gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Rebirthed old Gitane

owen.lowe

New member from Australia...

I used to ride on custom bikes in the late 70s/early 80s, and took possession of an old gold-coloured Gitane frame purchased by a mate in 1978. He claims he bought it as a mid-way bike - longer than racer, shorter than tourer. I have seen two other frames in Australia exactly like this one, but none of your posts match it. Is this another Gitane throw-together frame, a container full for the Australian market?

Frame is made of Durifort tubing (according to original sticker), and the fork-steerer tube is branded with NERVOR 26C. The lugs have numbers 72 and 61 stamped on them - Bocama? Bottom Bracket is branded with the following ... D - 1258 - 226 - 62348 (I think) . Decals are the Hinault ones, but in blue/black to suit the gold colour.

The front drop-outs are Huret, the rear are unstamped. The two features which I have not seen on this site are (i) The fork crowns are engraved with the Gitane symbol, and the rear cable guide for the derailleur is welded to the actual drop-out, not the chain stay. There are no other braze-ons, and the bike had no chrome.

As I can remember, the bike originally had Weinman brakes, Huret derailleurs, Simplex cranks, Normandy Hubs and Weinman rims.

I have recently repainted frame, because I am so fond of it - even above my Colnago 1982 Oval CX - and have changed the scheme. Purists will notice that the down-tube decals are up-side-down, with the stars on the bottom - purely aesthetic, and that one square is missing from the seat-tube decal, to keep the white bars looking even. I have always wanted a bike with the traditional white bar for the decals, so now I do have it! It is not traditional, but I sure do like the look of my "new" Gitane. (Decals from Cyclomondo Coff's Harbour NSW, paint by Star Enamellers Bankstown NSW, both highly recommended.

Any help with naming the model (Interclub? Gypsy?) will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

OwenL

scozim

I'm not a huge fan of repainting - but your finished product looks fantastic. The drilled chainrings are a great touch.

My local bike shop had a customer's mid-80's black Masi on display for awhile with drilled rings and also drilled rear derailleur cage. That was the first time I'd seen that touch up close and it was downright beautiful.

verktyg

You did a great job of "restoring" this bike. It looks great.

Gitane made a multitude of models for different markets. It's hard to say what it is.

Durifort was made by Ateliers de la Rive, the French tubing company that made Vitus and Super Vitus tubes. Durifort was their entry level product.

The 3 main tubes were butted. The wall thickness of Durifort tubing was about the same as Columbus SP tubing and the heavier gage Reynold 531 tubing that was used in most production bike in the 70s and early 80s.

We used to specify Durifort tubing for most of the mid range Bertin bikes that we imported in the 70s. One of my favorite bikes was a 1975 Bertin C34 "amature racing" model that I bought for a trainer back in the day.

Greg has Durifort decals.

These are the specs for "straight gage" Durifort. One butted Durifort, only the 3 main tubes were butted.

Durifort with butted main tubes had the same dimensions as Vitus 172 tubing.

Chas.

owen.lowe

When we ride around Sydney, it seems that guys over 40-ish call guys around 60-ish "Boys" ... you know "Good onya boys", "Keep at it, boys", "Nice day boys" etc ...

Thanks for the responses, and although I do not know the model yet, I am happier in my knowing-ignorance. I have read that Nervor apparently supplied forks for French manufacturers, and Belgium ones as well.

I took the rebirthed bike out for its unveiling last weekend, and the boys (I am the youngest at 57 years) were mighty impressed, even though the new Carbon Ribble from England stole a lot of attention from the Gitane!

Anyway boys - can I call you "boys"?, I look forward to reading your regular posts.

Thanks again.

OwenL

vanhelmont

Beautiful paint job! And a very nice bike.

I vote for Interclub. The 1977 catalogue specifies Durifort for the Interclub. The only difference in the frame I noticed is the fork tips on the catalogue picture are chromed.

The numbers on the lugs are the angles (I think), and I'm pretty sure they are Bocama.

Dave

owen.lowe

Thanks Dave.

I have read almost every site and every posting on this site, and was settling on Interclub also.

There is no chrome for sure, I reckon the lugs are Bocama, but am distracted by the engraved fork crowns and the rear cable guide location -everything else points towards Interclub. I do not have any idea of the features of Gypsy or Hosteler, but my Canadian pal was using the bike as a tourer with panniers, lights etc for his tours throughout his new place of residence - Australia.

I had coffee with him last week (he liked the paint job too, but said the usual "Why bother?") and he could not remember the model he purchased it as, even with prompting - So until otherwise convinced, Interclub it is.

Cheers,

OwenL

owen.lowe

I had another meeting with Canadian mate yesterday, and his mind has been working on the bike's pedigree as well. He thinks the name "Interclub" rings a bell, but he is aging and can't be trusted!

He recalls going to sleep one day while riding through inner-city Newtown, and hitting a parked car for his troubles. He did bend the forks, and maybe the ones with the engraved crowns are replacement forks found by our then friend Noel McFarlane, who used to own Newtown Cycles store.

So I have to contact the owner of one of these originals to check the forks, compare etc, and really discover if my Canadian pal is suffering the dimentia his kids claim.

Report pending...

OwenL

Murray30

Hi

Good to see another Australian on the list - great looking bike BTW

If you look at my posting, in this forum under "Paris - Brest 1970's Gitane" (last comment dated 16 March this year), you will see that my Gitane also has a drilled chain rings - maybe it was an Australian thing. My bike was bought new in 1977 in Brisbane.

verktg has tentatively identified my bike as Hosteller (probably 1974) , primarily based upon the inclusion of a very short (13cm ~ 5inches) front "pannier" rack on which sat a small front light.

Regards

Wayne

owen.lowe

Hi Wayne.

I see that Paul Wiseman commented that drilled rings may have been an Australian thing. My Gitane originally had Simplex or standard Sugino - from memory. However, my racing bike had these drilled rings, which were purchased to give the speedster a "cutting-edge" advantage. They ended up in "The Box", to be resurrected quite a few years after the gitane came into my possession.

When I first appeared on the racer, everybody was impressed with the cranks/rings, but when I appeared two years ago with the same ones, the old guys gave me the "cute but oh-so-yesterday" look.

Now with the repaint, they are again fascinated with the wonderful items. Two of the old guys have old and repainted Colnagos with full Campag, and I have one too. But, the Gitane is now the more favoured, with its mix of parts and pretty chain rings. Viv la ...

So, the drilled rings were added later, and not original, but the bike came with a Sugino B/b axle etc.

So much to learn about these beauties, yet so little time!

Cheers,

Owen.L