gitaneusa.com :: View topic - '72 Gitane Tour De France? Jesolo Team Bike?

ohjonnybegoode

Hello! First time poster here, and I'm excited to (maybe) be a Gitane owner.

My knowledge of anything Gitane is...well...I don't have any. Seller is saying this is a '72 Tour De France that was repainted in the '70s as a "Jesolo Tour De France team bike". It's a bit of a Frankenbike, but it looks like it's in overall good shape...

Can anyone confirm by the photos below that this is, in fact, a Tour De France? Does anyone have any info onthis Jesolo Team? My google searches have been inconclusive.

Thank you!

Chris Conway
Ridley Park, PA

verktyg

It's probably a late 1960s Gitane Tour de France, maybe 1970 or 71???

Tour de France bikes were nice but they were a 2nd tier model (I have 5 Gitane Tour de France bikes from 1969 to 1984).

This bike has Simplex Ref-881-881B dropouts without an integral rear derailleur hanger.

Because of parts and component shortages during the bike boom era, Gitane used at least 4 different style Simplex rear dropouts.

The name Jesolo is mostly related to Italian sports teams and activities.

I doubt that there was any bike team in the early 70s affiliated with Jesolo that would have used a second tier French bike. An Italain team would have used Italian bikes???

ohjonnybegoode

Thanks so much for the information...very helpful. I don't think the owner is trying to pass the bike off as some sort of authentic Jesolo team bike...just at some point, either he or a previous owner decided to paint it those team colors. (I wish it was still original...but, what can I do?)

vanhelmont

ohjonnybegoode

So I picked up the "Jesolo" tonight...interesting backstory from the owner. The gentleman (Tom) is probably in his early 60s...he said he belonged to several bike teams in the early to mid-70s...the first being Jesolo, which was based in Italy. When Jesolo started a U.S. based team, Tom was selected to be part of it. Jesolo took each US member's bikes and repainted them team colors (including this one). Tom rode it for another nine or so months, then Jesolo issued team-member bikes, and Tom hung the bike up, fiddling with it and riding it recreationally over the years.

Bike is in great shape...althought it is a repaint, it looks terrific...can't wait to ride this bad boy!

verktyg

Thanks for the background info on Jesolo.

There were a number of small sponsored US teams in the 1980s that rode re-badged bikes. In Europe too.

Here's a 1985 or 86 Gitane Professional Team frame that was used by the Swiss Tarantella team. It was equipped with Mavic components and has Mavic decals on it.

I have a 1988 Peugeot that was used by a local Mazda sponsored team in the US.

I also have a 1985 Raleigh USA Team Pro that was repainted in 1992 colors and decals and used by a Raleigh USA sponsored team during the early 90s.

1992 Raleigh USA team colors:

Original 1985 team colors (this was the bike Andy Hampsten rode in the US in 1985):

Andy Hampsten, 1985:

In addition to these team bikes, during the 1970s-80s, a number of bike shops in France put their own names on Gitanes (or maybe Gitane made them that way for big dealers).

rustlover

european re badget 84 team pro
saddle pdm badged