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dangit

Hello all.

I just bought a Gitane off eBay for around 160€ (I'm in Germany) and I am somewhat at a loss as to what type of Gitane I've actually got. My guess would be around 85 ish Team Pro.

Here are some specs I could gather so far.

52cm sized frame
531 Reynolds tubing
Shimano Dura-Ace AX gear
Shimano Dura-Ace hubs
Shimano Dura-Ace brakes
Shimano Dura-Ace seat post
Concor Profile saddle
Philippe Guidon stem and handlebar
Vitus Dropouts
Chromeplated fork and gear tubes
Mavic rims with glued-on tires

Oh, and some pictures for help. I can take more pix if necessary. Once we've identified it, I'd be happy to share the information in the serial forum.

The bike:

The serial:

Cheers and thanks in advance for your help,
Daniel

Peter S. Horn

Daniel,
Looks like you got a real nice Gitane. The European and U.S. models might or might not coincide exactly (model year, etc.), but according to my information, yours should be about a 1986 Team Pro. This model (with the chromed forks) came in to the U.S. market in early to mid 1986. The subsequent 1987 Team Pro did not have the chromed forks.

U.S. models came equipped with Campag. C Record gruppos, or as a frameset only. Therefore, your D.A. model was possibly either re-equipped (from C-Record) or the frameset was originally, or at some point, D.A. equipped.
Peter H.
Sacramento, Ca.

dangit

Hey Peter,

thanks much for the input. Really appreciate it.

Very Happy

Regards,
Daniel.

Gtane

Welcome to the forum Daniel, and thank you for posting the details of the machine. It looks to be the machine that Stephan, highlighted recently.

It's a very nice bike indeed and congratulations on being the winning bidder. You did very well and at a super price.

I'm sure the ride is a dream. Have you ridden it yet?

Look forward to seeing more photos.

Tim

Peter S. Horn

Daniel,
You are more than welcome! As a slight correction, I'm now thinking that this Team Pro might well be a mid to late 1986.

The 1986 Gitane catalogue is nearly identical to that for 1985. Therefore, the probable earlier 1986 lineup, as in 1985, was headed by the Reynolds 531C framed Professionnel and Reynolds 501 framed Record. My information re your velo comes via a spec sheet, also dated 1986, but postmarked June 6, 1986. Therefore, I believe that your velo is probably part of a later 1986 lineup. I'm not 100% sure about that timeline, but putting 2 and 2 together, it seems about right! Your Team Pro, by the way, is equipped with an ultra-light Reynolds 531P tubeset.
Best Regards,
Peter H.
Sacramento

dangit

Hey Tim. Thanks for the welcome. I just took the ride home and it's wonderful. Really smooth and light. And that means something as my way back from work is basically just uphill with the last 100 m having an inclining slope of 12%!

I will post more photos some time next week.

Peter, thanks again for the digging and clarification. Before my first post I was browsing through the catalogues and information available here at the gitaneuse.com and that's where my guess of mid 80's Team Pro originated.

Best regards from a happy...
Daniel.

Cool

sandranian · Site Admin

Nice Gitane, Daniel. Meine Mutter kommt aus Bad Wildungen, und ich habe viele Vervandten in Fritzlar, Frankfurt...und Hessen. Ich bin ein Eintracht fan (Aufgehts SGE!).

Anyways, welcome the forum, you got a great deal on that Gitane!

Gtane

Daniel,

Well, if you cruised up that 12% hill with little effort then you really do have a lovely machine. 531p is a wonderful tubeset. Peter, thanks for your insight.

I cannot begin to compete with Stephan's impressive reply in German so I'll leave that expertise to him.

Look forward to seeing your machine in the owner gallery.

Tim

Peter S. Horn

Hi Tim,
On the topic of 531P; Back in 1987, I picked up a velo considerably less exotic than Daniel's model, that being a Team Blue Inter/Campag. Victory. It was a nice bike and the price, $950.00, (reduced, my local Gitane dealer was a good man) was right.

This model was supposedly equipped with a Reynolds 531C tube-set. Well, not mine. The Reynolds stickers (frame and forks) indicated a 531P frameset! The velo rode beautifully, slightly heavier than my Speidel equipped '83 S/C. My velo was not the only one! On my 1990-91 spec. sheet from Thorsten at Gitane of America, I also noted a leftover 1987 fuchsia Mavic equipped RS with; you guessed it; a Reynolds 531P frame-set! I guess that Gitane, France, during that period, was giving its' customers an upgrade, (the T.P. aside) 531P framesets for its' higher end models.
Cheers,
Peter H.
Sacramento

Gtane

Peter,

Thanks very much indeed for the further detail, and what a buy. It sounds like you did very well indeed. Would I be correct in thinking that Gitane models advertised (catalogues, general literature, etc) occasionally differed from those actually sold? There are certainly differences between country specific catalogues and the odd model spec. here and there.

Perhaps these differences, similar to yours, came at a time when groupsets were upgraded, tubesets changed and the top models were moved down or out to make way for the new lines coming in. So giving the opportunity to Gitane to move stock by benefiting customers with better equipment for the same or similar price.

I've always found great deals to be had on new bikes and components (new old stock) in January, February and March. I guess this is the same the world over.

Do you still have the machine today and if so, is it still a dream to ride?

Tim

sandranian · Site Admin

I have the same thing: A 1987 Inter frameset with 531P decals, not 531C as per the specs. I always figured that the decal was wrong...

verktyg

Tim,

In the US, inventory is taxed as profit so businesses that are on a January 1 through December 31 tax year usually have inventory reduction sales every year at the end of December.

I bought my first pro bike, a 1971 Gitane Super Corsa at the end of 1973 for $150 USD. The list price was ~$450 and the shop had it hanging on the wall for over two years so the were glad to sell it to me.

On another topic, a lot of buyers looked down on Campy's Victory and Triomphe gruppos. In the early 80s' Campy had 3 gruppos, Gran Sport, Nuovo Record and Super Record. The designs of those components were 10 to 20+ years old. Shimano and Suntour were coming out with new "zoomie" looking gruppos every year.

In 1984 Campy brought out C-Record to replace Super Record, Victory to update Nuovo Record and Triomphe for the Gran Sport components. Campy buyer were so hidebound to the traditional look of NR/SR components that the new gruppos never caught on.

Additionally there was so much OEM Nuovo Record stuff in the the European pipeline that up through 1988 you could still get a reasonable quality bike equipped with a NR gruppo for a lot less than one with a Victory gruppo. True Campy aficionados never liked the look of the Victory and Triomphe components.

In the late 1980s Campy tried a "something for every price range" attempt to compete with the Japanese which was a complete failure and almost cost them their company.

The quality of Victory and Triomphe was/is every bit as good as NR. By that time however, Shimano had SIS index shifting on the market fro several years and it took Campy another 3-4 years to recover.

Chas.

Peter S. Horn

Tim,Stephan, Chas., Daniel,
I believe that all are, basically, right here. As we Gitane folks know, there were many variances from official Gitane specs from time to time. However, now that I think about it, I believe that Stephan is probably right about the tubing. It is probably 531C with 531P stickers. The 1987 catalogue lists the weight as 22 lbs. (vs. 20.5 lbs. for the T.P.). That seems about right.

I felt that the Victory gruppo was a fine one. Shifting (non-indexed) was as sure as tomorrow's sunrise. Please notice, however; I'm steering clear (for now) of the Campag./Simplex/Shimano debate! I did not know that Victory was intended to replace Nuovo Record until so advised by Chas. The Victory gruppo was probaby at least one half pound heavier than C-Record, you do, after all, get what you pay for! The rest of the weight difference is, no doubt, accounted for by the 531C tubeset (actual) and the clincher wheelset (vs. the T.P.'s Wolber Super Champion/Wolber Pro tubular wheelset).

This begs the question for Stephan; Did you have any immediate plans for your Inter frameset? After many hundreds of miles, including commuting to work, the velo was sold; replaced with a Replica 11. I regret it now as it was my last link with the Fignon/Systeme U era. This model is virtually identical to the velo listed as "J.F. Bernard's Toshiba bike". We have no 12% grades in Sacramento, Daniel, so 53/39 and a 12-24 rear gear set is fine. A can of Pabst (Stephan's and Milwaukie's finest) please.

Peter S. Horn

Bienvenue,
Peter H.
Sacramento

sandranian · Site Admin

My inter frameset does not have the original decals. I purchased it from Gitane USA when they were closing up shop in 1988 (they just happened to have it lying around, so I bought it for $400). Right now, it is just hanging in the garage, with circa 1978 decals on it...No plans. Why do you ask?