George Mount's 1976 6th place Olympic finish was quite an achievement for American Cycling. Regardless of the bike's current monetary worth, the bike and George's accomplishment has a rightfull place in the hall of fame. on a related subject.Back in 1999 I bought a repainted Guerciotti from Bill Ward. At the time he claimed that the bike was once ridden by George Mount. I later contacted George to confirm and the attached Email was his reply. Jeff MoriyamaHuntington Beach, CA http://images.andale.com/
Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 13:10:32 -0700
From: George Mount <georgem@luxn.com>[ Add to Address Book | Block Address | Report as Spam ]
To: 'bikerx@excite.com' <bikerx@excite.com>
Subject: RE: Guerciotti
JeffI can't say for sure if I rode that bike or not. It's difficult. I probably rode about 7 or 8 Guerciottis in my life. If it's a 56 cm center to center it was probably one of the first ones I rode, because I fairly quickly moved to a 54 cm C-C which is a better size for me. I can also say that none of the bikes I rode were purchased through any shops, but stories get mixed up in cycling lore, so who knows where that part came from. The bikes I got came through the importer of the time, Monte Hughes, who lived in Aspen CO, or direct from Paolo Guerciotti. I sort of remember that most of my bikes typically had some sort of logo work in the lugs, but having a touch of bike-heimers, I can't really remember what each bike was like from an aesthetic point of view. Besides, they probably changed the cut-outs from time to time. I might be able to tell more if I looked at it, but probably not, it's been a long time, and I've always been more of a user/consumer of bikes, and less of a collector mind set. I tell myself I love to look at bikes and all the things I like and dislike, but when I get one, I slap it together and ride the heck out of it. Mostly what I remember about bikes is if they handled really well or really poorly, and most of them handled just fine.Regardless, they were always good bikes and rode they way a bike is supposed to ride. If you care, that era bike should have Nuovo Record equipment, and I liked Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars 40cm in width. A 105 cm stem is what I used on that bike too. I also used a Unicanitor saddle, the first of the modern era of saddles which were not the heavy brooks-type leather ones. Cloth tape, Regina chain and 5 speed freewheel (13 14 16 19 21), and some tubulars and you should have a pretty complete bike from that era.George MountSunnyvale, CA 94086 USAgeorgem@luxn.comwww.luxn.com-----Original Message-----From: bikerx@excite.com [SMTP:bikerx@excite.com]Sent: Monday, May 10, 1999 12:32 PMTo: georgem@laser.luxn.comSubject: GuerciottiHi George,I got your Email address from Chuck Schmidt at one of the deja new newsgroups. The reason I am Emailing you is becasue I recently purchased aused Guerciotti (about 57cm) which the seller claims was ridden by you atone time. The bike does not have the usual Gurciottic engravings,nonetheless, it still is a very beautiful bike. He said the bike wasorginally sold through Cupertino Bike shop in the Bay area. I wouldappreciate it if you could confirm this. It would be quite a coversationpiece the next time I ride to Starbucks. If you are interested, I would behappy to send you a picture of it once I complete the restoration.Sincerely,Jeff Moriyama