gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Need help identifying new aquisition Goto page 1, 2  Next    View previous topic :: View next topic  Need help identifying new aquisition   Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 7:20 pm modelmartin Joined: 08 Nov 2010 Posts: 8 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota I just picked this up at a bike shop which fixes up and gives away bikes to charity. It has a Minneapolis bike license expiring June 1964 on it. It partly matches the Hosteller from the 64 catalog and the 60 one also. It has the same cranks and sprockets as the 64. Stonglight cranks, Simplex allvit derailleur, Mafac brakes, Rigida wheels. It is a 10 speed. Any ideas on a positive ID? I plan on restoring it this winter and riding it next summer. Outlay was $42.00 Thanks in advance to anyone who can help with the ID and I would be very grateful for any advice on retsoring it(parts sources, etc) _________________ Andy Martin Early 60s Hosteller   Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:11 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Greetings and welcome to the Gitane USA Forum. You bike looks like an early 60s Gitane Hosteller or similar model. http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/us1960_cover.jpg http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1964/Page_03.jpg One other thing, the stem looks to be up a little high. It should be inserted at least 3" into the steering tube. _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:03 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California You LUCKY B*ST*RD! (pardon my french). I have been hoping to stumble on such a treasure. Really nice, and I can't wait to help you restore it! Oh...and if you even think of repainting it (without spending some real money on it), I will have to fly to Minnesota and remove it from your possession. As owner of this website, I have a right to eminent domain in cases of extreme emergency, don't I? _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com Proper French   Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:38 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area sandranian wrote: You LUCKY B*ST*RD! (pardon my french). The correct French word is bâtard or in the feminine (Gitane) bâtarde... Thus sprach Zarathustra _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:38 am lofter Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 1162 wow nice!   Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 10:46 am vanhelmont Joined: 11 Dec 2007 Posts: 242 Location: Florida That's a pretty amazing bike. I really like the matching racks. If you plan to ride it much, you might want to find or build another wheelset with alloy rims. Your rims appear to be in good shape, but alloy rims are much better for braking, especially in the wet. And it's way too nice to paint. If it needs touching up, Chas has written in the forum how to do that well. Dave   Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:24 pm modelmartin Joined: 08 Nov 2010 Posts: 8 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Thanks for the responses, guys. There are several things about this bike that seem odd compared to the bikes pictured in the catalogs. All of the Hostellers in the catalogs are 15 speeds and this one is a 10- speed. It seems most like the one in the 1966 catalog (marked as 1966 but the file name says 1960??? Can that be clarified? Also page 1 and page 4 are identical.) except for the stronglight cranks. The chain guard, which I absolutely love, doesn't appear in any of the catalogs I saw on this site. I have seen them on Peugeots. Bike dealer add-on? I know all about the French and their lack of consistency and documentation in many things. Very odd considering they invented bureaucracy!! The paint is really quite poor. The top tube is almost rubbed down to the metal. It is quite chipped and scratched throughout. I was planning a quality re-spray in the original color. I will be photographing and measuring the decals because I do have resources to have waterslide decals made. The fenders need a fair anount of work. They are dinged and dented and tweaked here and there. I think I can bring them around. Mechanically everything works so I will just do a good clean and re-lube and get some new tires and brake pads. When I got it, it had an old folding child's seat on the back and the spokes were festooned with little plastic clip-on balls. Uuugh! The bike looked way better with that stuff peeled off. I hope to do RAGBRAI next year and would love to do it on this bike. Combined age of rider and bike will be almost 100! _________________ Andy Martin   Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:57 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California That is going to be some project! Can't wait to see how it turns out! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:19 am mikkla Joined: 23 Aug 2010 Posts: 87 Location: The Netherlands Bike looks really nice, especially for its age. Nice find, have fun on the restoration. Another thing... a Minneapolis bike license?? You need a license to own a bike? Can you clear that up for me, as I never heard of anything like that. Thanks!! _________________ Greetings from the Netherlands!!   Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:25 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Bicycle licenses in the USA are for identification purposes...like to recover your bike if it is stolen. There was a big push to license bikes some years ago: I remember going to the local fire station as a kid and getting a bicycle license, but it seems like the push doesn't really exist anymore. So to answer the question, it isn't a license to own a bike...but more akin to a car's license plate. _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 7:10 am mikkla Joined: 23 Aug 2010 Posts: 87 Location: The Netherlands Oke, all clear. We have something simulair in The Netherlands as well. But it is with your zipcode combined with your housenumber. So therefor it would lead to the rightfull owner, except when you move lol. Anyone can let it ingraved in the bike, or you can do it yourself. Nothing official I believe, I never had it done. _________________ Greetings from the Netherlands!!   Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:30 pm modelmartin Joined: 08 Nov 2010 Posts: 8 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota I have been going over things a bit and have come to a few conclusions about this bike. I do NOT believe it to be an actual Hosteller unless they had a lower-rent version. The technical specification of the bike exactly matches the "Parliament" 10-speed model in the 64 catalog. It does have the generater bracket brazed on and of course it has the Hosteller racks and Soubitez lights and generator. The brakes are just marked MAFAC and not MAFAC RACER. The original paint on this bike is of very poor quality. There are grind marks underneath it and runs. There is a number stamped on the left side rear dropout- 6379. I found a number 58 stamped on the left side of the lower front lug. I suspect that this is what the Brits call a "Bitsa". It was perhaps done at the dealer or distributor. It definitely does not have the higher quality dropouts and chrome socks that the better bikes have. I found it interesting that the distributor was here in Minneapolis. I am eager to hear what the vintage Gitane Gurus think about this bike. My plans are still the same - to restore it and ride the wheels off of it! Thanks much! _________________ Andy Martin   Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:15 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California I don't think anyone ever thought any more (or any less) of your bike. It will make a great "city" bike. Post some more pics please.... _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com Hosteller, Parliament or what ever?   Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:03 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area modelmartin wrote: I have been going over things a bit and have come to a few conclusions about this bike. I do NOT believe it to be an actual Hosteller unless they had a lower-rent version. The technical specification of the bike exactly matches the "Parliament" 10-speed model in the 64 catalog. It does have the generater bracket brazed on and of course it has the Hosteller racks and Soubitez lights and generator. Specifications to change without notice. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Most of the Hostellers that I've seen were only 10 speeds. What I was looking at was the distinctive shape of the headlight and tail lights. modelmartin wrote: The brakes are just marked MAFAC and not MAFAC RACER. The original paint on this bike is of very poor quality. There are grind marks underneath it and runs. MAFAC didn't start marking their brake calipers with "MAFAC RACER" until around 1969. They were marked DURAL FORGE MAFAC as far back as the early 50s. There must have been a lot of the of the earlier marked brakes in the pipeline because I've seen then on bikes built as late as 1973. The French built bikes to ride not look at. Bikes were a cheap form of transportation, the next step up from shoe leather! Cosmetics on French bikes plus pedestrian level British, Italian and other European bikes left a lot to be desired if one was looking for a piece of artwork. The sacred holey of holies Italian bikes didn't set the standards for cosmetics until the early 70s. Pretty paint can hide a multitude of sins, too! Actually your bike looks pretty decent for a 45+ year old product. How many 45 year old cars or other manufactured items do you see. Bikes like yours were built to have about a 5 to 10 year maximum life expectancy. As soon as you touch the paint, any future value as a collectible or antique will vanish. You will destroy the patina. Besides some of those scratches may have happened before the bike was ever taken out of the box. My retro-grouch opinion... well, I'll keep it to myself. modelmartin wrote: There is a number stamped on the left side rear dropout- 6379. I found a number 58 stamped on the left side of the lower front lug. After a year or so of looking at Gitane numbers on the forum, we decided there was no logic to them. One Forum member suggests that they are lucky Loto numbers. The 58 and other numbers stamped into the lugs are the lug angles. The other lugs probably have 71 or 72 stamped in them. modelmartin wrote: I suspect that this is what the Brits call a "Bitsa". It was perhaps done at the dealer or distributor. It definitely does not have the higher quality dropouts and chrome socks that the better bikes have. Your bike looks very original French not whatever some Brit would call it! Back when that bike was new there were very few "10 speeds" in the US. They were mostly found in a few bigger cities and around college campuses where "eggheads" who had been to Europe brought the bikes back with them. BTW, that was a lot of bike for under $100 bucks. I bought a Bridgestone randonneur bike much like yours when I was stationed in Japan in 1964-65. I brought it home with me and started riding it in 1967. You should have seen the strange looks that I got when I rode it. Bikes were still considered kids toys back then! Chrome socks started to become popular in the late 60s. They were usually found on mid range and better quality bikes and were considered "an Italian feature". The chromed areas had to be polished before plating and that added a lot to the cost of the bike. By the time the US Bike Boom got rolling around 1970, many entry level bikes were coming with chrome socks on the forks. modelmartin wrote: I found it interesting that the distributor was here in Minneapolis. There were a number of companies wholesaling Gitanes back then including Wheel Goods in Minneapolis and Wares in Milwaukee. modelmartin wrote: I am eager to hear what the vintage Gitane Gurus think about this bike. My plans are still the same - to restore it and ride the wheels off of it! If it were my bike I'd clean it up and restore the missing parts to pretty much original and ride it on occasion like vintage bike get togethers. You be amazed what some elbow grease can do. Here's some before and after shots of my 1969 Tour de France bike. If you ride it into the ground, you will find vintage replacement parts more expensive and harder to find. _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:59 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Well said (as usual), Chas.! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com Need help identifying new aquisition     gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours   Page 1 of 2   Goto page 1, 2  Next All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First  Select a forum Gitane USA----------------Vintage GitaneGitane RacingModern GitanePro Racing - Classics/Giro/Tour....Owner Gallery   Powered by phpBB © 2001-2004 phpBB Group Designed for Trushkin.net | Themes Database.