gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Early 70s Interclub    View previous topic :: View next topic  Early 70s Interclub   Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:59 pm spinach Joined: 29 Jul 2013 Posts: 2 Location: Toronto Hi, I'm new to these forums and a proud owner of an old Gitane. I've wanted a road bike for a few months now but didn't want to drop too much money on one in case I ended up not riding it too often. A friend was putting on a vintage bike show and tried to talk me into a buying an old Raleigh. It looked clean so I took it for a spin but it didn't feel right. When I dropped it off, I noticed a Gitane Interclub next to it and decided to give it a try. It looked a bit worse for wear than the Raleigh but it fit and rode pretty much perfectly and shifted smoothly. From what I can gather, after reading some posts on here, is that this is an Interclub from 1970 - 73. I think the previous owner, or the seller, had swapped out some of the parts, though I understand that there were really no standard parts for these back bikes then. The frame is a bit rusty in parts and has been touched up but looks pretty decent from a few feet away. Here's a breakdown of the parts that I was able to identify: frame: Interclub 62 cm C-T rear derailleur: Shimano Crane GS front derailleur: Suntour Compe V shifters: Suntour crank: Sugino Maxy?? stem: Pivo front wheel: Araya 700C front hub: Exage Sport HB-A450 rear wheel: Mavic MA40 rear hub: Touring? (quick release, made in france) tires: Duro Protek 700x32c brake levers: Dia-Compe Cherry saddle: Wrights W3ST pedals: Lyotard w/ Christophe Special Brevete AFA cages Here are some pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/115131836688922736471/albums/5915892467496775441?authkey=CK3r5rTfrLTcSg I've ridden it for about 50 km and it feels pretty good. The chain is a bit noisy but I haven't oiled it yet. I think it weighs 25-30 lbs at this point. Any suggestions on what I should swap out to lighten it up and get a better ride? I understand that this Pivo stem is known as a suicide stem. Any thoughts on what might work better in its place? Last edited by spinach on Sat Aug 15, 2015 11:52 am; edited 2 times in total replacement stem   Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 4:38 pm gman309905 Joined: 23 Dec 2012 Posts: 63 Location: Pittsburgh PA. Nitto stems are marked 22.2 but are actually 22.1 in diameter and will sometimes fit a french steer tube, might have to sand it down a little Re: replacement stem   Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:47 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area gman309905 wrote: Nitto stems are marked 22.2 but are actually 22.1 in diameter and will sometimes fit a french steer tube, might have to sand it down a little Also, Nitto stems come in two sizes to fit 25.4mm and 26mm bars. Old French bars were 25mm diameter. DON"T try to squeeze a 25.4mm stem down to 25mm! The musical "ping" when the stem breaks is heart breaking (and can break other things too). Cinelli stem made for 26.4mm bars used for years with a 25mm French bar. (on one of my bikes before I knew better) Cracks in a 26mm 3TTT stem used with smaller bars. Ben's Cycles carries a good assortment of Nitto bars and stems including 25.4mm (very scarce) and 26mm the industry standard: http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=188_263_1332 http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=188_232_129_476 Note, many older alloy bars from the bike boom era started to sag after some hard use. They NEED to be replaced Secondly, these bars were generally very narrow - 36cm to 40cm. Pick a set of bars the same width as the distance between your hands held straight out on a riding position. The Interclub was Gitane's amateur racing model. With sewups they weighed ~23-24 lbs. I had several early 70s Gitane Interclubs that I used for around town bikes back then. Mine weighed in at about 25 lb.s with clinchers and all alloy components. You are not going to remove too much weight off the bike without switching to sewups (tubulars - they'll knock off about about 2 lbs.) You can maybe switch to lighter weight 700c clinchPCr wheels with high performance tires. That might save ~1 lb. Finding those wheels might be a little hard because the 120mm wide rear hubs have been obsolete for 25 years. Good quality 27" tires are hard to find. Panaracer Pasella tires give a nice ride and come in 27 x" x 1", 27" x 1 1/8" and 27" x 1 1/4". I'd probably go with the 1 1/8" tires. I'd clean it up, repack all of the bearing, replace all of the cables, replace the brake blocks and maybe the tires and then ride it! You will probably need to replace the chain too and maybe the freewheel if it skips with a new chain. I recommend the SRAM PC830 or PC850 chains. They work well and are reasonably priced. Remember, a half pound off of the bike does very little unless you are a hardcore racer... It's the motor not the machine! _________________ 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: Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:54 am spinach Joined: 29 Jul 2013 Posts: 2 Location: Toronto Thanks for the tips! I think I'll start with the stem and bars. I want to put newer, softer tape on the bars anyway and adjust the height of the brakes as they are too low where they currently sit. Repacking the bearings and replacing the cables is a good idea, too. If the most I can expect to save in terms of weight is a few pounds, I don't think I'll bother with swapping wheels, etc. It sounds like more trouble than it's worth. I plan on just using this for longer weekend rides for now. I will probably use it as my commuter once my son gets older and I put a kid seat on my current bike. Early 70s Interclub     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 1   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.