| | | | | | | | | Trying to ID a frame - see finished pics | | | | | |
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:05 am |
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J Carter |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2006 |
Posts: 21 |
Location: Birmingham, AL |
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I have an frame (repainted poorly with no decals) that I was told is a Gitane, it's now stripped and before I repaint it I am trying to verify that it is a Gitane and approximate the year (for correct decals). The measurements are close to those in the 1960 catalogue, but not quite, so I'm hoping this matches someone's bike out there.
French sized tubing 28.0mm, brass brazed, can feel that it is butted
Simplex rear drop outs and front fork ends.
The upper and lower head lugs are labeled BCM.
Absolutely no braze-ons of any type, also
Does not have the upper rear brake bridge as pictured on Stephen's SC.
French sized headset, but English threaded BB (rethreaded?)
Seat tube 570mm c/t (550mm c/c), top tube 570mm c/c, rear stay 425mm
Head tube 130mm (5mm shorter than '60 catalogue for size 57 frame)
~ 1/2 chromed rear stays and front fork.
Don't have the angles but head tube and seat tube are parallel.
Front fork rake 42.5mm? (hard to measure), wheelbase 100.5mm +/-
Fork steerer is labeled NERVOR, also a 69 stamped above crown
The Bottom Bracket is numbered 4905
120mm rear, 26.6 seatpost, sized originally for 27" wheels
This is what I know. Any help is appreciated. I would hate to ride and repaint it as a Gitane if it's not.
My first 10 speed was a Gitane Interclub purchased around 1972 from Mel Pinto in Northern Virginia. Replaced my Schwinn AppleKrate - wish I still had both of them. |
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Last edited by J Carter on Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:26 am |
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J Carter |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2006 |
Posts: 21 |
Location: Birmingham, AL |
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After posting, I see a TdF on eBay also lacking the upper rear brake bridge, and is (pre '74?) foil decaled. The lugs on my frame that I can compare with the eBay one look the same, so I feel reasonably sure that I have a similar period TdF, but any additional confirmation (head tube length) is appreciated. Any supplier for foil decals cheaper than KoolBikes? |
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:59 pm |
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sandranian |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006 |
Posts: 2701 |
Location: Southern California |
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Identifying the bike is much easier with a picture...you can post it to the forum if you like.... |
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Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:34 pm |
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J Carter |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2006 |
Posts: 21 |
Location: Birmingham, AL |
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here are some pics of the stripped frame
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:04 pm |
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J Carter |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2006 |
Posts: 21 |
Location: Birmingham, AL |
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I waited patiently, but no replies to my pics. Looking very closely at the stripped tubes, I could barely make out on them what appeared to be "Reynolds 531 butted tubing" followed by the numbers 22/24 on one and 9/22 on another. Length of butting perhaps? I did find on the forum that some TdFs were made with BCM lugs, which mine has, so I decided it is a TdF. My bottom bracket dilemma was solved when I tried to thread in a new one. I had depended on the lockring in determining British threading (forgotten which direction I had unscrewed the fixed cup) and determined the previous owner had butchered the last of the adj cup threads by screwing a British lock ring onto the French BB. Anyway, I painted the frame over Labor Day and will post a pic or two of the finished bike whan I am done. |
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:02 pm |
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sandranian |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006 |
Posts: 2701 |
Location: Southern California |
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Sorry your post was ignored! Sometimes only the "latest post" gets any reply...
Anyhow, I think that is probably a TdF. It has Simplex dropouts, which was standard for that model. Can't wait to see the restored pics. |
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:51 am |
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J Carter |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2006 |
Posts: 21 |
Location: Birmingham, AL |
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Well here my finished product. The decals I made at home. The original foil type were rather pricey, and this was the first bike frame I had sprayed with a gun, the first time I had used this detail gun, and the first time I had sprayed a basecoat-clearcoat system, so I wavered on decal expenditures. So not original, but it still came out looking sharp. Has Campy record cranks, hubs & derailleurs, Stronglight headset, Pivo stem, and Mafac Racer brakes (rarely see Comp's for sale). The rims may have never been OE on Gitanes, but they are French - tubular Super Champion Arc en Ciel.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:01 pm |
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sandranian |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006 |
Posts: 2701 |
Location: Southern California |
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Wow. That is pretty impressive for a "first timer". I am actually pretty astounded at the decal appearance on the pictures. How did you do those? I would like to know so that I can copy the procedure. Is there a clear coat over those? Also, did you design the decals yourself? Let me know....
One thing: The old TdF's had gold pinstriping outlining the lugs. It was put on by hand, pretty sloppy, really...You could do the same on that bike if you so desired...minus the "sloppy". |
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| | | | | | | | | sloppy paintwork | | | | | |
Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:51 pm |
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Paul Wiseman |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2006 |
Posts: 584 |
Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Great looking bike. You appear to have done a great job for your first attempt with a spray gun.
Those decals are very impressive. I'm sure we're all trying to figure out how you made your own decals........
Do you have any special printing equipment? Can we all do this from home? Anyone who's been part of these forums for more than a month knows how hard it is to get decals.
If you do happen to own fancy equipment, would you like the job of being the "official fake gitane decal producer"? I'd pay for decals. Anyone else? |
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_________________ Wisey
Brisbane, Australia
1974 Paris - Nice
1985 Defi
1985 Victoire
1985 Victoire (yes, another one!)
1985 Professionnel |
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:14 pm |
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J Carter |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2006 |
Posts: 21 |
Location: Birmingham, AL |
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Thanks. I have used a spraygun before, but a full size one to paint cars, and too many years ago. The decals are easy, but there are some limitations if you print at home like I did - no metallics, which is why the silver foil background shows up as a light grey, or as I did on the seattube decal - I removed the silver; plus home inks are not as long-lasting as commercial ones. These were printed on a "white" water-slide decal sheet available from beldecal.com. They get a coat of Krylon clear before use, and I clearcoated the entire frame after applying the decals. The key is having the artwork. Some I had as a sample, some I have lifted from other sources on the web. I used basic programs - MS Word (including WordArt) and MS Paint to modify and print the decals. If you have something like Photoshop you could get some real results. I'd be happy to e-mail anyone the artwork I used. As an alternative to printing your own, once you have the artwork you could find a local printer that has the capability to print metallics. I do not have the TdF circular fork design (did not find a good sample of the artwork to copy), nor did I attempt to make the checkered flag, but I'll bet you could find a flag on the web to modify. The "Service Course" and "Professional Tour de France" decals I made with the WordArt program - they are as close as I could get but also not quite original.
The lug outlining - I've attempted that on a bike before - Maybe you have the hand for it but my work closely resembled the drunk Frenchman - so I passed. |
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