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gpl916

Hello,

First post to the site!

I have a Gitane that I bought as my first road bike back in the mid 90's. It was given to friends many years ago and introduced a few people since then to road bikes. It has been returned to me and I am considering doing a restoration.

The bike is a Record and appears to be from 1985. It has all the Campy NR. I see from the 1985 catalog that it was the mid-level setup, any thoughts on this model?

I know that this is not one of the popular or collectable models, but I would like to do it for fun, and to gain experience for maybe other vintage bikes. I have several questions on the process;

There is rust on the frame and the paint is in poor shape. Did the model come in colors other than red (I like the blue professional paint)? Mine appears to be repainted (still has decals though) in a red/ orange/ yellow fade. Is there a way to get original colors since the paint is so poor?

Where is the best place to get the small replacement parts for the deraileurs, brakes etc?How polished were the original Campy parts? What would be the best manual/ guide for the Campy components?

Lastly, what would be the correct seat post to put back (the original has been replaced w/ a new ugly black one)? I would like to find a nice brooks saddle too, any recommendations?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Greg

vanhelmont

Greg,
The bike isn't top of the line, but it has quite a story. Also 501 is pretty good tubing, just slightly heavier than 531 or other top-of-the-line like super vitus. Two places you can find helpful info would be

http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1985_pg5.jpg

You mentioned the catalog, but this page lists the specs of the bike, and might answer some of your questions. It should have come with Triomphe, but it's possible that some came with nuovo record instead. It also lists only coral as the color. If you want it to be original, you could try to follow these specs, but if you want to repaint it blue, I surely would have no problem with that.

The best source I know for info on Campy components is:

http://www.campyonly.com

They have old catalogs with exploded views, if I remember rightly.

It is supposed to come with 26.4 mm Triomphe seatpost, but since your bike has Nuovo Record, it may have had NR seat post as well.

gpl916

Thanks for the reply and link.

I think it is actually Triomphe. Someone told me it was the Nuovo Record but after looking at pictures online today, I realized it was not, so I was trying to figure out what it was. Thanks!

I will look on ebay for the correct post and pedals, but I think I will paint it blue.

Thanks again.

Greg

sandranian · Site Admin

Welcome to the site - hope you become a regular! Please post some pics of your bike so that we can all ogle it....both before and after any restoration.

gpl916

I started dismantling the bike and then decided that I should take the obligatory "before" photos- so here they are;

[img]www.flickr.com\photos\gpl916

Greg

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