gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Gitane Delta

sandranian · Site Admin

Roger Young told me during a ride a few weeks ago that there might have been problems with the Delta bike's design re: breakage of the bars, head tube and/or steerer.

I had never heard of this, so I asked Theirry...who said he never heard of anything like that either.

The design was in use from at least 1984 until 1990, so I think it must have been a decent one from a quality perspective, right?

Wisey

From (the few) photos that I've seen, they seem to have been a bit over-engineered. The steerer tube and head tube would have been a heavy gauge to enable the cut out in the front and the handlebar attachment. I have seen internal photos of the Russian bikes that used a similar design, and they looked very heavy too. Even up until the early 90's, light weight wasn't considered to be very important for a TT bike.

verktyg

Gtane

I guess there were never many Deltas in existence so they may have just got rotated through the teams until 1990 with the odd one or two being made as required.

TT machines did become heavier, as Wisey says, than road machines whereas they were previously much, much lighter. The additional weight was seen, to a certain degree, as an advantage regards momentum. Even now TT machines are on the heavy side when compared to road machines.

Interesting to hear the weight comment from Thierry Marie, Stephan.

Thanks for the photos Wisey. Is that a solid steerer?

Tim

Wisey

That's the steerer tube. Although it's more of a solid rod rather than a tube. Standard 1" headset race at the bottom, then it has a cartridge bearing that fits directly into the head tube. That in turn is capped with a lock nut with split pin and a neat cap over the top.

Some of the Deltas had a normal top headset race, while others had a cap similar to this, so they must have also had a similar arrangement for a top bearing inside the head tube. Bottom line: Heavy bike. Just like uncle Thierry said.
Wink

Gtane

Here's a really nice close-up of a Delta, being carried by Fignon. Notice the Delta brake on the rear and sidepull on the front.

http://tinyurl.com/49d4fx3

Tim

verktyg

lofter

[/quote]

I've never seen those Cycles Gitane decals on a blue frame before. That and the Système U stripes.

quote]
if id ever get off my lazy ass and get those GITANE decals scanned everybody could put them on there blue frames if they want too

Indurain

Wisey

Cool. I was wondering. It would be a heck of a job to braze that thing into the fork crown if it was solid.

sandranian · Site Admin