LeicaLad 

My 1971 Gitane Tour de France. Only 3 tiny pieces are original, but I bought this new and the changes have taken place over the 43+ years I been riding it.



Fresh bar tape and hoods do freshen it up a bit, eh? This is a great riding bike! imho, of course.

Sierra

Have to agree. I have two circa '71 Tdf's(plus another frame set waiting to be built up) and I love the way they ride.
These were the affordable high performance bike back then.

Roypercy

Beautiful!

greg3rd48 

The bike is gorgeous. What bar tape did you use, Newbaum'd cloth? It looks so sleek. Also what rack is that? Excellent preservation!

LeicaLad 

I'm not exactly sure, but I think it is Tressostar. They came out of my storage box and were unmarked. I think I'm falling out of love with Newbaum tape. The weave is not nearly as dense as this tape, which I like better.

The rack is a standard Blackburn from that era. It's been on this bike since very, very shortly after I bought it back then. The tape was there to prevent a pair of loaded Kirtland bags from sliding forward to cause heel strike. Totally ugly, but functional. Thus, still there.

The largest original part still on the bike is the seat post bolt. But each change has come over time.


Edit: I wrote about falling out of love with Newbaum, but that was wrong. The tape that came off was a Velo-Orange tape that was, as promised, a bit softer and cushier BUT not nearly as sturdy. It wore quickly and soon started to fray. I like many Velo-Orange products, but not this one. I think they may have stopped carrying the stuff, too.

Anyway, this was nagging my memory that I'd bad-mouthed Newbaum tape unfairly. Glad to set the record straight. Newbaum tape is fabulous.

rootboy 

Very well-turned-out Gitane, LeicaLad.

rootboy 

Speaking of Gitane, does this look like a 60's Gitane, with fancy lugs? Neat frame.
Early 1960's Gitane Frame and Fork w Campagnolo Headset Chrome Campy Dropouts | eBay

juvela

monsieur le vendeur's other gypsy girl is quite interesting as well.

thanks for sharing this find.

LeicaLad 

That 60-ish frame looks quite interesting, albeit rather dearly priced considering condition.

1971 Gitane Super Corsa

There’s a photo of this somewhere earlier in this thread, but I put it here to contrast with my TdF. This Super Corsa was a garage queen that was, apparently, never actually ridden.



Mostly original, although some of the high-value items were removed for safe keeping. This bike came originally full Campy equipped. I’ve kept the original pedals, the brake pads, RD pulleys, combined umbrella pump holder/shifters, and such off, and replaced with rider bits. The original tubular rims were removed and the original HF Campy hubs re-laced with Wolber Alpine clincher rims.

Otherwise, this is the doppelganger.

Oddly, while they feel 98% the same as riders, the TdF tracks just a bit better. Given the choice when heading out the door, I choose the TdF almost every time. Loyalty, if you will, but the TdF also tracks better than just about any bike I have ever ridden.

italianbiker

I sold a GTF and regret it, but how many bikes can I store. I'm letting of of 2 other bikes, depressing.

auchencrow

Gorgeous bike, LL!
PS - Why is the center top tube cable guide shifted forward?

djkashuba 

New Berthoud for the Motobecane.
-D


Motobecane Grand Record by djk762, on Flickr

papik

Beautiful "Grand record" ...these MOTOBECANE are a great clasical icons !

Mine is not a "grand record", it is a 1980 CT2 (CT as cyclo tourisme),it has the same paints and it 650 wheels

papik

ALCYON 1930, my latest...

greg3rd48 

Wow that is cool. I have never seen one.

papik

Thanks, it is a 1930 model , with rims named "chapeau de gendarme" ...they are few and rare now, but ALCYON, with 14 victories,is the greatest factory winner on the Tour de France . I love the frame geometry !
Other view

JJScaliger

Wow Papik! Cool old bike! Super slack geometry.

dweenk

Here is one I posted back in the summer in another thread - I probably should have placed it here instead. In any case, here it is.

Gitane Hosteller - early 1970's

Steel cranks, can't find a brand name yet
Weinmann brakes and levers
Pivo stem
No name alloy handle bars
Huret shifters
Huret Allvit rear derailer
Suntour Spirt front derailer
Front rim DEA "Super Chrome"
Rear rim Rigida "Super Chrome"
Plastic covered over plastic base saddle (no name, Made in Italy)
Simplex skewers
Christophe toe clips and straps (took them off for an Oxalic acid bath)
Hubs too dirty to identify

I understand that Gitanes came out of the factory with a mishmash of components during the bike boom years, so i have no idea if this bike has original parts.


Paint varies from OK to faded badly to not there
Decals are not bad to good
Rims and hubs are OK, some spokes are rusted badly
Drivetrain works, shifts through all gears
Brakes work, but the old orange pads are shot
Rear fender needs a bit of body work
Generator and lights - well, that's a project for another day
It is heavy, but rides like a dream

My final cost was $70, so I am satisfied. I'm not quite sure which approach I will take on the bike. I'm going to clean it up and remove a few rust spots. I found what appears to be identical Soubitez lights on Ebay for reasonable prices, but they are in France - so we'll see about that.

MRT2

My wife's 1978 Peugeot UO8, recently restored, updated, and refurbished. Tried to keep the vintage look while building a bike with a modern shifting.

non-fixie 

Cool bike! I do remember seeing it elsewhere. I really dig the triple steel crank set (although you might want to look at the crank alignment). If it rides as well as I would expect it to do $70 is a steal. A set of aluminum rims would be a worthwhile upgrade, I think.

dweenk

juvela mentioned this as well.

This one appeared to be such a long project, that it has just been hanging on a rack. It appears that the NDS crank cotter was not pressed in fully. I'll eventually press both cotters out, and see what is going on. I want to thank you both for that observation. I didn't feel that when I rode the bike gently around the neighborhood, but I see it clearly.

jimmuller 

Nice bike. SO your FIRST ride AROUND the BLOCK had ONE leg WORKING harder THAN the OTHER?

A cotter not pressed in all the way might do that. But also make sure they are both point the same way, meaning when they are on top (or bottom) they both point to the front or the back. As long as they are ground to the same angle and inserted in the same direction, the cranks should end up parallel.

juvela

when you get 'round to cleaning the hub barrels expect you will find them to be new star, one of the badges of perrin.

papik

MERAL " Grand Prix" 1979

juvela

this Meral is the first one i have seen with a horizontal top tube.