gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Mid-late 70's?? Gitane 10 speed

bmk1981

I just picked up a Gitane tonight that looks to be from the mid-late 70s,but not exactly sure. I could not find any thing with that frame style online anywhere. I do not know much about it besides its a 27" 10 speed with simplex derailleurs on it and 1 of the decals say grand sport deluxe. I just mainly want to know the year it was made,current value and how common or rare it is. It is in good working order,besides it kinda acts like its not all the way in gear. Heres a pic,i can add more if needed. Thanks-

verktyg

Greetings and welcome,

You have a 54cm Gitane Gran Sport Mixte probably from 1969 to 1971.

The Simplex quick releases date the bike to that era.

This as an entry level model.

The cables need to be lubed and or replaced plus the derailleurs need to be lubed and adjusted.

If you plan on doing any amount of ridding on the bike, get a better saddle. There are special saddles for women and also newer designs for men.

Real cushy saddles LOOK comfortable but after about 5 mikes you start to sag into them and pressure gets applied to your personal areas.

scozim

Clean it up and ride it. I bought another brand French mixte in March for $20 from a thrift store. Other than putting some new Panaracer Pasela's on it I haven't had to do anything to it (but the overhaul will occur in the winter).

Never having ridden a mixte before I was surprised at the ride - quite comfortable. I've put a handlebar bag on it and now use it as a family ride bike and mailbox runner (it's .5 mile to the mailbox).

Scott

bmk1981

sweet, i woulda never guessed it was that old. thanks for the info. whats a bike like that worth now days? i just want to know if i got a good deal on it? lol 1 more question, after posting this, i noticed on my derailleur that the 2 plastic gears were busted, to the point where they have almost no teeth. Can i replace them with any derailleur gears of that size? i was looking on ebay last night, and ones for a simplex were 35.00-50.00,but shimono ones were only 10.00. I would rather go with shimono if possible. After i ride it a bit, i will be finding another seat for it. thanks-

scozim

Mine's got a Suntour V-GT Luxe - great derailleur. Shoot for a Suntour if you can - super reliable, fairly reasonable. If you have any bike co-ops around your area you may be able to find a decent one.

bmk1981

i need to know how many teeth pulley i need before i can replace them. ive done alot of work to bikes in the past, but never replaced derailleur pulleys before.

verktyg

A lot of the Shimano pulleys on eBay are thinner and made for 8, 9, 10 and 11 sprocket cassettes.

The Simplex pulleys are 10mm wide.

These should work well and they're cheap! Cool

No relation to the seller, yada, yada, yada...

verktyg

A lot of the Shimano pulleys on eBay are thinner and made for 8, 9, 10 and 11 sprocket cassettes.

The Simplex pulleys are 10mm wide.

These should work well and they're cheap! Cool

http://tinyurl.com/3golfnn

No relation to the seller, yada, yada, yada...

bmk1981

sweet, appricate that man. now i know what to get. i was looking at 11t pulleys that were aluminum for 13.00 on ebay. i'll just get them 10t ones for 7.00 in a few days. I called my local Schwinn dealer (thats the only bike shop in my city) and he told me pulleys got from 17.00 to 45.00 there Shocked

that was for Shimano and i'm guessing that use just the standard nylon ones. Once i replace them pulleys my bike will be ready for decent length rides. however i am missing a bearing cover on the left pedal, what are my odds of finding one of those? I got on it this afternoon and took a short ride and it rode pretty good, even though the pulleys are almost shot.

scozim

Sorry, I was reading derailleur and not the pulley's. My Simplex SX610 had a broken pulley and I replacd it with the pulley from a 70's Shimano Tourney. Worked perfectly.