gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Frame identification Goto page 1, 2  Next    View previous topic :: View next topic  Frame identification   Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:46 pm philbythesea Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 5 XXXXXXXXXX Last edited by philbythesea on Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:36 am; edited 2 times in total   Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:02 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Definitely looks like a respray. Interesting bike. Could be a 1976/1977 Gitane... Usually, those Huret rear dropouts would have matching fork dropouts. But Gitane was doing a lot of mixing/matching around this time. I would be interested in Chas. opinion..... _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com I don't think it Gitane   Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:19 pm gmany Joined: 20 Aug 2009 Posts: 47 I'm not so sure it's a Gitane. The braze-ons and decoration at the bottle holder connections seem very un-Gitane (especially in the 70's). I've certainly been wrong before.. _________________ Garrett Miles Saint Louis, Missouri   Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:28 pm philbythesea Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 5 XXXXXXXXXX Last edited by philbythesea on Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:36 am; edited 1 time in total   Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:06 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Gitane has used those 'star' bottle braze ons: check the 1978 catalogue. I am aware of no other manufacturer using those Huret dropouts. _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:21 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area philbythesea wrote: Does anyone know which other manufacturers used these Huret honeycomb dropouts? Motobecane, LeJeune, Mercier maybe...? Phil. We focused on French made bikes for our entry level and mid range models at our shop during the 1970s. In 1975 or 76 we bought out the remaining inventory of Velosolex bikes from the US importer. They were leftover bike boom era bikes from 1973-74. Mostly entry level models with standard French components like the Gitane Gran Sport DeLuxe. The paint and brazing were much nicer than Gitanes sold at that time. There were several top line bikes with sewups in the lot plus one mid range bike. The mid range model had the Huret honeycomb rear dropouts. Some time later I saw a picture of a British made Dawes bike from the mid 70s that had the Huret dropouts too. Aside from Gitanes, those were the only bikes that I've ever seen with those Huret rear dropouts. For years I had no idea who made those dropouts as they were not listed in any frame building component literature. Someone who worked for Trek said they had several sets as samples but never used them. Back then, those dropouts were so different that they were considered extremely ugly, even by novice buyers! We had a hard time selling bikes with them! These days, they are considered classics. I bought my 1974 TdF frame just to have a bike with a set of these dropouts! One feature of these dropouts is that you can use Huret, Simplex or Campy style rear derailleurs with them. Prior to the mid 70s, there were 3 standards for rear derailleur mounting. Simplex and Huret had their own proprietary hangers plus Campy style which became the industry standard. Gitane probably used these dropouts because they could using any brand of derailleurs on those bikes. They used these dropouts (also called spiderweb dropouts) on their performance models from 1974 until early 1977. After that they switched to more conventional looking rear dropouts that had industry standard gear hangers. _________________ 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 Aug 08, 2012 2:45 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area sandranian wrote: Usually, those Huret rear dropouts would have matching fork dropouts. But Gitane was doing a lot of mixing/matching around this time. I would be interested in Chas. opinion..... Most of the bikes that I've seen (Interclubs and TdFs) with Huret honeycomb rear dropouts had Simplex forged fork ends. Those bikes had non-Reynolds fork blades. 1974-1977 Interclub fork ends and 1974-74 TdF fork blades with "domed" ends. These didn't have Reynolds forks and stays. Gitanes with Reynolds fork blades had "fish mouthed" cutouts where the fork ends were attached. The 1974 Champion Du Monde frame that I had used Huret fork ends but that's the only one I've seen. By 1974 Gitane Pacific was the US importer for Gitanes. The Interclub and Tour de France models were the only mid range bikes that they marketed in 1974-76. A few of the higher grade models like the Champion du Monde and Olympic made it into the US but I've never seen any advertising for those models. _________________ 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 Aug 08, 2012 3:32 pm philbythesea Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 5 XXXXXXXXXX Last edited by philbythesea on Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:37 am; edited 1 time in total   Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:39 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area philbythesea wrote: So, going by what's been noted here, there's a possibility that it could be a Velosolex (due in part to the Campag cable guide braze-ons?), but most probably it's a resprayed Gitane Tour de France or Interclub from around 1974-1977. The domed ends on the front drop-outs mean the forks are not Reynolds, but it's fair to assume that either all the frame is, or at least the 3 main tubes are. I'm still not sure on the star shaped bottle cage braze-ons, as from browsing through the catalogues these don't seem to appear until later 70's Gitane models, but maybe that just puts this one around the 1977 vintage. Definitely a Gitane, not a Velosolex. It's probably a 1974-77 Interclub because of the Bocama medium point lugs. The reinforcing rings were optional. Who ever worked on the frame and resprayed it brazed on the brake cable guides on the top tube, water bottle cage mounts and shift lever bosses on the down tube, Campy cable guides on the bottom bracket and derailleur cable stop on the right rear chain stay. The seatpost size can help you determine what the main tubes are. Reynolds tubes use 26.4mm. Durifort tubing takes a 26.2mm or 26.0mm. Regular Gitane tubing used 25.4mm or 25.8mm seatposts. philbythesea wrote: PS: There are some numbers on the bottom bracket if they mean anything to anyone: 4117 21 5 162 6 Save them, they're your winning Lotto numbers... _________________ 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 Headset   Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:39 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area One other thing, the Stronglight A9 headset has a larger stack height than the original headset, about 38mm. The frame probably had a Gitane headset with a 30mm stack height. See the picture below showing about 2-3 threads that the top nut doesn't extend over. If you take the headset apart, see if you can find a bike shop that has the tools to face off the head tube and fork crown. If they don't know EXACTLY what they are doing, don't walk, RUN AWAY! _________________ 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 Aug 08, 2012 10:59 pm philbythesea Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 5 XXXXXXXXXX Last edited by philbythesea on Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:38 am; edited 1 time in total Experience...   Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 11:42 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area philbythesea wrote: Chas, you're awesome... been there, done that... Thanks _________________ 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: Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:13 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California The best resource ever. Priceless. _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:59 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area sandranian wrote: The best resource ever. Priceless. _________________ 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: Tue Oct 02, 2012 11:24 am philbythesea Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 5 XXXXXXXXXX Last edited by philbythesea on Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:39 am; edited 1 time in total Frame identification     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 2   Goto page 1, 2  Next 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.