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swervin09

Hi to all-

I am new to the Gitane bike world. I came across this bike on local CL and went to LBS to purchase for $60......I just had a feeling this bike was the one.....little did I know it was French and awesome in its day.
I am trying to keep it vintage and true to its era but fixie. I have all the original components if anyone is interested in purchasing.

Anyway I am rebuilding it fixie- new paint, new foil decals, Ambrosio elite 19s, vintage campy track hubs, mafac race brake, vintage sugino fixie crank.

three questions:
1. How good or bad are the Ambrosio elite 19s wheels? Are they true to the era?

2. Where can I find a vintage French sealed & threaded BB

Thanks to all & Best Regards

PS-please don't bash me for going fixie......I am not a bike collector as of yet....I have a road bike, a mountain bike and now I want a commuter with style.....Gitane!!!!!

Luis
San Antonio TX

verktyg

Luis,

As the Forum unofficial retrogrouch, I wont beat you up but before converting it to a fixie, have you tried riding it first with all the old components?

Razz

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I'm not sticking my tongue out, that's blood dripping! Crying or Very sad

Brief editorial: there were probably far less than 100,000 foil decal Gitane Tour de France bikes produced and sold worldwide between 1969 and 1974. Far less were ever imported in to the US. They're becoming popular all of a sudden maybe because they are getting scarce. Confused

I'd save your old parts, someday you may want to restore the bike back to a 10 speed or sell it. With the original parts it's worth a lot more even if not installed. Whatever you do, don't cut off the derailleur hanger. That destroys it resale value!

In 1976 I sold my old 1972 Gitane Super Corsa frame at the shop where I worked. The last few years I can't stop kicking my self for letting it go! Mad

Now to answer your questions:

Velo Orange is selling some good quality metric threaded sealed bearing bottom brackets. They come in different widths and are about $48 plus shipping.

http://www.velo-orange.com/grcrufrthbob.html

The Ambrosio Elite 19 rims came out in the mid 80s. They were nice rims for their time. Some of the ones with a heavy anodized coating had the reputation of failing at the spoke holes.

Hold them in sunlight and look for a very fine spiderweb pattern around the spoke ferrules where the spokes come out of the rims. If you start seeing any real cracks discard the rim.

I have several sets of these rims. One set I bought from a racer back in the late 80s. I used them for a few years then didn't ride them much until about 3 years ago when I started riding again.

There were a lot of tree root bumps in a bike trail that I rode a lot. I hit some of those hard several times in the dark and after that, I could never keep the wheels true. The spokes keep loosening up so these rims are shot!

It's easy to become a collector, all it takes is one classic bike! Wink

swervin09

I already chopped the rear derailler hanger off and the only reason I did so is because it already had a huge gash broken out of it.

Chas-
Thank you for the editorial and the info on the Ambrosios. the ones I have are stightly rusted at the spoke entries but no signs of cracking. i bought a rust neutralizer at the local hardware store and it fixed them right up.

Does anyone have a components list so I can verify what parts are actually original. I know that the consistency of parts usage by the French was not good, but never the less i would like to compare my Gitane to something

Thanks

Luis SA TX

verktyg

Luis,

See message

http://www.gitaneusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8232#8232

drummer5

Ehhh if you're planning on repainting it I would see how much it would be to replace the rear dropout.

You didn't cut anything else off the frame did you?

verktyg

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swervin09

Chas-Thank you very much for the component list.

It seems some of the easier parts to change were in fact changed.
derailler is a suntour
hubs are Miche with Ambrosio 19s Elite wheels

bottom bracket is a modern Sugino 75 multi-piece
seat is a San Marcos
Shimano rear cassette
Sugino supermaxy cranks
KMC chain

The original parts are: (I think)
seat post is a chrome SR (it has a crest like emblem with an eagle and the word "forged" engraved)
SR stem and drop bars
Mafac Racer brakes, center pull
Campy pump with housing
Campy hub skewers
Stronglight head set
simplex rear droup-outs

Fear not Drummer5........I only dremeled the rear derailler hanger because it was severely damaged.......I will look into replacing the drop outs.........sound expensive though

Luis
SA TX