chico81 

Hi!

I have an early 1970’s Gitane Professional Tour de France frame, Reynolds 531 tubing and Reynolds fork. It also has a strong light crank and headset. The paint has lots of patina and surface scratches. However, it is rust-free, straight, there are no dents or dings, and the chrome is in great condition! Serial # is pictured on the dropout, it looks like 02221. Sorry about it being dirty, I just quickly cleaned it with a mild biodegradable cleaner, and it can definitely use some more elbow grease to get the job done. Size is 23.5 inches, so about 59cm.

I don’t have any other French bikes, and I have several other projects in the works, so I plan on moving it to the “for sale” or “frame swap” threads soon. I would just like to get some more info on this because I love bike history and would like to know a little more about it. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated!

TIA!

chico81 

Forgot to mention that it has the name “Birkett” in vinyl lettering on the top tube. Does anyone have any idea who this may be? Perhaps a local SoCal racer from the 70’s?

Thanks again!

ryansu

Nice find the Gitane quick release paint is still intact as are the decals I had a 75 Tour De France pass through my hands that had honeycomb rear drop outs so I would hazard a guess its earlier than 75 but I am no Gitane expert,

top506

'71-'72 would be my guess. It was Gitane's co-top of the line bike along with the Super Corsa (same frameset with Campy stuff). I would expect @verktyg to be along shortly with his usual collection of catalogue shots and anecdotes to give the definitive answer.

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Ex Pres 

I'm guessing a 1970 - but will defer to Chas.

And c.'70 - everything will be French (metric) threaded and sized (tubing, etc). Since you've not had a French frame, this would be a little bit of a new animal to tackle.

bikemig 

Lovely frame. I'd like to own a gitane TdF one of these days but this is too large or I would be interested!

JohnDThompson 

Nice bike. The big chainring is mounted wrong, though: that peg you see at the 10 o'clock postion should be behind the crank arm to prevent the chain from jamming in the event of an overshift.

chico81 

Thanks. I bought it to help a guy out, and due to its “Frenchness”, I don’t really plan on restoring it. I just don’t have any spare French parts lying around. I hope to pass it on to an interested member who will give it some love.

chico81 

Too bad it’s not your size, I would’ve been happy to send it your way. PM me if interested

rustystrings61 

I, too, await Chas. Colerich/verktyg's response - but from poring over what he has written before, I'm gonna say 1971, because this one is the twin to my TdF, currently set up as a fixed-gear, down to the size even. Swaged-over seat stay ends + rear brake cable housing stop bridge + Nervex Pro fork crown + long-point Prugnat lugs + Stronglight 93 points me that way.

Kdogbikes

Really nice looking frame fork set. Those decals look to be in great shape especially the ones on the fork. And the green paint is sharp. I have a tdf in blue but in rode hard put away wet condition. Mine doesn’t have the brake adjuster bridge so your bike possibly earlier 70s where mines 74. Best riding bike I own. Cheers. Kevin.

top506

The only odd Francophile bits are already there, headset and BB/crankset. 50/50 any quill stem will drop in, 100% with a touch of light sanding. 26.4 seatpost is easy to find, and any wheelset and drivetrain would work.
I have a Super Corsa of similar vintage I got as a frame and fork. Headset, BB, Mafacs and T/A Pro crank came off a junkyard find Ficelle. Wheelset is Normandy hubs laced to Sun M-13II rims, drivetrain a mix of SunTour and Shimano indexed 7 cog:



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Ex Pres 

Does yours have the horn on the NDS dropout? The swaged seat-stay confused me, as I thought that was even later than 71 - but you say yours has it. Gitane was fluid in those days. I have what I think is a '69 with no derailleur hanger - and, no, not drewed, it's factory.

rustystrings61 

Mine does indeed have the horn on the NDS dropout, swaged seat stay tops, brazed-on rear brake cable stop, long Prugnat lugs, curly Nervex Pro crown - Stronglight P-3 headset with a Zeus locknut (!) and Stronglight BB came with it, too. Just for fun, here's a pic of it in all its raggedy-*&$ tatterdemalion glory -



- and I LOVE this bike. It's my summertime early-morning go-to bike for rides before I go to work ... I need to take some more pictures, though, now that I've replaced the Weinmann 500s with a set of Weinmann Carreras.

chico81 

Wow! We have twins separated at birth!! What is your serial #?

rustystrings61 

Mine is 31161 stamped on the NDS dropout - I had to remove the wheel nut on that side to read it.

Funny thing - though the years I have owned THREE TdFs, and while one of them was a slightly later one with Sugino Mighty cranks, all three of them were the same Omnium Vert/Club Green. As a color, it's grown on me through the years.

satbuilder 

OP—that bike looks like it’s in pretty nice shape!

chico81 

Thanks!!

chico81 

Your bike looks great! I get so caught up in restoring bikes to original as possible that I sometimes forget that I can just throw on what I’ve got and ride! Haha. I just don’t have the time or space for this one. Maybe if I didn’t pick up a Trek 720 in completely original condition the day before that is calling out to me! Or the three other bikes in various stages of restoration now

I’m new to Gitanes, heck, French bikes in general, so, I thought I could clear up some space and pass it on at my cost or trade to a true enthusiast. I may just start a thread on C&V for sale soon.

verktyg 

I'd peg it at late 1971 also.

The Simplex dropouts with a horn on the NDS, long point "Italian Style" Prugnat "S" lugs, Nervex or Bocama fork crown, brazed on rear brake cable stop, swagged seat stay caps and the Stronglight 93 cranks point to that year.

@top506 "The only odd Francophile bits are already there... Hear! Hear! FOM (Fear Of Metric)

My almost all original 57cm 1971 TdF:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...57625904415599

I'm thinning out the herd, bikes I'm not riding are going on the block. Anyone interested, please PM me.

verktyg