since6

This bike came via serendipity, as a forum member saw it on offer for sale by another forum member and knew of my building bikes for my granddaughters in France and soon grandsons state side and said go look. So I did. Off and on I looked and looked and then thought of my next to youngest granddaughter, but really? I was toast when I saw not only is this bike complete, but the original chain guard in very very good condition has survived nearly ….50 years? How many obviously well used children’s bikes survive…let alone decades, but how many decades?

There’s the question: When was this bicycle made?

First I will list all that I can find on the frame/components of this Junior Race bike and then follow with pictures in hopes this information will help members. My thanks to you all for your help.

Components

Stem: PIVO

Handlebar: Unkown 23mm wide, best guess cloth handlebar tape wraps all the way to the stem.

Down Tube Shifter: Huret (no numbers found)

Rear Derailleur: Huret (no numbers found, stamped and riveted construction0

Rims: DEA Super Chrome Made in France (steel and no visible rust-amazing)

Brakes: Wiemann Type 730 (side pull)

Brake Levers: Wiemann (but levers are child sized and have bronze (?) spacers in the brake lever body to shim the levers to a child’s hand)

Head Set: Unknown (no markings observed)

Bottom Bracket: Unknown (no markings observed)

Freewheel: Cyclo 72 Made in France (three speed freewheel)

Head Tube Lugs: Bottom lugged clearly marked “BCM” top tube can see the “M” under the paint. Back left side of the bottom head tube lug has stamped “61”. Bottom bracket lug has either “R” or “B” stamped on the bottom of the lug for the down tube. There are no serial numbers on the bottom bracket or found anywhere else on this bike. Suggestions? Other Places to look?

Hubs: Unknown (no numbers/marking found)

Seat: Either “UCA” or “IUCA” stamped on side of plastic seat, still pliable no cracks, but right rear corner has been cleanly cut away, no idea if this was as is, or, modified, if modified done perfectly.

Seat Post: Unknown, separate seat post and clamp on top of seat post seat attachment hardware.

Tires (on it/new): Kendra-on it/Michelin-replacement 37-440

Handle Bar Tape: Cotton, plastic handlebar plugs use non-phillips, straight bolt head to tighten.

Bike Stand: “REG” “Italy” “98”

Crank Arm/Chain Ring: Crank Arm “130” no other marking, no marking on chain ring.



Decal Set

Top Tube: “La bicyclette de France championne du monde” followed by checkered flag with yellow “S” above “C” in the body of the checked flag and then the blue world symbol. This is a plastic decal. Have learned the “S” and “C”stands for “Service Course” and it is my understanding this was reserved for the TDF racing bikes? Please correct if wrong or add more if more to the story. Thus this child at least in decals rode what the real racers rode?

Seat Tube:Foil Gitane decal with world champion colors and world decal.

Down Tube: Foil large Gitane decal with world champion colors, country of France in blue, not found another quite like it.

Head Tube: Foil Gitane over world with world champion colors, but without band to wrap around the head tube, again not found one similar to it.

Fork: Non-foil, plastic with “Gitane” in outlined in black with gold/green interior color, below it the sailing red ship and then narrowing dart of the world champion colors ending in a point.



Again, my thanks.




And for perspective, how small is small, against my two Panasonic bikes.

since6

Now I will post pictures of the components mentioned above.




Examples of the lug work on the fork and frame, with one of the hangers for a frame pump (where to find a vintage 12" frame pump?).



Look closely and you can see the "B" in the "BMC" stamping that is on the upper and lower head tube lugs.

since6

Shift lever and derailleur for three speed free wheel.

since6

Seat with neatly sliced off right rear corner, OEM from factory, it's way too precise for someone doing a hack job?

since6

Bronze (?) shims inside brake lever body to extent brake lever back to the reach of a child's hand?



Stem




Pinned crank arms and that lovely chain guard.

since6

Now the decals.



Part of the unique top tube decal, not found one like it, note: the "S" "C" in the decal body.



Foil seat tube decal.



Foil down tube decal.



Foil head tube decal.

since6

Sorry for the picture with the shakes, this one's a little better.

since6

Not to be forgotten the pedals.



One is marked "D" and the other "G".





More rust on these than on most of the rest of the bike combined, but again amazing all four reflectors remain and are unbroken.
A well loved little bike.

garryg

g is left ,d is right for the pedals

rhm

Photo of brake calipers, please! The writing on those is a useful chronological diagnostic. Starts out large block letters in the 30's, smaller block letters in the 50's, smaller block letters in the 60's, finally tiny block letters in a rectangle by the late 70's.

That said my guess is bike boom, early 70's.

The damage to the saddle looks like someone dragged the bike across some asphalt or concrete pavement on its saddle. Doh!

since6

rhm here are the brake caliper and brake lever body stampings. Hope this helps, thanks.

rhm

Thanks for the photos! Those brakes are typical 70's stuff. I don't know when that style was first introduced, though. Could be late 60's for all I know. Later (late 70cs?) They started using a black plastic nut on the pivot bolt.

I'm still thinking early 70's for that bike.

since6

I agree rhm on early 70s. Does the stamping on the free wheel "Cyclo 72 Made in France" mean this was a 1972 free wheel, or, is "72" the model no. for this freewheel? Any "Cyclo' experts?

One additional thing I've been trying to find out is if Gitane was the bicycle ridden by the World Champion in the late 60s/early 70s due to the decal on the top tube proclaiming that this French bicycle was a World Champion bike.
LOL, not "this" bike, but that a Gitane was ridden by a World Champion rider. Does anyone know?

jeffwe

Resurrecting old thread....

I had one of these mini Gitane bicycles when I was a child. I was born in 1967 and I'm fairly certain that I got the bicycle brand new in 1975 in 3rd grade. Mine was red, had the same components as described. The only thing I think that might have been different on mine was that I think my bike had secondary brake levers under the tops of the bars. I know that my right side brake lever snapped off when I had a fall.

That seat was stock, I always thought it was called "Luca" -- I seem to recall that it had 2 holes in the top of the saddle?

I was very short growing up, so that bicycle enabled me to ride something that looked much cooler than a normal kids bike. I went everywhere on that thing...

Small cog

I cannot help with dating only to say the Weinmann brakes probably have a date on the back but will say the 8 year old me would have been greener than that paint job with envy had I seen one of those back in the day, some of our children's bikes has SA 3 speeds but none had a derailleur.