23skidoo

I got my 75 Gitane TdeF back from Joe Bell last week and am ultra-pleased with the finished result.

Here are a few pics; one of the frame itself and three of the almost-finished build with links to Photobucket albums with more pics. It seems that either Gitane did not use a standard 8x21mm seatpost binder bolt or the holes have been deformed just enough that an 8mm binder won't fit. If anyone can straighten me out on this I'd be grateful because I'm reluctant to drill it out and ruin the surrounding paint even though I've got a bit of touch-up paint and I don't want to use a MTB external clamp binder bolt so I've got nothing to hang the rear cable stop/qr on at the moment. Joe Bell did a fantastic job on the paint work, even resisting my efforts to have the Huret honeycomb rear dropouts painted with an accent color.

As for the components I tried to use what came with the bike and just cleaned them up where I could. The Gran Compe stem, SR Randonneur bars and Shimano bar-end shifters were on the bike, ditto for the Suntour dt cable stop and the Shimano 600 Arabesque front derailleur; the Gran Compe levers and hoods are NOS and the Dia Compe black anodized centerpulls look much nicer to me than the Universal 61s that came with the bike; the rear derailleur is a Shimano 600 Arabesque to match the front and replaces a Suntour VGT-Luxe; the Dura-Ace bottom bracket is NOS to match up with the 1st-gen DA cranks and chainweels and the pedals are Shimano 600; the wheels are Campy Victory Strada tubular rims with Campy Tipo large-flange hubs and Tufo tires; the Brooks Professional saddle and generic seatpost came with the bike as did a Blackburn rear rack which I've not yet installed because I want to have it anodized black the same way I did the chainrings.

My thanks to fellow C & Vrs who traded or sold me the wheels, pedals, and Gran Compe levers to help me finish up the build. I have to confess I was really nervous about buggering up the beautiful paint job ($340 for those who are curious about such things plus $65 for shipping & insurance) so I took the whole shebang to my favorite lbs and trusted wrencher to hang the parts but I bring them a lot of other work over the winter I would normally do myself just to support their small three-man business. Now if anyone has a really pretty seatpost in 26.0.....






https://s270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ell%20Repaint/






https://s270.photobucket.com/albums/j...0France/Build/

retyred

Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. That is a fine looking Gitane. I like the braze ons for the rear rack.Joe did a great job. I have a 70's Mondia with a Joe Bell repaint.

Grand Bois

I've never seen a TdF with those Huret "honeycomb" or "spiderweb" dropouts. Could it be an Interclub? It's hard to tell with Gitanes. They made alot of substitutions. Beautiful bike!

Kommisar89

That looks just like my coworkers Gitane Tour de France that he uses to commute to work on occasionally, right down to the color, the lack of decals, and the ecclectic mix of vintage and modern components. I keep trying to get him to put decals on it but he has thus far resisted my suggestions. Drives me crazy every time I see it

poprad

Wonderful build, absolutely stunning. I love your mix of parts, and that paint speaks for itself. The red lug windows are a nice touch. Ride it in good health.

23skidoo

Vee haff ways of mekking you crazy. Heh-heh-heh.

SoreFeet

I don't get it...I mean its a beautiful bicycle build. But why paint? If you were simply going with that one dimensional color scheme why not a powder coat? Its better for the earth.

High Fist Shin

It is a beautiful bike. I love the look of the rear dropouts. On another note, I checked and dont' have a seat binder that will fit your Gitane. I finally got a set of digital calipers and was able to measure the two I have 8x17 mm and 8x20mm.

If I come across something, I'll shoot you a line.

Are you going to add decals at some point?

23skidoo

In what way is powder coat better for the earth? Is a responsible and environmentally-aware painter any more of an impact on the earth than a similar powder coater? I chose paint because I find powder coat less pleasing to my aesthetic sensibilities.

Blue Order

I agree with Dirtdrop, those Huret Honeycombs say "Interclub" to me. I'd be interested in knowing more about this bike, for example, "before" photos of the decals.

It is beautiful-- not my favorite color, but the subtle red styling cues are a nice touch.

And those brakes-- I've never seen black anodized brakes before. What's the story on those?

cudak888 

He might put decals on top.

-Kurt

23skidoo

He probably won't.

23skidoo

There are no before pictures to speak of. At some point a previous owner had this modified with several brazeons added--I believe the original had only the downtube for shifters and the cable stop on the rear derailleur--and the frame was then repainted a flat black. After I had it media blasted there were remaining traces of what could be called Gitane Blue on the bb shell and the head tube. I had no idea what the model/year of the frame was and posted photos of the bare frame on the gitaneusa.com forum and 75-76 Tour de France was what the more knowledgeable folks over there came up with so I've proceeded on that basis; whether it's a Tour de France or an Interclub makes little difference to me but it would be nice to know with absolute certainty. Here is a Photobucket album of the bare frame if that would help:

https://s270.photobucket.com/albums/j...20de%20France/

As for the brakes, I swapped a Campy Record seatpost for them and a tubular wheel from a regular Denver Craigslist poster (who still has a set of tubular wheels with some 1st-gen Dura-Ace high-flange black hubs I want to score); they are Dia-Compes and pretty much NOS. There was a bit of oxidization on the bolt threads but it was pretty clear that they were mounted on a show bike if at all with no signs of wear or usage.

wrk101

Love the honeycomb dropouts!

As far as the other poster's comment on powder coat and the environment, my guess is that he is focused on the VOCs released during the application of the paint. I don't think one bicycle frame is going to shift the planet's balance. And I have not seen an analysis of the total lifecycle impact of paint, ie., what VOCs (and other waste streams) are released during the production of the powder coat materials? I am assuming that base paint is made in some spray dryer which likely has its own VOC issues. Would be an interesting study for someone with more interest and time to spend on such a topic than me.

The lack of waste during the application process is pretty obvious: no overspray, little/no VOC released.

Followup: Well, a quick check of one powder coat resin supplier Title V permit showed potential HAPs emissions of toluene and benzene >25 tons per year, Carbon Monoxide of > 250 tons per year, and a variety of other emissions. This supplier at least does not use spray dryer technology, instead they use a flaker and grinder.

Blue Order

If the Gitane USA experts saw the Huret dropouts and still reached the conclusion that it's a Tour de France, then I'd bow to their collective wisdom.

Grand Bois

What did the experts have to say about the lack of chrome on the stays?

23skidoo

I think their experts are kind of like our experts: out here in Nebraska we say 'kinda like the Platte River, a mile wide and an inch deep but with some nasty holes if you're not careful'. Homespun wisdom aside, I'm tending to think you and Blue Order are both closer to the right track. I've got to go check some apple crisp I've got in the oven--I'm a Sensitive New Age Renaissance Man, in case you're wondering--and I'll be back with some interesting and tell-tale photos.

23skidoo

OK. Here's a pretty good vote for Interclub rather than Tour de France.

https://s270.photobucket.com/albums/j...e%20Interclub/

Blue Order

With those photos, I agree.

unworthy1

It gets a little murky in that 1975 era when the Huret "honeycomb" DOs were in use, but we see a lot more Interclubs that came with them than any other model. I see in the GitaneUSA catalogues that there was a model called Tour D'Avenir that was between the IC and TdF that spec'd Huret RD and looks to have honeycomb DOs, but the spec for the TdF was for Simplex RD, so I'd be surprised if it used this DO with that RD...with Gitane, anything is possible. The decider would be the tubing: a TdF "should" have 3 tubes 531 and the TdA should have Vitus tubing...AFAIK the IC used plain gauge steel. Since you had it down to bare metal: did you see any Reynolds 531 stampings?

VintageR

1. YES, there were full 531 db Gitane frames with those octagonal Huret dropouts (I have one or two), "TdF" as you call 'em. NOT only Interclubs.

2. No, I don't know of any full 531 db Gitanes of that era that didn't have chrome on rear stays and fork (the fork's not a Gitane one, right?). 26,0 mm seattube isn't 531 db for certain. The seat stay caps are another evidence.
So most probably you don't have a TdF, seems to be a simpler frame like the mentioned Interclub.

gerv 

You also have to weigh the paint job against what would happen if you didn't paint the frame. Presumably the frame would rust and would have to be replaced with another (new) frame... which would need 1) to be manufactured and 2) painted.

In the long run, it's better for the environment to maintain the frame rather than filling up landfills with rust.

Grand Bois

There were some Interclubs built with 531 frames. I read it on the Gitane USA forum and there were pictures of one posted on this forum a couple of years ago.

Mid seventies TdF's and Corsas have DB 531 tubes stays and forks, not just 3 tubes.

There is a picture of an alleged 1976 TdF frame with Huret dropouts on the Gitane USA site, but it has half chrome stays.

https://www.gitaneusa.com/images/mode...1976_frame.jpg

Like I said before, lots of substitutions were made by Gitane. My TdF came from the factory with Campy fork ends and Simplex dropouts.

unworthy1

I refer you to this catalog page from 1974:
https://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1974_pg1.jpg
"trois tubes REYNOLDS", but then this 1974 catalog does not list the Corsa model anymore so specs may be more elastic between France and No. America. This TdF came with Simplex Criterium RD, it says.

Grand Bois

I should have said early seventies. It looks like the TdF got downgraded the same year that they dropped the foil decals. Mine came with Criterium front and rear derailers. I still have them and they haven't cracked yet.