gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Really Nice...Really Rare...Gitane Track Bike (France)    View previous topic :: View next topic  Really Nice...Really Rare...Gitane Track Bike (France)   Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:17 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Check this out! Never seen this head tube decal before!* http://cgi.ebay.fr/rare-velo-ancien-de-collection-gitane-course-piste-/170620665908?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_71&hash=item27b9c8c034 *Actually, I think it used to have a headbadge, similar to the one on my Randonneur, which either fell off or was removed. I think that decal is from one of the mopeds. Thoughts? _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:46 pm scozim Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 629 Location: Ellensburg, WA That is really cool! How old is that bike? _________________ 1984 Gitane Sprint 1984 Gitane Tour de France mid-1970's Gitane Olympic Plus many more http://eburgcycling.blogspot.com Nice Fixie   Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:51 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area That would make a really nice fixie (tongue in cheek)! _________________ 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: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:32 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Likely dates from the early 1960's. _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:36 am Wisey Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 631 Location: Brisbane, Australia You sure it's a track bike? Looks like a fixed roadie to me. Laid back angles. Pre-derailleur era? I think it's older than the 60s. The parts and geo remind me of 30s - 40s bikes. _________________ Kind Regards, Wisey Delta Dreamin' Old Track Bikes   Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:15 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area In New Mexico back in the 70s there was an old timer who'd been a track racer for something like 30+ years. He raced in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and later turned pro. He finished out his riding doing 6 day races and Madisons until they ended sometime in the 50s. The old timer had about 35 old track bikes in his garage. The fellow that I worked for bought most of them. He kept about 4 and sold the rest off. We had 3 old track bikes on display at our shop: a 1930s Schwinn track bike, a Diamant from the 30s and a 1936 Durkopp that had been ridden by presumably a German rider in the Berlin Olympics. The Durkopp was in great shape. The extremely light frame was made of Mannesmann tubing. All of the components except the aluminum hubs and wood track rims, were made of light weight steel. The bike only weighed 17 Lbs. The wheel base was 109cm (43") and the head and seat tube angles were 71°. It rode like a cloud. We used to take it out on the road for special occasions. I rode it for the first half of a century one time then switched off to the shop owners bike for the return leg. This is a 1951 Durkopp. The wheelbase looks a little shorter than the 1936 bike we had. Old track bikes had laid back angles! _________________ 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: Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:41 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Wisey wrote: You sure it's a track bike? Looks like a fixed roadie to me. Laid back angles. Pre-derailleur era? I think it's older than the 60s. The parts and geo remind me of 30s - 40s bikes. No front brake mount/hole in the fork and track rear dropouts. Looks all Track to me! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:28 am Frenchbuilt Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 443 Doing a little research...the sticker on the seatpost says "world record for one hour". I checked up and best I can find is that Gitane held this record in 1957 and 1958. Apparently Mens in '57 and '58 with Roger Rivière and womens in '58 with Elsy Jacobs. Source is internet so ?? but perhaps the bike is from at least '58 on. Everything is relative and "superb condition" as indicated in the ad holds true when considering most stuff from the 50's and early 60's is pretty well beat up or just completely gone to the grave. Dan   Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:48 am Frenchbuilt Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 443 Have no idea what the bikes are but real action photos of Roger Rivière and Elsy Jacobs!   Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:02 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Frenchbuilt wrote: Have no idea what the bikes are but real action photos of Roger Rivière and Elsy Jacobs! It looks like Elsy Jacobs is riding a Heylett. You can see part of the distinctive "H" in the logo on her riding shorts. Click to see full logo The pictures on the the head and seat tubes look like Jacques Anquetil who raced for Heylett before the company was bought by Gitane in 1962. Getting back to the discussion of frame geometry in the messages above, I'm not sure when steep head and set tube angles combined with short wheel bases became the norm for track bikes. In the late 60s to early 70s road racing frames with 72° to 73° angles plus 102cm to 104cm were considered the standard. These where bikes designed for all day racing on poorly surfaced roads. The British used steep angles and short wheel bases on their specially built time trial bikes but they were intended for 25 to 50 mile events. In the mid 70s Italian frame builders started producing "road bike" frames with track bike geometry using steep 74°-75°-76° angles and 100cm wheel bases, Gios Torino for example. By the 1980s head tube angles went back to more sensible 72°-73° angles while the seat tube angles remained around 74°-75° with 100cm wheelbases. Note: these dimensions were mostly used on mid sized frames between 55cm and 60cm. The geometry changes on smaller and larger sized frames. Like always, YMMV! _________________ 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 Really Nice...Really Rare...Gitane Track Bike (France)     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 1   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.