MiloFrance

Hi folks. I've had this Gitane a while but never really noticed the overly complex serial, or for that matter confirmed the model. More pics available here, anyone got any facts or even opinions? Have a good week folks.

cyclophilia 

Have a look at these threads:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-l-avenir.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-joe-bell.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...oint-year.html

and the Gitane catalogues here:

Gitane USA - Catalogues

for some help in sorting out the probable model of your lovely Gitane frame.

The honeycomb rear dropouts could indicate a Tour de France, a Tour de L'Avenir, or perhaps even an Interclub.

Our resident expert, verktyg, would know.

MiloFrance

Thank you, I tought about tagging Chas but decided it seemed a bit cheeky!

gbi

If the headset is, or was Campagnolo, it possibly could be an Olympic Record, Super Olympic, or Olympic model.
If not Campagnolo, might be a Champion du Monde model.

scozim 

Looks like a Stronglight V4 headset. I would lean toward Tour de L'Avenir or Interclub. Hard to say, though, because components can be changed so easily.

gbi

Scozim, you're right, the top half of the headset does look like a V4. The rest of it looks odd to me, maybe a Frankenstein headset?
The OP's frame looks to be full 531, I don't think the Tour de L'Avenir or Interclub were full 531.

non-fixie 

Very nice! Looks like a high end model to me. And not a (European) TdF either, as those had swaged seat stay tops, instead of those Carré-esque caps.

EDIT: my money's on it being a Super Olympic.

juvela

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Chas hath writ that the accepted term for these seat stay caps is "willow leaf."


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MiloFrance

Morning! (At least in Europe)
Found some pics from when I brought it home. I drove a fair way for it a few years ago, but it was from a charity that had built it up randomly to sell. The wheels went to the Peugeot in this thread, the Mighty cranks have been on my Faggin until last week (now a set of polished DA) and various other bits have been donated. Looking through the catalogues it only fits with the '74 Super Olympic/Olympic/CdM bracket. The willow leaves (thanks Juvela...), Tout 531 sticker, chrome and colour are only consistent with that one page. All the odd serials are now the mystery, and yes I'm pretty sure will remain so, being French from the 1970s!
Cheers all

gbi

It looks like the headset has an extra added toothed spacer, my guess is the original headset was Campagnolo.

verktyg 

WHAT!

Always happy to be the Gitane grouch!

In 1976 Gitane switched from swagged seat stays back to brazed on "willow leaf" seat stay caps on their top models: Tour de France, Champion de Monde and Olympic. The frames were all Reynolds 531 and most had Huret honeycomb rear dropouts. Very few of those bikes were imported into the US.





Gitane used the Huret honeycomb or spiderweb dropouts on their performance models from 1974 through 1976. One advantage, almost any derailleur could be mounted on them: Huret, Simplex, or universal Campy style. There was also a rare chain hanger attachment that fit over the back of the dropout.

The 1976 TdF and CdM used the same frame, the only difference was in the the level of components. They both came with Stronglight P3 headsets with a 33mm stack height and enough threads on the steerer for a MAFAC front cable hanger. (TdFs came with a mishmash of components: Simplex derailleurs, Huret derailleurs, Stronglight cranks, Sugino cranks and so on)

The Olympic model came with Campy components and a Campy headset with a 41mm stack height so they had a steerer that was at least 8mm-10mm longer. The Olympic came with MAFAC 2000 brakes while the Super Olympic had Campy brakes. Also some Olympic bikes came with Campy dropouts.

@MiloFrance looks like your bike has a P3 headset which would make it a TdF or CdM.

A number of years ago we did a survey of Gitane serial numbers on the GitaneUSA.com forum. After about 2 years we determined that there was NO LOGIC to the numbers stamped into Gitane frames from that era.

Here's a 1976 Olympic BB from Germany. Notice the numbers look similar to MiloFrance's bike.



My 1974 TdF:



My 1974 CdM:



@MiloFrance There is a good chance that your frame is made with lighter gage 0.9mm x 0.6mm Reynolds 531 main tubes rather than the standard 1mm x 0.7mm tubing. My 1974 CdM had the lighter tubes.

One way to tell, the 0.9mm x 0.6mm tubing takes a 26.6mm seatpost rather the standard 26.4mm.

Lastly you may find some of the top end Gitane frames from that era that still had swagged seat stays. Were they made in 1975 or did Gitane get lazy?

verktyg

randyjawa 

Long have I lusted for one of those Gitanes. If for sale, let me know. The rear drops are stunning and worth a spot in my small but unusual collection. Nice frame.

MiloFrance

Everything is for sale...

gbi

The faint outline on the head tube looks like the 1974/75 style Gitane decal.
Measuring the stack height for the headset could narrow down the model possibilites.
Might be a CdM.
This is turning into a bit of a head-scratcher.

scozim 

I picked up a Gitane from MiloFrance a few years ago with the Huret dropouts. I love the ride of this bike and the comments you sometimes get about the dropouts.

bikemig 

Me too. I like those honeycomb drop outs. I had a mid 70s Gitane TdF with those drop outs pass through my shop but I moved it on as it was not my size.

MiloFrance

@randyjawa and @bikemig I have 2 frames with honeycombs, neither of which are ever going to be ridden or even built by me. I'll pm you both in the next few days.

bikemig 

Cool. C'est tres gentille. Ca fais longtemps mais j'ai vecu en France.

gitanesearch

I'm trying to ID one too, but from 1980's photos!

Chombi1 

Funny how one can tell from the angle of the serial numbers that the person in the Gitane factory who manually punched the numbers on the frame bb's was most likely standing on the drive side, facing towards the head tube of the frame while it was upside down. It seems like it was always wet up that way on the production line for years, being it seems to he common to most of the older frames.

gitanesearch

Trying to ID this bike, is anyone that good they can tell what it was? It was stolen around 1987.

verktyg 

It's a lower end 1974-76 Gitane with what appears to be two people rubbing uglies in close proximity to the bike.

How can I tell? The seat stay is 12mm or 14mm. Better models had 16mm seat stays!

The frame is too large for the rider - the suede covered plastic ass-hatchet seat that Gitane provided back then is too far down.

Just one more thing...



It looks like male and female legs!

verktyg

gitanesearch

haha was being ridden by a 10 year old, that's why the seat was down

can you tell what year or model it was based on the color and the logo?

verktyg 

I said above: "It's a lower end 1974-76 Gitane". That's the best info that I can provide. Anything else would be a complete guess.

Gitane made too many different models with those feature, especially for the French/European market.

verktyg

crank_addict

What do you call a Gitane Interclub crossed with a Service Course? Gypsy Intercourse💨