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pieboy

Help! I dont know what, or how old I am - I've got Suntour VX hubs, Mavic 700 rims, Sugino Maxy cranks, Mafac "racer" brakes with Weinmann levers, and a Simplex derailleur front and rear (not sure what sort).

My pedals have Lyotard 82 stamped on them, and Im stamped on the bottom of the frame at the crank with what looks like 4278 and 625 under that, then a biiiig space then "2", but from reading the forum thats all a bunch of red herrings Wink

The rust makes me think I'm steel framed and I cant find any frame builder decals. I cant make out what my drop bars are, but a photo is attached.

My owner knows nothing about bikes, but thinks I'm pretty cool and has looked at all the brochureware on the site and thought I looked a lot like a 76 intertour at first, but for the chrome. I also think I kind of look like a 1975 Super Olympic, but my components seem to be more like a Tour de L'Avenir. I was sold new in Melbourne, Australia but thats about all I know.

Can anyone help me?

gmany

You've got a mount on the rear stay for a light - the kind that is powered by the tire, so you must be a touring or commuting bike.

Since you have chrome socks, I think you are a 75-76 Federal or a Paris-Nice or similar

pieboy

Hey brilliant!

thanks for your help with that. Can anyone point me to where I can find out more about the Paris Nice and Federal bikes?

thanks again

Colin

gmany

Here's where the 70's catalogs are located.

http://www.gitaneusa.com/catalogues01.asp

By the decals it is from 74-76 or so. If you know don't know french, you can use an on-line translator to help understand some of the descriptions, which may help you determine what model and perhaps what year. -

Note: bicycle specs always allow for changes and the bits and parts you have may not be original, so determining the exact model and year may be impossible.

Also, from what I've seen here, the serial number likely is of no benefit to determining the exact model or year of production.

-Good luck

gnashville

the braze ons are a giveaway, as is the swaging on the seat stay too