oneclick 

Got this recently:




It has the honecomb rear dropouts and forged simplex fronts.
The fork crown is cast/forged.
It has no tubing decal, not even remnants.
The equiment and decals look like 1973-ish.

Most of it appears original, and what's more unused.
The hubs have zero dirt in any of the crevices, and I took the front apart - cones are perfect, as new.
The front mech cage has the merest traces of chain rub.
The mechs themselves are crack-less (but see below).
The brake rubbers also show little use.

Since this pic I've removed the post and seat and tidied up the handlebars, got rid of that nasty black foamy wrap.
The plastic mechs and their levers will get upgraded, I have a special cotton tape to use as wrap, it'll get toe clips.

It'll need a new seatpost...
The post is about 2 feet long, it's a 25.0 Kalloy that was black until someone polishd the top part of it, that section is well less than 25.0.
The bottom is still black, and presumably still 25.0, and it barely came out.
I've had a go at the top and inside of the slot to make sure the tube isn't pinched nor are there any burrs.

It STILL needs a 25.0, it is metric tubing, but - 1.5mm is bottom end.
Is it just how very french or is there a model I could not find in the catalogs; all those ones with forged dropouts and chrome forks from about that time were built of better.

(more pics as rec'd

francophile 

Maybe my Gitane memory is off-kilter, but I'm pretty sure honeycombs over here were limited to TdF/SC/Olympic, and the Interclub. And that, as outfitted, looks like it's an Interclub to me.

orcas island 

From recollection, I think that you are looking at a 1976 ”Interclub” model. That style of decal was post-1973, and the honeycomb rear dropouts were used in 1976. My 1972 Interclub came with a similar crankset, Mafac Racers, and those Simplex derailleurs, but those honeycomb drops are the key.

jdawginsc 

I have the yellow version of it and verktyg identified it as an Interclub probably.

scarlson 

Some older French bikes (particularly those of the great artisanal constructeurs from the '50s) have seat tubes that have been sleeved down to 25.0 with a brazed-in sleeve. Normally you can stick a spoke in and feel for the lower edge of the sleeve with the elbowed spoke head if your fingers are not long enough to feel it.

Alternatively, are you sure someone didn't mash down the seat binder clamp to work with the 25.0, but it's really intended for something bigger?

unworthy1

you who know (and I'm sure verktyg does): what is the correct size seatpost for a circa 1976 Interclub?
without any shim in the seat tube...

EDIT: I checked with St. Sheldon, tho his seatpost database does not have any spec for Gitane Interclubs, using the size data for Peugeot UO-8s, (which might be close):
(1970s UO-8) 25.5 without shim
and
Peugeot UO-8 '70's 22 with shim, 25.4 without
so might take either 25.4 or 25.5 if no shim AND if the seat tubing is same between these two FR frames