Addamsmith

Ano tther of my Gitane collection,
this one is a 1963Gitane Super Olympic that is in amazing condition with very little rust and original Groupset.
Rare Mafac brakes very light for its age.

KenNC

Nice, interesting combo of French and Italian components, and I like the caps on the seat stays!

tiger1964 

Interesting, and I presume those are the decals my '61 should have, but I have not seen them available anywhere.

Addamsmith

Hi tiger
I am trying to get them reproduced I will keep you updated.
can you post up your 61.
From what i have learned after 63 they went to the first foil look.
Your and my bike should be identical

Ex Pres 

Thanks for sharing these. I've had a couple Gitanes, but none right now. Your Huret equipped is particularly intriguing.

tiger1964 

Now my choices get more complicated; I've already placed a big order from Cyclomondo for decals for my projects, including a Gitane (newer, foil) set, figuring that I'd never find "correct" ones and I actually had no idea what they originally looked like. So, do i use them, or wait?

You'll see my Gitane in this earlier topic: 1961 Gitane

Markeologist

Absolutely lovely bike. Can we get a close up shot of the seat stays caps? I see they are Carre willow leafs but would be nice to see the detail (assume no initials). The lack of chrome is great too...my slightly newer CdM lacks chrome as well. The various Gitane team bikes of this era similarly lacked chrome. All Campy including new for 63 Record derailleur and also new for 63 Mafac Top63s...WOW, this is a very special bike. What I also find particularly interesting with your frame is the use of Prugnat 62 lugs just as Carre used on race bikes he built for Anquetil and others including future TdF winners Aimar and Janssen and TdF KOM Jimenez. I don't recall seeing Prugnat 62s on regular production Gitanes….very very cool. Rebour's illustration of Anquetil's 1963 TdF winning Gitane as built by Carre...willow leafs (w/ initials) and Prugnat 62s...again WOW!

Markeologist

WAIT PLEASE! If your bike is similar to Addam's, hold off and wait for correct decals. I've looked into getting some re-pops done, not all that expensive...the "foil" decals are the tricky ones from what I have learned because of the required stock on which to print the image. Since yours is earlier than 63, your bike may have had Mafac Tigers (depends on how high up on scale your bike was originally)...perfect for your collection I assume....pics of bike (and car) would be appreciated!

Markeologist

Unmarked Carre-built team bike for Anquetil. If paint is original, would be 1965 or earlier as Ford-France switched from classic blue Gitanes to Geminiani and Anquetil-badged bikes (built by Cizerone) in 66. Anquetil's bikes were still built by Carre but the color of his Anquetil-badged bikes went to a dark blue/purple for 66 (Ford France) which stayed same in 67 and 68 (BiC). The Geminiani-badged bikes the Ford-France/BiC team also rode in 66-68 were silver blue.

tiger1964 

Hmm -- conundrum. Depending on how long "wait" is, of course. My bike is lower level than Addam's, stamped dropouts. I bought it as a bare spray-bombed frame and a bag of parts; unsure what the original spec is, although I suspect the Stronglight 49's are right and the Mafacs are the "Dural Forge" variety, no "Racer" markings. I'm outfitting as I see fit, which ruins resale but I plan to keep all my bikes until death anyhow...

But do like the look of these decals. OTOH, I like the look of the foil ones, my 1971 Grand Sport had them when I was a teenager.

tiger1964 

??? Did they have a team?

Or, one of these bikes hanging on a rack on the rear of a Ford-France Comete would look cool.

Markeologist

Did they have a team??? YES!!!, 1965 Ford-France Gitane and in 1966 they became Ford-France Hutchinson. In 1966 they won the TdF and KOM...Aimar and Jimenez (both on Carre-built but Geminiani-badged bikes).

Markeologist

Addam's bike is very similar to Anquetil's 1965 Ford-France Gitane team bike...I have an original poster I consulted which more clearly shows the seat tube decals...plus a few more of Anquetil on Ford-France Gitane:

Markeologist

If lower level (i.e., more common) and you like the foil, go with what you like! You could turn it into a Geminiani too (built by MICMO like Gitanes) and those decals are readily available. Dural Forge (which were called "Racer") are great, pre-dated the Mafacs embossed with Racer or Competition. Most of French pro-teams in 60s used the Dural Forge models instead of the more expensive Tigers and Top63s.

Addamsmith

Seat stays

Addamsmith

From what I understand the top of the range Gitane did not change from 61 to 65 only had foil type decals from 64.
maybe someone could clarify this.
I'm sure my Gitane is identical to the Jacques bike of 64 65

Markeologist

I'm not convinced this is a production Gitane. I went and looked at Gitane catalogs on GitaneUSA as well as data I have collected for a few decades… DON'T trust the dates of catalogs on GitaneUSA!, the "1966" is more likely a 1964 as Anquetil did not race a Gitane in 1966 and since he also won TdF in 1964 that certainly would have been listed along with his other TdF wins if this was a catalog from a year or two later AND the "1967" is most likely 1965 as I have the EXACT same catalog except the bikes are branded as Geminiani instead of Gitane, both were made by MICMO until 1966 when Geminiani's were built by Cizerone. Anyway, in the first half of 60s all the top level Gitane production race bikes have Nervex Professional lugs with Campy dropouts and the race bikes a tier or two down use Prugnat lugs but with Simplex dropouts. Also, your bike clearly has Carre-style willow leaf seat stay caps, something found on production Gitanes (copies of Carre) but not until much later in 60s (and continuing off and on into 70s)...your bike sure looks like a Carre-built bike … top level team bike perhaps though the bike shop sticker throws me. Really neat piece.

Addamsmith

It was thought to be a pro bike and definitely early 60s.
i have another one that might even stun you more.
it had old Gitane stickers under the silly paint job that someone put onto it.

Addamsmith

Here is Raphael Geminiani 1965 bike.
my bike above is identical with Campagnolo Tips Carre style Leaf and sharper curve on lugs.
This bike was restored with later decals that are foiled style.






the last picture looks like my decals front 1962
The bike above is 65 or 66 I'm sure

John E

Now that is tight gearing! What do you have in back -- something like 13,15,16,17,18? 52-42 up front?

I knew a couple of guys who ran 52-42 / 14-18 corncobs back then. Hills? No problem!

Addamsmith

will check when i get home

Markeologist

I'm familiar with this Gitane from Tonton Velo so I'm not following the Geminiani part? Neither this Gitane from Tonton Vello nor this one of yours you picture have Carre willow leafs seat stay caps. An actual Carre cap or the copies like found on later Gitanes (maybe Bertins and Lejuenes as well...everybody claims they are Carre-built but more likely Carre inspired) have a cap that swell in the middle but that taper to a point on both ends, not a tear drop like these bikes. Here are a couple Carre willow leaf caps, one is my bike...you can see "B.Carre" in the cap easily on both. A Carre cap is also a distinct cap, you can run your fingernail around the edge.

Addamsmith

Here are some good close ups of the seat stay leafs.
looking at my carre frameset its definitely the same style



would you say its a right

tiger1964 

Well, I learned something. And I had read that Ford-France, the car company, was gone before 1960 (and Wikipedia bears this out), during the Vedette era. So I presume that the Ford-France behind the cycling team imported Fords from outside of France?

Regardless, nice looking bike(s).

Markeologist

Addam...my comments were not directed at your 63, it clearly has hallmarks of a Carre-built frame, not just the willow leaf seat stay caps but also the fish-mouthed seat and chain stay ends at rear dropouts (assume same on fork?). Carre tended to use Prugnat S on his top customs which he modified with hand-cut windows but he typically used Prunat 62s on bikes he built for racers including those who were at the top of the heap in the 60s (TdF winners Anquetil, Aimar, and Janssen). Race bikes were a tool and Prugnat's top level S lugs were clearly not required to win races. Your 63 appears to be such a race bike, only thing missing are some racers initials stamped on the seat stay cap...again, really cool bike.