gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Poor, Poor Interclub Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next    View previous topic :: View next topic  Pararacer Sewups   Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:56 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Jay, I'm trying a pair of Panaracer Practice 27- sewups on one of my bikes now. Very straight and round tires that handle well. Earlier this year I mounted a pair of the yellow and black Panaracer Practice Dual tires on my early 90s Gitane Team bike. After 4 rides for a total of less than 100 miles on the tires the base tapes started separating on them. I bought one online and the other from a LBS so they were from 2 different manufacturing batches. The last time I rode these tires they started making a clicking noise on each revolution. Eventually it became a tearing sound when I went over 15 mph. I stopped several times to inspect the bike but didn't see anything wrong. When I got home and deflated the tires to check the rim cement the base tape separation became obvious. I'd heard some rumors online about base tape separation on these tires. I contacted Panaracer and they are probably going to replace them. I suggest that you keep an eye on the base tape on your tires. Years ago I used to have to use a razor blade or Xacto knife to separate the base tape from the casing to patch a tire. Circa 1972 Clement 50 tire that still hold air! (for show only - sidewall patches cover nicks in the casing) I have some old tires from the 70s that still hold air (but I would never ride them). The base tapes are still well attached. Sometime in the late 1980s or 1990s sewup tire manufactures must have changed the adhesive used to attach the base tape. I sent a dozen old but still usable sewups to a place in Florida where they applied new base tape so I'm set for tires for a while. Here's the Servizio Corse tires that I suggested @ 3 for $50.00. Chas. Re: Pararacer Sewups   Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:25 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA verktyg wrote: Jay, I'm trying a pair of Panaracer Practice 27- sewups on one of my bikes now. Very straight and round tires that handle well. Earlier this year I mounted a pair of the yellow and black Panaracer Practice Dual tires on my early 90s Gitane Team bike. Chas. Chas., I have both styles of these tires also. I've had no issues to date. I will clarify that by saying that I know I do not ride as much as you do. It's more casual and relaxed for me. Mostly neighborhood exercise. That's why I decided on these moderately priced tubulars. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:37 pm Zach Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 23 I am starting to plan out this build. I will be tearing it down to the frame and starting over. Please keep 3 things in mind. I am on a budget. I would like it semi correct for the era I am going to ride this bike a decent amount With that being said would running a SHIMANO 600 Group from the early 80s be okay? Or should I find some lower end Campy parts? I am fairly new to this, but I want to do it right. Thanks, Zach Interclub Components   Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:16 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Zach, Gitane Interclubs originally came with the following components: Normandy high flange 36 hole QR hubs with Mavic tubular rims - usually entry level model rims and cheap sewup tires. Atom or Normandy 14-24 freewheel Steel cottered crankset with 52-42, 52-40 or 52-36 chainrings. A few had steel cranks that would take TA CycloTouriste chainrings. Lyotard 136 rat trap pedals with Christophe toeclips and straps. Simplex Prestige front and rear derailleurs with down tube shifters. Mafac Racer brakes. Pivo cast aluminum "death stem". Pivo aluminum bars. Cheap headset Steel seatpost Cheap plastic saddle designed to induce the maximum amount of discomfort. About 1972 or 1973 they started shipping with Sugino Maxi cast aluminum alloy cotterless cranksets. There was a period of time where some Interclubs came with Suntour derailleurs - Suntour V on the rear and who knows on the front. Remember this was Gitane's entry level racing model and was not much different from their entry level standard bike, the Gran Sport model. Putting Campy components on this bike would be like "putting silk stockings on a rooster". The 2 most critical components on a bike as far as ride and handling are concerned are the frame and the wheels. Everything else is pure VANITY! The Suntour V rear derailleur when cleaned, adjusted and lubricated will outperform ANY rear derailleur made by Campagnolo before the very late 1980s!!! You have a frame that will provide a decent ride with great handling. The first thing I would do is replace the brake cables and housings... and as I suggested before I would replace the down tube shift levers (and cables). You could go with Suntour bar end shifters. The old Simplex levers ARE going to break and it's no fun riding home being unable to shift. I would also recommend finding a better set of wheels. The 3 piece hub on the rear with the alloy flanges and steel center section were known to fail. They were just about the cheapest kind of hubs you could get during the Bike Boom days. Put a little work into cleaning the bike, change out the parts that need it and enjoy it for what it is. A lot of Forum members have Gitane Interclubs. I had several back in the 70s myself. Finally - to answer your question, you'll run into a lot of problems adapting a Shimano 600 group to this bike. For starters the bottom bracket and headset on the Gitane have French (metric) threads. The 600 parts are probably going to have English threads and so on... Chas.   Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:05 am Zach Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 23 I started working on this bike last night. Taking it apart cleaning and polishing as I go. Most parts are in better shape then it looked like when I started. The derailleurs seem to be in good shape, And I am planning on finding some Simplex retrofroction shifters for it since the stock one are broken. Problems so far that I need help with- I am going to replace the seat post and stem. What size are they so I can order replacements? Pedals. Are they a special thread?   Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:25 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Zach wrote: Pedals. Are they a special thread? Zach, The Maxy Crank set on my Interclub had French threads for pedals. The back of the arms are marked 14M for French. I had them retapped to 9/16 so that it would not be a problem to use any pedal I desired. Retapping can be done by any good LBS for a small amount of money. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:31 am Zach Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 23 You are correct. I the backs of the cranks say M14. The pedals I bought we 9/16. I guess I will have them rethreaded or buy another set of pedals. I have not picked a color yet, But I will be using the late 70s decal set on this bike. I really wish I could a good LBS in my area, But I guess it will be more fun taking this on myself. I am sure I will have more money into this bike than I should but It is great to enjoy working on something again. Thanks for all the help guys.   Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:50 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Zach, Keep in mind that the "Left" side crank arm is reverse threaded. Meaning: Lefty tighty, Righty loosey. You're going to be limited in pedals if you stay with French threads and will not be able to find them easily. Velo Orange has two styles for about $50./pair http://www.velo-orange.com/petoeclandac.html Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:13 pm defbyte Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 8 looks earlier similar to my ride!   Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:59 am Zach Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 23 Any ideas on the seat post and stem size?   Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:12 am greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Zach, For those you will need to measure the originals. My Interclub seat post is 25.4 mm but the frame post dates yours by a few years. It has the Honeycomb rear dropouts. A 22.2 mm stem works on mine. Yours might be the earlier 22.0 mm French. A 22.2 can be sanded down with Emery paper to fit. It's not much to take off. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 3:45 pm Zach Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 23 2 more questions- Best way to drop weight What was the correct frame pump for this bike?   Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:05 pm greyhundguy Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 678 Location: South-Central VIRGINIA Reduce your caloric intake. ie: Ride your Bike AFA pumps would have come with Gitanes. Silca would be a proper upgrade, lighter alternative. Jay _________________ Dance like nobody is watching.   Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:05 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Zach wrote: Best way to drop weight Zach, As I mentioned several times in this thread, the 2 most important elements in how a bike rides are the wheels and the frame. Wheels are rotating masses so if you use lighter wheels such as alloy rims with tubular tires (or some of the newer light weight clinchers with alloy rims) you'll experience improved ride and performance over say steel clincher rims). The frames on early 70s Interclubs were usually made of the same "light weight" (lighter than some bikes of that era) steel tubing that was used on the Gran Sport models. They usually used a 25mm or maybe 25.4mm seatpost. The 28mm diameter seat tube minus the 25mm or 25.4mm diameter seatpost leaves 2.6mm or 3mm divided by 2 equals a tubing wall thickness of 1.3mm or 1.5mm. This results in a heavier frame than one made of Reynolds 531 main tubes with a thickness of 0.7mm in the thin sections of the butted tubes. There can be almost 2 Lbs. difference in weight between an Interclub and a Reynolds 531 framed TdF or Super Corsa. The Reynolds alloy steel frames are going to have a lighter, more "supple" feel and absorb road shock and vibration better. On larger sized frames the effect becomes less of an issue. Interclubs with sewups weighed about 24 to 24.5 Lbs. while the Reynolds framed models weighed 21.5 to 22 lbs. depending on frame size. The weight of the components on an Interclub are going to be about the same as on a TdF or SC. As Jay said, ..."Ride your Bike". I quit weighing my bikes a long time ago and started concentrating on riding them. Chas.   Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:37 pm Zach Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 23 Well I am going to paint the frame and get some repo decals for it. I think I am gonna go with the later decals. Here is where I am at now- I am enjoying learning about bikes again since it has been so long since I half way knew something about them. I think I am addicted to bike boom bikes. This thing followed me home today- So far I have 3 70s bikes. 73,75 and 78 all from different parts of the globe. The WD40 is not for the bikes btw. 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