gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Musings on what is permissable on a restoration...

grumpyphil

So now I've had the Record sitting here for about 2 weeks and I've had some time to think about the restoration job ahead and to amuse myself thinking about what I could do to her and what is appropriate. I've never been in the position of being a "collector" of anything, much less bikes so you'll forgive my ignorance in these matters. My first thought is to do no harm. I don't want to do anything that would denigrate the bike's worth as an object of history. That said, as a rider, I upgraded and generally screwed around with every bike I ever owned. Mostly, the things I did made them better bikes but in the end, they weren't factory issue. I wonder just how important that is from a "collectible" standpoint as almost every rider does this stuff. I could do just the bare maximum to bring this thing back to factory standard, OR I could do the kinds of thing I did as a 15 year old to make my bike cool. Only now I could do them so it looked like I had gotten a special order bike.
These are the things I'm thinking about:
1) detail painting the lugs. I don't think this was available as a factory option so I might be stepping into doodoo with that.
2) Pantographing the chainrings, stem and possibly the brake handles. I've never seen Gitane panto'd parts so this might be something I'd do on replacement parts. I'm pretty certain I could do a very nice and appropriate job on this but I'm back to that place where I say "what am I doing here, a custom bike or a historically relevant bike?"
I'd love to hear what you guys have to say....doesn't mean I'm gonna listen, just that I'd like to hear what you have to say...
Grumpy

Gtane

Grumpy,

Personally, I'm from the original stable and look to keeping and collecting bikes in their original condition, or returning them to that condition and state where possible, for the next generation.

Much of what you say is, to me, a personal choice. Similar to the personalisation of anything. I agree that if you were to pantograph, you should use alternative components rather than those already on the machine, so allowing for a return to originality, but that's just my view. Gitane pantographed components would indeed look good and I have never ever seen them other than a stem which I have on my '88 replica. I'm sure other members will be able to assist further in the area of factory pantographing as my overall knowledge of the Gitane marque is not hugely wide. The team bikes might well have had something to differentiate.

The frame is perhaps slightly different in that it's the frame which is essentially Gitane, as is the case with virtually all bicycle manufacturers, with everything else being added as a third party component, except where factory pantographing or detailing takes place. I'd guess at third party work on Gitanes as being fairly rare. You just don't hear about it in the same way as you do, for example, with Colnago, Bianchi and Pinarello. So the paintwork, if changed, would be tough to return to original condition if personalised unless you went for a respray.

Tim

grumpyphil

Thank you Tim-
One of my main reasons for considering painting the lugwork is that there are bare spots and spots of rust that are particularly concentrated around those areas. Without a respray(something I wouldn't consider), I'm not sure how else to deal with it. And then there is the kid in me that would've painted these lugs if I had been gifted it new.
All that said, if I understand it correctly, the Record was a "second level" bike so I doubt there would've been options available for it that might've been available for the the top level bikes.
All of that aside, I'm impressed with this thing. It's probably old hat to all of you connoisseurs but I wondered long and hard over that little nubbin on the inside of the drive side seat stay...and then in the middle of the night, it came to me that it was to hang the chain on when the wheel was removed! This is a nice detail we didn't have in my day. I had a nice smile as a girl on an old and beautiful Colnago past me in the park today and i spotted that same nubbin.
Grumpy
I love my bikes...all of 'em

scozim

You know, I've been struggling with the same types of questions with my TdF. I'll be leaving the Sprint alone for now. The TdF already has had the shifters changed. I've heard the Ofmega Mistral derailleurs weren't the most reliable so I've decided to swap those out (but am still keeping the Ofmegas).

I also went back and forth on the rear freewheel. I like the look of the 13-21 - kind of macho seeing how small that cluster looks. However, I started realizing I'm going to be on that bike a lot more than my Bianchi next summer so having a little better gearing for me, now that I'm older, isn't a bad option. So, I'm going with a NOS Regina America Supperleggera alloy 13-26 freewheel to save a little weight. This should be a fun bike for some time trialing next year, and even on the hills.

Outside of this I may change the saddle. But, I've decided to leave the frame alone - even with the crappy touch up paint that the previous owner put on it (and it's really bad). But, hey I didn't buy the bike to hang on the wall. I want it functional and I want to ride it alot.

verktyg

The complete bikes that I've acquired I've left pretty much original. I change the bars and stems to fit my needs (wider bars, shorter stems) plus chainrings, rear sprockets, seat and pedals as needed, I want them to be comfortable to ride. I keep all of the old components.

Most of the bikes that I've put together from bare frames have become "frankenbikes" assembled with whatever components struck my fancy or I that had handy. My early 80s Colnago has Campagnolo, Shimano, Suntour and other components. My 1975 Raleigh Pro is all Campy except for Stronglight 93 cranks. I didn't have a campy BB handy when I was building up the bike plus Stronglight chainrings shifted better than Campys in those days. Also I could go down to a 38T small chainring vs. 42T for Campys.

Continental European bikes built after the 70s rarely came with pin striped lugs. It's mainly Brit custom frames that still come with lined lugs. French bikes and components built during the 80s tended to have very simple designs.

I think that your bike looks great as it stands. Just get rid of that geeky stem! Rolling Eyes

Two of my friends own machine shops and they were some of the folks that made "drillium" famous (or infamous) back in the early 70s. Today they ride pretty much off the rack bikes.

I think that pantograph components (bling) should be reserved for Italian bikes with lots of vanity components (read Campy stuff). Laughing

If you want to do a bunch of engraving, get a full Campy Italian bike!

My opinions. Twisted Evil

Chas.

greyhundguy

Grumpy,
You don't have to have permission from any of us. If I had walked into my LBS to buy this bike in the 80's and saw a new 70's water bottle and cage on the shelf and said "I want that one" on my bike, would that be wrong? I think not. There's nothing you're going to do that isn't reversible.

I will agree with Chas. the current stem is "geeky". So, panto a new one to try your hand at it. Nothing wrong with a little creativity. Consider it a "Grumpy Trademarked Gitane".

Jay

Gtane

verktyg

Grumpy,

I think that your Record is a beautiful bike as is (except for the stem). Is the color a solid red or slightly metallic?

As an addendum, I used to peel off most of the foil stickers except for the headtube badges on my French bikes. They looked gaudy (at the time) plus they got easily dinged and looked worse when damaged. I liked the simple look.

Here's links to photos of the drillium projects that I mentioned above:

http://www.velo-retro.com/peterjohnson.html

http://my.raex.com/~deoreo/drilling-craze1.jpg
http://www.tearsforgears.com/2005/09/drillium-info.html

Note: Both Peter and Bill were in their teens when they did these projects.

Here's some more drillium pictures:
http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/Wayne-Bingham/Drillium/

Safety Note: Drilling out some components can result serious injury caused by unexpected failure.

I got my 1972 Gitane Super Corsa down to around 19 Lbs. once. I used the lightest components available at the time including Hi-E wheels. I rode it that way for one 25 mile time trial and broke 60 minutes. The wheels were scary light. Afterward I went back to heavier but more reliable components and never again got into the weight weenie stuff. At 175 Lbs I was too heavy for that kind of nonsense. I figured at 21 Lbs. my Super Corsa was much safer and the 2 Lb. weight gain was the equivalent to no more than a few beers! Laughing

Hi-E wheels:

Chas. the spoilsport

grumpyphil

grumpyphil

verktyg

Grumpy,

Check you private messages.

Chas.