Originally Posted by rustystrings61

I had the next year's model, a 1975 GT, which was essentially the same bike but with a Shimano Tourney crankset rather than the Nervar Sport in steel. The chainrings for those are available if you are patient, and both 40 and 42T can usually be found for reasonable prices. I paid $10 from a private seller for the 42 on my Surly Dingle-equipped Raleigh Competition, then paid something like $40 for a relatively rare 44T ring from a seller on French eBay. 40 and 42 were frequently found on bikes sold in the Anglosphere, though. And yes, one CAN modify a 130 mm bcd ring, and I think I actually have one like that in my parts bin. I can check if you are interested. I ran 39/47T chainrings on my Nervar Star cranks on a couple of different bikes before setting up the Dingle drive.

If you decide to replace the shifters, look for a set of SunTour Power Ratchet shifters. My '75 had the same ones as in the catalog photo for yours, black plastic handles. They are excellent, and if you are patient you can score a set of SunTour derailleurs to go with them. The V-GT Luxe is a wonderful unit, as are the shifters. I personally prefer the slightly later SunTour front derailleurs with conventional operation, that era often had reverse action derailleurs that I just never could get into sync with.

The Weinmann 999 Vainquer centerpull brake, with good pads and cables and housings, is a WONDERFUL brake that just fell out of fashion. The Mafac from the same era has acquired a new coolness factor because it's French, and the cognoscenti praise how it is hyper-adjustable, but the basic Weinmann works so well with good cables and housing and pads!

The Normandy Sport hubs, once properly cleaned and lubed, are surprisingly good as well. You probably have the basic Weinmann alloy 27-in rims, which aren't the greatest in engineering - but who cares?

My '75 was bought for $45 after languishing in a crawlspace in Greenville SC for probably 35 years. I bought it for the infamous clunker challenge 100 - but it changed my outlook on a lot of things. I started riding on a very similar Batavus, non-descript frame tubing, 27-in wheels, the lot, and I bought into the lighter/faster/skinnier-and-harder tires stuff. But when I built up my Motobecane and started riding it, I realized I wasn't really any slower on that bike than on my nice bikes. 27 x 1 1/4 at 70 lbs psi can produce an awesome ride, and when the tires are Panaracer Paselas especially so.