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tram111

Hello together!!

Can somebody tell me from which year and even perhaps which model it is ?

Thanks for your help.

Regards from Germany

sandranian · Site Admin

Welcome!

That bike is interesting, as the decals indicate it dates from about 1980. However, I don't recall seeing a "fade" paint job like that until about 1986 or so.... Any other opinions out there?

PS: Auf gehts Eintracht Frankfurt!

tram111

Thats my problem..i can`t find a similar Gitane frame with this painting.
I just found out the same you wrote..in the 1980 catalogue are some bikes with the same decals.
However i paid only 30$ for this bike so i think i don`t made a mistake with this buy.

PS: Auf geht`s 1. FC Köln (Sounds much better) Very Happy

lofter

the eyelets on the rear drops will get u closer to the right year . look in the catalogs and see when they started going with those type eyelets.decals definately dont match the paint scheme.

tram111

Im not sure bit maybe it`s this one ???

tram111

Here some more pictures..!!

tram111

Because of the bad condition i had to sand blast the frame.

Here the finished sand blast frame with fork

Gtane

The frame looked pretty good in the photos but probably hard to tell in real detail though.

Enjoy the restoration and do post shots once done or of the work in progress.

Tim

logarto

In my experience the "fade" paint jobs proliferated all over the industry after Alexi Grewal won the 1984 Olympic road race on a fade Pinarello with about as eclectic a parts mix as you would ever expect to see at that level.

(Which must have really pissed off his sponsors because the crank and pedals in particular were already three years out of production by then.)

By 1986 it was getting hard to get a solid color paint scheme on a production frame. I bought my Masi primarily because it was the last one coming in solid red that season and hid the frame from the spousal unit behind the washing machine through the winter.

The Chevron decals on this bike would normally tend to indicate 1982-1983 production, but it's certainly not unheard of for old decals to end up on a newer Gitane either.

The brake calipers and seatpost tell me that it was not a very high end model, but if that tubing decal says Vitus 971 or thereabouts then you got a very very nice frame for your $30. I'm getting fond of mid 1980s "mid grade" bikes where the frames were substantially better than the parts that the manufacturer hung on them. Especially for us older heavier people.

The solid blue bike you pictured just screams 1981-1982 Super Corsa, the 1983s that came to North America via Trek had about the same parts sans drilled brake levers and conventional handlebar stem, (same parts right down to the normal brake centerbolts as opposed to recessed even though the frames themselves were recessed, I still have some of the little brass washers they used kicking around my parts bins.) Also the 1983s had internal brake cable routing and chromed fork and braze on rear derr cable guide.

As I saw those bikes they only came in 57 and then 62 cm sizes and this one looks like a 60 or so. I would have a hard time passing on the pictured one in that condition.

verktyg

The 102 AEROTUB stcker indicates that it's made of plain gage carbon steel tubing. That plus the stamped steel dropout were used on entry level models.

It looks like someone upgraded a lot of the components which was not all that uncommon.

Whoever did that could have repainted it or sprayed the blue on the front and put on earlier decals too. Those style stamped steel dropouts weren't used by Gitane until the mid 80s.

Even though it's not a top of the line model it should still be a nice enjoyable bike to ride.

tram111

Here some new pictures Smile