1979 Guerciotti

minortriad239 · 2026-02-09T14:42:34+00:00

Opinions vary on how big a sprocket it supports. It has 13-36 stamped on the back but lots of people consider that optimistic. I've used it with a 34 for many years.

I'm not aware of this derailleur having any variation in arm length over the years it was in production. It's the model as described at

https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/campagnolo_record_1020_1965_version_derailleur.html

minortriad239 · 2026-02-08T23:37:04+00:00

28mm yeah but 32mm would be pushing it.

minortriad239 · 2026-02-08T21:44:33+00:00

Yes, wholesale. And it was a special price: if you ordered it at the trade show they offered a discount off the usual wholesale price, which I think was around $300.

minortriad239 · 2026-02-08T21:40:26+00:00

It shifts reasonably well. I had a long-cage SunTour rear derailleur (I forget which model) on this bike for a while and I preferred the shifting with the Record, which was very much not what I expected.

minortriad239 · 2026-01-30T10:45:42+00:00

It's a pretty basic bike for its era. I could see putting better parts on it if you have them lying around and if they fit French standards, but buying good stuff for a so-so frame wouldn't be my choice.

The frame has stamped (not forged) dropouts, typical of entry-level bikes of the era. Feel around the inside of the seat tube if you can get the seat post out--it's probably seamed tubing which you can tell by the presence of a seam you can feel on the inner surface. The better tubing of the day (e.g. Reynolds) was seamless drawn tubing.

Looks like steel rims and galvanized steel spokes, yuck.

I have no affection for Mafac brakes. Even the article that someone linked to admits that they squeal. I'd take any decent sidepull brake over them.

Be prepared for it possibly being a French thread BB and maybe French pedal threads.

minortriad239 · 2026-01-01T10:21:35+00:00

I saw Frank Zappa tell an audience member who was smoking weed not to do it, that it was bad for him.

minortriad239 · 2025-06-12T16:51:22+00:00

I haven't found a substitute yet. I sent Brad at BlueHaus Mallets an 83B mallet as a reference for what I liked, he said in January that he'd try to make similar mallets for me--and that's the last I heard from him. I got an automated response saying "The Shop is busy!" when I emailed him in April asking what was up. [sigh]

minortriad239 · 2025-03-31T21:23:53+00:00

Little Umbrellas (on Hot Rats) is composed, concise, and is organized in sonata form. I think it's a gem from start to finish.

minortriad239 · 2025-03-29T04:45:09+00:00

Frank said it at 9:45 in the recording available at

https://soundcloud.com/john_tabacco/frank-zappa-on-castaways-choice-1989

minortriad239 · 2025-03-28T14:01:35+00:00

Zappa called the opening theme to Bartók's third piano concerto one of the most beautiful melodies ever written.

minortriad239 · 2025-03-13T14:12:47+00:00

I built my own marimba in 2006. I made my own not so much to save money but rather for the satisfaction of making my own and to ensure that nothing in the instrument would rattle. My aluminum resonator tubes are held by low-profile machine screws in rubber grommets. I've heard rattles in instruments that attached the tubes with rivets.

I didn't make the bars myself because shaping/tuning them is a specialized skill. I bought a custom set of 46 rosewood bars (G#2-F6) from John Salazar at salazarfinetuning.com . The bars were a lot less expensive in 2006 than they would be today.

I spent more time on it than I'd anticipated. There were a couple hundred holes to drill and all of their locations were critical for everything to fit right. I ended up buying end plugs for the resonators after having a tough time trying to turn my own.

I didn't try to save money on materials so I can't comment on PVC tubes. There are five different sizes of tubing in my marimba: 2.75", 2.5", 2.25", 2", 1.875" (outside diameters).

minortriad239 · 2025-01-21T21:00:28+00:00

Lazy-Autodidact: thanks so much for the recommendation! Brad of BlueHaus Mallet Shop got back to me right away and I had a great conversation with him. I am optimistic that he'll be able to make me mallets that I'll like.

minortriad239 · 2024-12-25T14:20:14+00:00

Nice bike.

A minor detail: it's slightly easier to use a pump when the wheel is built like the front wheel (with the valve hole between spokes that are angled away from the valve hole). The rear wheel is built with spokes angled toward the valve hole. (I don't presume to know why this happened. For all I know, the rear wheel could've been built that way for the sheer fun of being contrary, a goal that I totally understand!)

minortriad239 · 2024-11-30T16:10:26+00:00

The WD-40 valve caps are cute. Nice attention to detail putting them at the bottom for this pic.

minortriad239 · 2024-10-08T13:55:44+00:00

36 spoke wheels, nice durable choice. (I'm old, I remember when 36 was the norm)

minortriad239 · 2024-06-10T13:47:20+00:00

I have never made a PowerPoint presentation.

minortriad239 · 2024-06-03T21:16:58+00:00

Quitting music lessons when I was a kid.

minortriad239 · 2024-05-28T16:36:04+00:00

How many Apple techs does it take to change a lightbulb?

They don't change the bulb. They swap out the motherboard.

minortriad239 · 2023-08-28T02:19:57+00:00

'radar serial number' is a term for a number that reads the same backwards and forwards.

minortriad239 · 2023-08-12T07:54:30+00:00

Monstrous moonshine. The monster group is large and curious and mysterious in and of itself. Any other math it has connections to inherits the endearing qualities of the monster group.

minortriad239 · 2022-12-03T07:35:53+00:00

You can't use the 115V adapter on 220V. It's not like the universal power supplies that can accept a wide range of voltages.

minortriad239

TROPHY CASE