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trim

Hello all,
I'm from France (sorry for my english) and just wanted to share with you some pictures of this great bike I found in march in some "garage sale". It rides very well and gave me the taste for those "vintage lightweight"...
I guess it 's a super olympic (???), maybe 1975 (???), in pretty good condition, the chromium frame is not too spotted/coroded. The bike is a bit dirty with dry mud because of a recent ride on a very dry path.
Here are the pictures :

frame height is 54 cm.

"hand made" sticker

campy crankset 45/52

fork and front brake

campy NR derailleur (patent 1973)

campy front derailleur

front hub.

racing team sticker.
I have no pictures of the Cinelli saddle and handlebar (giro model). Rims are "Super Champion". Brake levers are campy.
The only thing I changed is the guidoline.
thanks...

sandranian · Site Admin

Wow. What a great find! That is one rare bicycle. I have seen Gitane track bikes which were all chromed, but that one really has some nice features, that may have been added by the owner after it was purchased, like the drilled/fluted Campagnolo parts. Also, it has some nice touches with the paint around the lugs.

Certainly a top-quality frame, with Reynolds 531 tubing and Campagnolo dropouts. Please post more pictures!

Gtane · Last edited by Gtane on Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:12 am; edited 2 times in total

Fantastic and stunning looking bike. What a find. Do keep it as it is, in its original looking condition, even with the worn transfers.

It looks like you may only need to swap the non Campagnolo brake shoes and blocks for originals. They should be pretty easy to find. The wheels may have been rebuilt, hence the rims, but am not absolutely sure. Either way, it's a super machine.

Swap the quick release skewer around so the lever is on the other side, but leave the wheel as is. The wheel looks to be in the correct way (outside / inside spokes are pulling).

Take a look at the catalogue section for further information - http://www.gitaneusa.com/catalogues01.asp

Thanks for the post and welcome to the forum.

Tim

trim

thanks for the informations and your commrntd sandranian & gtan,
i think as every part of the bike is from campy (even the pedals), i guess the bike has been bought as it is now, don't you think ?
Here are some others pictures :

hope you enjoy !

verktyg

Very interesting bike.

My guess is that it might have been specially built as a "show bike" for display at a cycling trade show or as a traveling display to be shown at top races for advertising.

I think that the bike pictured on the front and back covers of the 1974 French Gitane catalog was such a bike.

Chas.

vanhelmont

Beautiful bike! Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

Dave

owen.lowe

Hi TRIM,
I am stunned that in France and USA there is great potential for finding such pre-loved beauties as I have seen on this site. As already suggested, Australia is the land of over-priced bikes, especially any of reasonable pedigree.

This bike is what I consider an exceptional number, and would pay grandly for it at any garage sale.

The fork crowns are not the same as the 1974 cover Gitane, and are very similar to my 1978 Interclub...but I know that consistency was not a hallmark of Gitane component selection.

I am torn between this bike and the white track bike of pppp, for both elegance and dash! Very nice indeed.

OwenL

verktyg

OwenL,

As I suggested before, the bike on the cover of the 1974 French Gitane catalog was probably a "one off" show bike or an extremely limited special order item. It has features such as the fork crown and component "drillium" that I've never seen before on any standard Gitane model.

Note the fork crown in the upper right hand corner:

Bike makers just like auto manufacturers have always made special display products for trade shows and exhibitions. There's a good chance that Trim's chrome plated Gitane is also one of those special made bikes (making it even more rare).

For example the paint on the head tube lugs, the Cinelli Unicanitor saddle, the driillium on the stem and chainrings plus the world champion color bands on the seat tube indicate that his bike is not a standard off the rack model.

Chrome plating fell out of favor around 1974 because of both fashion (the clean Italian look) and economics. Embargoes against South Africa and Rhodesia, major suppliers of chrome ore raised the cost of chrome plating significantly in the mid 70s.

Chas. can't sleep Crying or Very sad

sandranian · Site Admin

The chain rings appear to be Sugino.

To clean up that bike, get some copper wool from your local hardware store. Most of the surface rust will come right off with that, then apply a good coat of wax, which should help stop new rust from appearing.

That really is a great looking bike. Don't use the copper wool on the decals, it will shred them.

verktyg

Trim,

I forgot to mention this in my other posts.

In your pictures, the seat post is extended too far and isn't safe to ride.

It should be inserted at least about 65mm into the seat tube.

Excuse my French:

Dans vos images, le poteau de siège est prolongé trop loin et isn' ; coffre-fort de t à monter.

Il devrait être inséré au moins environ 65mm dans le tube de siège.

Chas.

trim

Hello all,
many thanks for all these very interesting informations, i am pleasantly surprised about the rarity of that bike (sorry for my english folks).
I guessed it was a unusual one when i was trying to identify it with the catalogs of this site, it never really matched with any model.
I will try to clean up the frame with tour method sandranian.
Chas, I know the seatpost is a bit too high, but i have long legs... i'm 1,85m tall... and the frame is 54 cm.
thanks.

verktyg

Trim,

Campagnolo seatposts like yours are only 180mm long. They were designed at a time when people rode larger frames.

The rule of thumb was that the round part of the seatpost should not extend more than 1 hand high out of the seat tube - about 100mm (4").

It looks like your seatpost is only inserted into the seat tube about 20-25mm.

It's very dangerous to ride the bike this way. The seatpost could suddenly break off or the seat lug could fail.

Either way could result in serious injuries, especially to your private areas.

Read these 2 sets of messages about broken seat posts:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=72813
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=63276

Some of these people are talking about carbon fiber seatposts that failed but others mention Campagnolo seatposts. I've seen 1 broken Campy seatpost like yours. I was really surprised to see that it broke cleanly off near the top.

If you need a bike with a seat that high then this frame is too small for you.

Gitane measured frames from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. Your frame is a 57cm (22 1/2" nominal) not a 54cm. It sounds like the correct size for you would be a 60cm or 62cm frame.

What I suggest is that you find a sturdy mountain bike seatpost that's about 300mm long, maybe one made of steel. The correct size is 26.mm or 26.6mm.

Avoid a carbon fiber seatpost on this bike.

Vous pouvez vouloir avoir des enfants un jour, non ? Wink

Chas.

Wisey

mmmmmmmm, young padawan. Listen to Jedi Master Verktyg you must. Failing seatposts, nasty injury to your light-sabre will cause.

Don't argue! Wink

Even if you don't get hurt, riding it like this will most certainly turn that beautiful frame into a shiny piece of junk when the seat tube cracks. That would be a terrible shame Crying or Very sad

.

trim

ok wise guys... i w'll follow your advice and will try to find a longer seatpost.
For your information diameter is 26.4.

owen.lowe

I do agree with Chas that special order / show frames can vary from the typical of that era. My own has a few subtle differences from the American and European offering of the same model.

It is nonetheless revealing that such a nice example of Gitane can elicit admiration and discussion - practical and esoteric.

When I first acquired my Colnago, it had been under a house in a cellar-type enclosure, for better than twenty years. It had been stored without wheels, and the big ring was in contact with the ground - indeed, corroded so much that it became a part of the ground. So I had to find a replacement Campag ring - money can find anything!

The chrome on the bike - front forks, chain stays and seat stays - was in pretty poor condition, and my pal who was parting with it, tried steel wool on one side of the fork. It looked OK until in the sunlight, which revealed the abbrassions.

Another pal who restores vintage cars put me on to Megular's Mirror Glaze All Metal Polish - made in USA. With my vigorous rubbing it removed the scratches caused by the steel wool, and removed the surface rust as well (but it cannot rechrome the damage). I use this stuff every once-in-a-while, and then use car wax over the whole bike. It comes up looking a treat.

I bet Trim's machine will look brilliant when polished.

PS...I am 178 cms tall, so the bike is close to my specs! I have one bike with a longer seat pillar from a mountain bike - works very well and is very safely deep into the seat tube.

Cheers,

Owen