gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Gitane Tour de France Fork Decals    View previous topic :: View next topic  Gitane Tour de France Fork Decals   Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:28 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California A while back, we were discussing the fork decal on the Gitane Tour de France from the early to mid 1970's. I have found, on ebay of course, an example of a complete decal, which I have included below in the picture. Most, if not all, of the Gitanes in the USA were sold with the bottom part cut off, for some reason. That is the first mystery.... The second, is what does the "102" stand for? I know that there was a "Brew 102" beer in California in the 1950-1970's (brewed by Maier), but I doubt they are linked! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:13 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Stephan, I noticed that also and the Super Corsa set of Fork decals by same seller has "100" at the bottom. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching. Re: Gitane Tour de France Fork Decals   Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:51 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area sandranian wrote: I know that there was a "Brew 102" beer in California in the 1950-1970's (brewed by Maier) I was at Pendleton for a while in the early 60s and I seem to remember a 101 brand beer sold in Southern California. I also seem to remember that the California beers were slightly worse than Texan brews! Chas. Under our nose...   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:55 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA ...all this time. 102=TdF from the 196? catalog on this site. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:17 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Do you think that is what it refers to, a random number assigned to it in a catalogue? That would seem way to rigid, disciplined and "German" for this company.... Is the super corsa the '100' in the catalogue? _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:50 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Stephan, In the 1964 catalog it's just a "102", then in 196? it becomes a "TdF 102", then they start cutting off the "102", slide the "Gitane" foil decal lower on the down tube and add the thin "Tour de France" foil decal above it. Look closely at the catalogs. I'm guessing the SC was a "100" at one point but that page is not in the catalog. Frugal French...cut off part of one, print small TDF decal and we don't have to make complete NEW sets... Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching. P.S.   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:57 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA ...and we don't have to keep answering the the Americans question "What does the 102 mean?" Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:05 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California OK...that is the best explanation to date...so we will run with it - that is until someone else gives us a better theory. You see -- this bike thing is a "science", not an "art"! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:43 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA The "102" is not just a random number. All the Models in the 1964 and 196? catalogs use a 100 series designation. The problem is that the page that may contain the Super Corsa in the 196? catalog is not there, but a duplicate of another page is. Is the Original catalog available to verify? Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching. OOPs   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:50 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA My mistake...I looked back...only "102" in 1964, 196? has all 100 series designations. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching. Gitane Super Corsa Bikes   Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:44 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area It seems that the early SCs were only made for about 4-5 years. They were unavailable after 1973. Gitane may have produced the Super Corsa just for the US Bike Boom market. They sold bikes similar to the SC in France (and maybe elsewhere) under the Olympic and Super Olympic model names. Chas. Re: Gitane Tour de France Fork Decals   Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:12 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area sandranian wrote: ...what does the "102" stand for? I know that there was a "Brew 102" beer in California in the 1950-1970's (brewed by Maier), but I doubt they are linked! Stephan since we're on the topic or rather off the topic, here's another beer mystery to ponder... MYSTERY 33 Rolling Rock Beer from Western Pennsylvania where I grew up. The meaning of the "33" on the bottle has been a quandary for years: http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/rolling.asp Happy New Year and drive safe everyone - mind your Ps & Qs (pints and quarts) Chas. Gitane Tour de France Fork Decals     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.