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sandranian · Site Admin

Well, not quite EVER...perhaps that is being overly dramatic, but a bad day nonetheless.

So yesterday, I rode my 1984 Team Pro on the regular fast group ride. All went perfectly...so I decided to dress like Laurent Fignon for today's 50+ mile morning ride and hopped aboard my 1987 T.P.

About 35 miles into the ride, there was a strange "looseness" to the front end. I checked the headset, bar, and stem at the light. All was tight...so I continued. While climbing the next little rise, I noticed it again, and immediately stopped the bike and waved the group on. I knew that it was a problem that no amount of "waiting" would fix.

I first checked the forks...all was good...then check the Campagnolo C-Record cranks, which have a bad habit of loosening up. That seemed to be the problem...because when I pushed on the left crank, it seemed wobbly. But the allen bolt was tight (I had tightened it already before the ride). So why was the bike flexing badly??? What the heck was going on? Checked the hubs...ok...

Then noticed a small line in the down tube, in between the shift levers. I followed the "line" all the way around the tube. Then flexed the bike again at the cranks, and the line yawned open to reveal the cross-section of the Reynolds 531P tubing.

DAMN!

The frame cracked! How could this be? I used to ride this bike when I was 200+ lbs. Now that I am 175, it cracks??? Bullsh*t! I guess all of those early pounds finally beat the frame up so badly that it just quit on me. My apologies to the frameset, to Gitane, and to the Gitane Collectors of the world.

Now, what do do with it. Repair, or wall decor???

My 1987 Team Pro, in its "salad days":
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV4ccUr

lofter

not cool man, real bummer Crying or Very sad

scozim

Sorry man, that really sucks!

Greenmachine

Sorry to hear that.. I'd see how much it is to repair. Sad

verktyg

I feel ill.... Crying or Very sad

On a worser note, you can have the down tube replaced by a competent frame builder of which there are a few in your neighborhood, I'll PM you with info. To do it right it will require new paint and decals so at least $400-$500. Crying or Very sad

sandranian · Site Admin

I figured it would require a complete repaint, etc. $500. The whole frameset cost that much. Bummer, eh?

For now, I think it will be wall art.

verktyg

I don't recall ever seeing a Gitane frame made of Reynolds tubing fail!

I've rarely seen a Reynolds 531 frame failure period! On the other hand, I've seen a number of frames made of Columbus tubing crack or fail on the down tube just below the lug.

Reynolds 531P was their lightest offering next to Reynolds 753 tubing. The down tube wall thickness as 0.8mm at the butted ends and 0.55mm in the middle area.

The down tubes in Reynolds 531C tubes were 0.9mm x 0.6mm thick. That was the same as Columbus SL tubing.

Classic Reynolds 531 or 531ST used 1.0mm x 0.7mm wall thickness tube.

It could have been that the down tube got overheated when the shift lever bosses were brazed on.

Frenchbuilt

To get use to these things, buy a Lotus and discover how perfectly sound metal one day cracks in half the next day for no obvious reason and even when the car is just sitting and not being driven.

Your bike frame was probably built just after "Un petit goûter rapide" (sandwich or croissant) around 8:30 in the morning, and/or possibly after a heavy lunch washed down with at least a half bottle of wine; or, and probably the real reason, at 3:47 in the afternoon when all the tools are dropped right to the floor and everyone disappears to the bus as quickly as possible or to the bar for an apéritif before going home.

And I was worried about my little top tube ding!

Sorry, Dan.

Gtane

Stephan,

Sorry to hear the news of the bike. Tube replacement, as Chas mentions, is a very good way to go to get the bike back on the road again. It can be expensive but for a bike one adores, it's always worth it in the end.

Tim

Peter S. Horn

Well, this is really rough; a cryin' shame. I would not blame myself, if I were you. You, apparently, rode the (fill in the blank) out of this exotic Gitane . I guess that thinwall frames, as 531P, can fail at some point. But frames are repairable. Or, a second Definitive "The One" ISP?
PH

sandranian · Site Admin

I am still lamenting the loss of my 1987. Boo hoo. How long with this mourning continue? When will I ever be able to move on with my life? Is this normal?

vanhelmont

Stephan,

It's probably normal, because you love the bike and have spent many happy hours on it. If it becomes wall art, you'll continue your mourning whenever you see it. Better get it fixed!

I continued to mourn the loss of my first good bike for several years after it was stolen, whenever I came across the single cut chain link I found where I had left it, or the white Christophe straps that weren't in the toe clips when it was stolen. I was finally really over it when I put the straps on my Super Corsa and rode it.

With Sympathy for you loss,

Dave

verktyg

I still check out every orange bike I see perchance it might be my long lost 1978 Colnago that was stolen in 1982! Crying or Very sad

bowser

stephan
really sorry to hear of your dilemma. only had one frame fail on me
that was a 1958 bates cantiflex way back when i did have the tube replaced and frame re painted many moons ago