gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » ~1970 Super Corsa    View previous topic :: View next topic  ~1970 Super Corsa   Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:25 pm PierreP Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 4 Was that bike ever sold with bar end campy shifters as an option? Bar end shifters   Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:26 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area PierreP wrote: Was that bike ever sold with bar end campy shifters as an option? Nope! During that era very few bikes came stock with bar end shifters. Back in the early 1970s Nishiki had one or two of their top models equipped with Suntour bar end shifters. Nishiki wasn't a "real" bike manufacture in the sense of the European bike makers. They were built to the specs of the US importer West Coast Cycles. There were a few Italian bikes that had Campy bar end shifters. Swiss built Mondia bikes came with them also. I suspect that initially bar ends were more popular in Europe among the racing set. In the US in the 70s bar ends seem to have been more popular with tall riders and tourists. Campy, Zeus, Simplex and Huret produced them but Campy was the only European brand that I ever saw for sale in this country. I tried a set of Campy bar ends for about a week. I thought that I was going to be slick riding in the peloton - nobody would know when I shifted to make a break. Unfortunately there was no such thing as a quiet Campy Nuovo Record shift and the whole pack knew that I was up to something. I found that bar ends tended to torque my bars too much especially when trying to upshift the front derailleur so I took them off. Squirrelly handling in a tight pack was frowned upon by the other riders. I still have them, I guess that it's eBay time. Chas. Re: Bar end shifters   Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:51 pm PierreP Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 4 PierreP wrote: Was that bike ever sold with bar end campy shifters as an option? verktyg wrote: Nope! During that era very few bikes came stock with bar end shifters. Thank you for that. Too many things about the bike I looked at just didn't add up. Passed on it. Appreciate your input. Too many non original parts   Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:18 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area It was a very nice bike from that era but too many parts had been changed out to consider it as an original equipment model. Changing components was standard practice up through the mid to late 1970s. A lot of Tour de France bikes got Suntour or Campy derailleurs depending on the owner's pocket book. By 1975 a lot of TdFs started being upgraded with Shimano DuraAce components. There were never many Super Corsas and they were all Campy except for Mafac brakes so not much was done on them. Chas.   Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:04 pm the70sbike Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 46 Location: San Diego, CA Are you referring to that white one recently on ebay? I emailed the guy and informed him that the Campy brakes were not period correct. The MAFAC hanger was still on the headset. He did not revise his ad, even after deleting it and then relisting it. I don't think the guy knew anything about it. ~1970 Super Corsa     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.