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xtsquintx

First time poster here, but I was really excited to find this site a few weeks ago. I've been a Gitane owner for about 15 years now but haven't been riding/taking care of my bike for quite some time. So I've had this old Gitane that my father got a yard sale a long time ago, but never really knew anything about the bike or it's origins. I tried looking through the old catalogs on this site to identify the model, but could only narrow it down to mid 70's era and that maybe it's a "gypsy" or "grand sport" model; both of which I haven't seen many people discussing on this forum.

In addition to my old bike though, I found another Gitane abandoned outside of a bike shop two weeks ago and rescued it despite the fact that it might be beyond repair. The decals are the same style, however it has some exposed chrome on the fork amongst other things that are different from mine.

So like the many people before me, I wanted to post some pictures of both bikes in hopes someone might be able to help me identify them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtsquintx/sets/72157616838102293/

As you will notice with the first bike, the seat is not original and I also tried to replace one of the broken pedals a few years ago with minimal success (due to the fact that I couldn't find any french-threaded replacements). It still has the original Mafac brakes, Simplex shifters/quick releases, and Lightrace cranks.

And the second "newer" bike is in pieces because I am currently trying to restore it. The differences with the other bike are the Weinmann brakes and Solida cranks.

Thanks for the help!

vanhelmont

Welcome to the board, xts.

Your yellow bike looks almost new. Are you sure it needs a French thread pedal? The late Sheldon Brown's page on French bikes says almost all the French bikes sold in the US use the modern standard of 9/16x20 tpi. If it is French thread, your bike shop should be able to tap it for 9/16x20. Or you can always search ebay for French thread pedals!

I actually rebuild pedals. Take it apart, clean the bearings, if the races aren't too bad put in grease and new balls, which any bike shop will have, and reassemble. I take apart things like pedals that have small parts in a cardboard box bottom from the warehouse grocery store, the kind of things they put out cans in. It has enough of an edge around the box so that parts don't usually escape. The first time will be troublesome but I can do it in 10 or 15 minutes unless it's realy rusty and hard to disassemble.

Dave

verktyg · Last edited by verktyg on Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:18 am; edited 2 times in total

Dave,

Not wanting to be a heretic, but I beg to differ with Sheldon RIP on this point. Most French bikes up through the late 70s, the era when they were imported in large numbers, came with French threaded pedals (and other components, the French didn't give up easily). Metric threaded pedals probably haven't been manufactured for many years. They can be hard to come by that's why they command high prices on eBay.

Peugeot and maybe to some degree Motobecane used British threaded pedals after the mid 70s but not all of the time.

Most of my Stronglight cranks have or had metric pedal threads. I've even had several sets of metric threaded Campy NR cranks. That's what came on Gitane Super Corsa bikes (all metric). Same thing with Sugino cranks on French bikes.

In the early 80s most French bike makers started switching to British threads (but there was some mix and match going on too). My guess is that as Japanese components became more common on French bikes they started converting over to British treads.

Chas the contrarian....

verktyg

xtsquintx

Yeah, they are definitely French-threaded because I took it to a shop when the pedal first broke and the guy there couldn't get a "normal" pedal to fit. I'm going to clean out the pedals from the gold bike I found and put them on the other crankset, however they're extremely rusted so I'm not sure how successful it will be. I know a guy that works at a reputable bike shop around here too though, and he already said he could re-tap the crank for me. However, he was saying how he might have to add some sort of filler/spacer in there too, b/c the tapped hole might end up being too big. I don't know... maybe I'll just get a new crankset all together and call it a day.

Thanks for the advice and information confirmation on my bikes though!

verktyg

I bet if you looked around a little you could find some Metric threaded pedals CHEAP! Find a bike shop that has been in business for more than 25 years and they may have a bucket full, especially one that sold Gitane, Peugeot or Motobecane bikes.

These bikes were probably built before many guys who currently work in bike shops were even a gleam in their daddy's eye! Rolling Eyes

As I mentioned, re-tapping steel cranks can be a real chore, especially with cheap, worn out taps.

I feel comfortable betting a Jackson or even an 'Uncle Ben' that most pedal taps that you'll find in a LBS (Local Bike Shop) are going to be one or the other or both (cheap quality, and/or worn out). Wink

One other consideration, you might be able to find a partial or complete old French bike with a set of pedals for under $20. You'll get some spare parts plus you can sell the frame to some Fixie Fool for $50! Twisted Evil

Chas.

dobbs571

the yellow bike looks like mine but mine is orange,and has suntour rear and a schwinn may have been changed.mine has the piastic spoke portector like yours.figg mine is the 75 Grand Sport Deluxe.