| adam_b83 |
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| Joined: 09 Feb 2012 |
| Posts: 16 |
| Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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My mum had a folding Gitane bike when she was younger. I remember when i first started learning to ride we'd go cruising around together. Her bike unfortunately ended up in the shed and was forgotten about until we found it during a clean up. I put it in the back of my car with my girlfriend and took it home to be restored as my girlfriends second bike.
The restoration took two years and threw up a few problems. Mainly finding a pair of 24 x 1 3/8 rims to replace the originals that we beyond repair. I repainted the frame and put new decals on, had the cranks, rack, seat post and various other little bits re chromed, and then went about finding a new french threaded headset (thanks again ebay). The Seat, bars, stem could not be restored so where replaced. I bought some new cables and put it back together with a few beers one weekend.
In hindsight i am kicking myself at not taking before photos. It was a real sight, covered in rust and missing a few spokes and the paint was scratched too. The paint was originally a dark metallic green with green decals (it is the very same as in the 1975 catalogue) but for the restoration we decided to go with a yellow and yellow scheme to match the tan seat and schellaced cork grips she wanted.
Anyway, i found this forum (especially the catalogues) very helpful so i thought i would post it here to say thanks!
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