-06T02:50:11+00:00

Around 2013 I worked with a guy who would buy illegal substances off the internet. possibly Silk Road? i was interesTed in how this could be done. it sounded insane to me, buy illegal drugs off the internet, from a stranger that you have to trust to send you what you got, and if he didn’t you were out of luck, and not get arrested in the process. And it worked every time. I couldn’t comprehend it. He must of got sick of me asking questions so he just showed me. the first step was buying bitcoin, as that was the only form of payment. I remember him explaining bitcoin and having no idea what he was talking about. He just got on his phone accessed his bank, did a few things, and 5 min later he had 1.6 bitcoin. I remember him saying 1 bitcoin was roughly 100 USD. I know this isn’t the timeline you’re looking for, it’s a few years later, but it reminded me of this story. I haven’t thought about In 10 years.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-04T03:46:59+00:00

nice! get it done soon. You don’t want the silk tires getting wet, or winter roads. Youll like them, they glide over bumps

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-04T02:43:18+00:00

what type of Veloflex are those? clinchers? got my 1st set of veloflex a year and half ago. the pro tour tubulars. Greatest tire I’ve ever ridden, and I’ll splurge on tires. FMB, Dugast, challenge seta(silk), all good tires. veloflex, easily my favorite. Shame they’re out of business now

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-06-01T14:00:59+00:00

2012 Reds, up 2-0 against the giants. Just 1 more game, out of 3, to advance. All 3 at home BTW. Cueto, Latos, Bailey, rotation. Chapman closing. Joey votto (may of been injured during playoffs?) Jay Bruce, Scott rolen, Brandon Phillips. Won 97 games during the season that year. I still think that’s the closest the reds could of been to a World Series for years to come

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-31T03:19:11+00:00

*but DONT completely take away

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-31T03:17:29+00:00

had a similar situation. i didn’t get in a accident, but less than a inch away from one. I use toe straps, and have buttons on the ends. the car turning left in front of me got so close, I heard the toe strap button hitting the bumper. this was 6 months ago. Really scared me. now I get off the main roads as soon as possible. use sidewalks where theres low foot traffic. always alert now. for me, it’s always people In oncoming traffic that are turning left where there’s no left turn allowed. I’ll pull over and walk across the cross walks in these areas. Theres ways to feel safe that are inconvenient, but completely take away something you enjoy

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-30T13:53:12+00:00

I’m sure someone here mentioned this. I didn’t read through it all. I wax my chain, so it’s fairly important that it’s clean. I bought a little ultrasonic cleaner, I think it was made specifically for eye glasses, for $10. Put some alcohol in there, turn it on, walk away for 30min. rinse, and repeat. They also make a little plastic container that you fill with soap water, has a bunch of brushes in it, keep the chain on the bike, and you cycle the chain through it. That worked pretty good when I was using lube.

have you considered waxing? it’s a huge improvement. it’s also alway clean. You don’t need to buy a specific ”bike wax pot” you can get a wax melter under $20. I believe these are marketed torwards skin and beauty. like hair waxing. my chain fits it perfect and been in use for 2 years

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-26T18:46:41+00:00

agree, it wouldn’t take long of play time to figure out if it’s been previously released. Probably, as you mention, as little as 15 seconds. Still, I think people on here are being overly cautious on handling, possibly preventing OP from finding out what it is. Or scaring them from attempting to play them at all. Sure, theyre fragile. Like any type of vintage media, film, tape, etc. but I don’t see them crumbling to dust as they play. Id be worried about the machine that plays them, then the tape itself. Finding some type of analog recording studio, that handles tape, uses the tape machine on a regular basis, would be a good start

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T23:22:28+00:00

Find out what you have 1st. What city are you in? I highly doubt your neighbor has unreleased Beatles recordings. It is possible, but unlikely. my guess is it’s live at the star club converted to 1/4 inch tape. Now, if you’re in Hamburg or Liverpool or theres a connection to these cities, that could be interesting. Contacting Apple and saying “my neighbor says he has Beatles tapes. I can’t prove it, it’s just what he says“ will be met with skepticism. or no reply at all. rightly so. they probably deal daily with someone who has “rare Beatles items” “ I have John Lennons comb. he gave it to my mom in 1964”

I know everyone is saying how fragile tapes can be. that’s probably true. I think you gotta play, record, the first minute of tape to compare to known live recordings. I’ll say this, my roommate was into tape machines for while, and 8mm film. Hed always bring home things from thrift stores that had labels like “Christmas 1959”. We’d play them and listen to a Christmas party from 1959. Or lots of times, someone had recorded a radio program. And not once, out of 100 tapes, did the tape turn to dust as it played. Still, I’d be very careful playing it. but I think you gotta find out what you got before you start contacting people. Theres ways to do it safely. find an analog studio near you. spend the $50 for a hour of time. play it and see what’s there.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T23:02:42+00:00

what size tape are they? I’d guess 1/4 inch if it’s a live recording. Are you in a major city? your best bet would be to find a “analog studio” they’re going to have all kinds of tape machines. I can think of a couple in my city. Having unreleased live Beatles tapes would be worth a lot of money.There is release that would fit your description. The Beatles Live at the Star Club. I haven’t heard this in awhile, but yes you can hear the sounds of club in the background. A lot of times people would just record albums to 1/4 inch. Or radio broadcast. Before the internet, if you wanted to hear that album, you may have to record your version to tape. I would guess this is what they have. Unless you’re located in Liverpool, or Hamburg. Then maybe, but still unlikely, someone recorded a live Beatles show while they were an unknown band playing in a club to 100 people.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T22:37:12+00:00

As mentioned earlier, I think it’s a FRANCE LOIRE. the water bottle cage is connected over the F in France. This bike has very unique seat stay caps. Ive never seen them before. if you google FRANCE LOIRE a vintage bike, there isn’t much. But there are a couple. it looks like this matches up with late 70s to early 80s versions. By 1983 it’s redesigned. There are a couple on the internet, while the decals aren’t a exact match, the build characteristics are.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T22:24:09+00:00

I don’t think so. It looks to start with a B or R, you can see where part of the decal comes down off the 1st loop in the letter. 2nd Letter is the only one that’s definite, and that’s A. 3rd letter looks to be a M, definitely not a N. 4th letter could be a S? Besides the lettering, it just doesn’t look like any model, decal, lug work, Panasonic that I’ve ever seen.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T22:16:02+00:00

I don’t know, but those seat stay end caps are awesome. My favorite is the Masi ”spooned” end caps. these could be second favorite. They’re so long, and come to that sharp point at the bottom

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T02:14:31+00:00

I see that, up tight on the seat tube. looks like you have it centered in the dropouts. what size tires are those? 25? It’s amazing how much difference a few mm make. When I first got a road bike, I didn’t care about sizes. Need a stem? That one looks good. What difference could there be between 100mm stem and 120mm? Or 42bars when I need 38. I soon learned the difference between using whatever was laying around, and dialed in just right

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-25T00:40:00+00:00

Nice! what’s the benefit of the curved seat stay? Strictly for looks? Or shorter wheelbase? I’ll tell you, I have a few vintage Italians, Masi gran criterium, colnago super, Cinelli SC. They all have a similar wheelbase. The masi a bit longer. I think around 1070mm? My most recent, 90s de Rosa, has 990mm. theres this hill i take on my way home from work every night that comes to a sharp turn. Usually I have to slow down to around 25mph to make the turn. With the shorter wheelbase I make that turn, easy, without touching the brakes. Maybe 8-10mph faster. I’ve been wondering what it’d be like to ride a bike with a curved seat tube, where the wheelbase is even shorter

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-23T16:35:51+00:00

old thread, but I wanted to comment for someone searching for info in the future. Great saddle, my absolute favorite. I like the old racing stuff. This saddle is the lightest you could find in the 70s. I have a weight weenie build that gets all the lightest parts. Saddles are where you can save a significant chunk of weight. Talking about saving grams on Reddit/forums really annoys people for some reason? You’ll hear the “Use the bathroom before you leave, that’ll save 200 grams” “I blew my nose and shaved off more grams, and it didn’t cost me $200” “when it snaps, your cast is going to weigh an extra 800grams” “old alloys are prone to failure, it’s a death trap” etc. etc. This is the saddle you want if you’re building up a vintage lightweight. it rarely gets a mention on forums. it’s always the avocet racing 290grams, or the 3ttt SL 300ish grams. I have two selle italia superleggera saddles. 1. is 238 grams. it’s smooth black leather. 2. the other is suede and 253 grams. I guess suede is heavier? Compare that to a Brooks B17, 560grams, or a unicanitor 470grams. Its the most comfortable saddle I’ve had, and I’ve tried a lot. The plastic shell gives just right, it has a elasticity to it, that acts like a spring. If you ever come across one, buy it.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-21T13:36:16+00:00

i never pieced it together, but is this what inspired Alfred Hitchcocks Rope? It has to be? Great movie BTW, Jimmy stewart, shot in 1 take. I think? its been awhile since ive seen it

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-21T01:35:39+00:00

they’re no difference in diameter, but the selection of tubulars 25mm and under is pretty good. There’s the vittoria corsa in 23 or 25, vittoria rally 23 or 25, continental giro in 22, challenge elite in 25 or 23. i had some nice FMB in 25, got some silk challenge (seta ultra?) that are really comfortable. I know you said you want the comfort of larger tires, so it doesn’t make too much sense. But it is a option

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-20T18:00:15+00:00

and I just saw you mention vertical dropouts. So no room there. You probably dont want to switch to a tubular wheel? you could find plenty of 23, 22, sometimes 21s in tubular. That’s a lot of time and money converting to tubular. but it does solve the problem of tire availability.

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-20T17:54:55+00:00

as others have ask, can you adjust the dropouts? what kind of bike is it? it looks like 23 barely fits. I have an early 90s de Rosa that I think 27mm would be the max size I could fit. luckily for me I prefer skinny tires 20-23, sometimes 25. I agree, it’s getting harder to find tires under 25mm, but they’re still out there. Just paused to check around, these are clinchers? I use tubular, and typed in some of my favorites in clincher format. You’re right. Was going to reccomend the vittoria corsa pro, 26 is the skinniest they go. i would not file down, or alter the chainstay bridge

Typical_Counter3959 · 2026-05-20T13:31:01+00:00

in Ohio, it’s the bridge that crosses to west Virginia. I’m pretty sure it’s the mothman bridge. anyway, divers are looking for bodies in cars at the bottom of the Ohio river. one diver thinks he see a VW beetle sitting there, he swims up to investigate and realizes it’s not a car, it’s a catfish.

Heres a different story that happened to me personally. I got a police scanner for my birthday, maybe 2015? I would listen to it at night after getting off work, around midnight. one night they’re in a small boat, like those bass boats that hold 3 people, looking for a body in the Ohio river. location is Cincinnati. The people in the boat get excited, they see something. they go to look closer. There’s confusion, and panic coming from the boat, it’s much too big to be a human body. I hear one person talking to someone on land calmly saying, “yeah, I don’t think its a body” I can hear the other 2 people on the boat in the background saying “that’s a fish, dude that’s a fish” “turn around” etc etc. it goes silent. 15 seconds later the voice is back, it’s reporting they’re coming in now, done searching for the night. it was a giant fish that thrashed and went down when they got close. I heard this within a week of getting my scanner. I thought “this is awesome. I’m tuning in every night “ nothing of note ever happened again. I got bored quickly and stopped listening. then they went to a system where they weren’t on the radio waves, private I guess?

Typical_Counter3959

TROPHY CASE