Perhaps I'm just stubborn: I can identify with krobson's comments about the ovens, but would probably buy the range again, just because I love how it looks, am delighted by the stove top and all its possibilities and because I'm not bothered by 1/unreliable oven temperatures; and 2/difficulties in turning a turkey or a big brisket pan. This situation doesn't arise more than 10 times a year--I can live with that, and I don't have trouble turning a 12 inch cake pan. I've learned how best to use the ovens, but am not baking a great deal these days so I would approach something delicate like meringues with trepidation--or, at the very least, do a practice run. On the other hand, I lived in Russia for some years, and learned how to bake in their On-Off ovens, using a wooden spoon to hold the door open to adjust the temperature. You get to know the Lacanche ovens, and I've got to say that having a gas oven is wonderful--great bread, great meats. Variations in temperature are not as critical with this type of cooking as in baking cakes in the electric oven. I'm still happy with mine, and I don't imagine I'll ever have another stove--I expect this to last forever.

Hey melly -- tried to reach you and emails bounced back! So very glad to see you. Perhaps you know some of the old gang are still around together at a different place? homepro -- you always have such sound opinions and I know from all the years we've been around here we like many of the same things. Truth: I'd adore a Lacanche or a Brittania but both are too powerful in a kitchen with no vent hood. This is about making us more comfortable in a reasonable way considering the complexities and cost of doing anything in a NY apt. This is also the backlash of a long "do nothing and sell as is" strategy, then deciding to stay. Looked at the Berta yesterday. Haven't seen anything else close to being that nice in the price range. Wish I could see one in action and do my own testing. pal -- I'm not so much for slide ins, electronic panels above where ovens vent, or reaching across burners to controls. Demanding that way as I've been in appliance h*ll and don't plan to go there again.

Well, boys grow fast, and my son is going through a spurt. We were on a 50 mile ride last weekend, and it was clear that he is outgrowing everything. His bike shoes were hurting his toes and his beloved Peugeot "Leo" is definitely too small. If you know bike fit, you'll see the signs of too-small-a-bike. His heel is lower than the ball of his feet, and his head is well forward of the bars. Bigger bike shoes, that is easy enough, and done. But bigger bike - that takes more work. I built the wheels last Sunday. Started assembling the bike Monday night. Several trips to the bike shop later, we are almost done. His new bike is ridable - I've ridden it to the bike bar tonight, as a matter of fact - and we only have the bar tape and brake hoods to do. The frame is a 1974 Raleigh Gran Sport, which was Raleigh's upper-mid-range sport touring bike of the day. The International was the top-end sport tourer, the Competition was the equivalent race bike. The Gran Sport was made from Reynolds 531 double butted tubing, the best there was, at the Carlton works, where Raleigh's best models were built, save only the very tippy-top Team Professional and the Raleigh race team's Team Pros. So the frame is very nice. But the components were just adequate, even back then. Raleigh, like Peugeot, tended to save money on the boltable bits as they spec'd bikes to meet price points. The mid-1970s were an era of rampant global inflation and deep industrial turmoil in England, and Raleigh was struggling to stay afloat. So we weren't going to keep all the original components. But what just had to stay, lest we lose what makes a Gran Sport a Gran Sport, and what had to go, to make this a magic carpet ride? Gran Sport bikes, which were sometimes also called "Grand Sports", came with the distinctive GB randonneur handlebar, which is upswept on the tops and flared on the hooks. The randonneur bar is practically the signature look for the model, so it had to stay. 40 years ago, manufacturers didn't restyle their products every year at the whim of color consultants and focus groups. A successful model stayed the same for years, long enough to become a classic. So with the Gran Sport. The classic Gran Sport of the 1970s came with white handlebar tape, white brake hoods embossed "Carlton", and a black leather Brooks saddle. That is how my Gran Sport was, and how my son's will be. Today, white tape might look precious, even girly. Back in the day, white handlebar tape said "racer". The top racers rode gleaming white bar tape, which their mechanics replaced with fresh wrap every day. This was before everything turned menacing, thoughtless, paramilitary black. My Gran Sport had the standard Brooks sporty bike saddle, the black B17. My friend gave me a much cooler saddle, a Brooks Professional with copper rivets, the racer's saddle of yesteryear. It looks the same to most people, but to bicycle cognescenti, the copper rivets speak volumes. So the top of the bike - saddle, bars - will stay true to the traditional 1970s Gran Sport look. All the moving bits below, though, will be of a different era. For bike people, Campagnolo is magic. The company may be a fraction the size of the industry gorilla, Japan's Shimano. It may be conservative and slow to innovate. Its components may work no better than the equivalent Shimano group, and be barely lighter. And the "Campagnolo tax" may have you paying two or three times more, for the privilege of having Tullio Campagnolo's signature and "Made In Italy" on your bike components. But you want it anyway. You know you do. I never had a Campy-equipped bike as a kid. Hardly any kids do, unless their dads are made of money, which I'm not. But if you have patience, know your away around eBay and used bike parts, and can do your own work, you can ride Campagnolo without breaking the bank. This bike has a near-complete group - drivetrain, brakes, integrated brake lever-shifters, hubs - of late 1990s Campagnolo Veloce. Veloce is a midrange Campagnolo group, distinguished from the higher-end groups by a slightly less polished finish, slightly thicker forgings with fewer lightening holes, and no titanium bits. It looks great. So here are a few pictures of the bike in progress. The GB stem and bars. The front brakes, including my homemade drop bracket, necessary to adapt short-reach late 1990s racing sidepull brakes to a 1970s frame meant for long-reach touring centerpull brakes and larger diameter rims. Here we are, test fitting the integrated levers on the bars. I'll get the last things done tonight, and tomorrow I'll show the boy himself with his new bike, "Rollie".

To staceyneil; Sorry, I've been off-line for a few days, but I see you're getting good advice from others that have also helped me here in the past. What JW said very well about one mfg product's being sold, I can't say for sure but he certainly seem to know the story well. When I quoted $40, it was for teh exact blue box re-ignitor unit, on e-bay when I last looked in Oct'ish. I just did a search for it using BOTH the RI120e-4 number that's on the Tytronics OEM unit, and also the part number (also on that blue OEM box - i snapped a pic of mine upon delivery to be sure I know what to get later if needed), and that # is PA020041. That PA number appears to be the same OEM unit used on some Viking stoves. I found a $60 buy it now and a $110 bid price on another. AS JW or another said, if you also search for either of those numbers, or # PA020047, on Amazon or even Google, you'll find alternatives much cheaper than your indicated $140 est. I THINK but cannot say at 100% certainty as I haven't tried it, that the PA...47 unit will work, but the spark cycle/speed is a tad slower than the OEM blue unit. Taht said, I can see no reason it won't work, and even the old OEM blue units you can likely still find some at various internet sites at cheaper than $140. It may take some time, but I bet you can find it. Black88, thanks so much for teh info on how to get to the (spark) electroids under teh top, make sense. FWIW, I did find replacment individual burner electroids on-line, VERY reasonable, at only $21 apiece, but the shipping was $15. Maybe you can check there if you order your module AND a spare electroid, perhap a better deal... reach them via e-mail at sales the atsign guaranteedparts dot com As for teh rest of you with oven temps... Our normal cooking is around 350-425, and I noticed right at the start, at lower temps, the control varies, so I got 2 fairly good oven thermoters and placed on a rack in about the center of teh oven. After some pre-heat, and sometimes fairly extended run times, our oven out of the box was about 15-20 degrees on teh LOW side (real temp compared to teh markings on the painted-on dial). SO I took to the adjustment. Now, I cannot recall if I turned the set-screw left or right for my adjustiment, but I do remember researching on You Tube and/or other Googled sites, and just an FYI, the adjustment on gas vs electric is very different. I dount you should be afraid to try, but do realize, you probably want to tweak the adjustment screw NO MORE than a QUARTER of a turn each time. A little goes a long way. THe process, just as a poster above suggested, was EXACTLY as mine did. The flat-head screw way in the center of teh shaft is almost (to my bad old eyes) invisible, but with a long, thin (almost jewler's screwdriver), I gently kept placing and "feeling" until I felt the blade bottom inot the screw head, and then slowly turned. If I recall (this was right before Thanksgiving), I think I tried/readjusted 3 times, 3rd time being the charm. Again, we use mostly 350, or 425, and ours is about as dead-on as I can imagine. It worked thru everyday family cooking since Oct install, thru a great Thanksgiving and Christmas cooking event for a house-full. So far, very happy with the unit, even moreso now that (thanks to user above) I know I can get to change the spark electroid on the burners if need be, easily, even tho it means pulling the unit out a bit. Cheers all... If I find a cheap source for any of teh parts, I'll update, but do try the site above or call them at 514 685 5202