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ArcaneFlame

Yesterday I was given an old Tour de France by my Dad and would like some help in identifying it. From my understanding, my Uncle bought it off a guy who possibly raced with it years and years ago. My Dad then bought it from my Uncle and has now given it to me. I'll have to ask my Uncle about it to get the full back story on where he got it. I think I remember my Dad bringing it back with him after a hunting trip out in Colorado, where my Uncle lives, but I was pretty young at the time. I mostly remember it being in the garage and I wasn't supposed to touch it! Smile

As far as I know, it's been ridden very little since my Dad bought it. I imagine he rode it some initially but by the time I was in middle school I think my parents has bought some mountain bikes and this never really saw much use after that. So it's mostly just been sitting in the garage ever since.

I recently started biking to work on a more regular basis and was telling my Dad about how much my mountain bike sucked for riding around town (even though I love the bike otherwise) and my Dad offered to give me the Gitane. I gladly accepted the offer and it was dropped off for me yesterday.

It's in pretty good condition but will need a little work to get it road worthy. I'm pretty much a newb when it comes to road bikes since I've never owned one before, but I've been talking with a coworker who's a big cyclist and he's given me some suggestions on things to do as well as a suggestion of a good local bike shop to take it to.

Anyhow... here are a bunch of pictures that I quickly took of it last night. Please let me know what you think and if you can give me any additional information on the bike I would really appreciate it. I can't wait to start riding it!

- Nathan

scozim

Wow, nice ride. Is it too tall for you? I notice the saddle is all the way down. Interesting mixture of parts with the Dura Ace brakes but Campy drivetrain.

Scott

ArcaneFlame

Scott,

I think that my Dad had the seat all the way down while it was in storage or possibly dropped it down for the trip down to me on top of the car. I have not ridden it yet so I haven't made any adjustments to it.

My coworker had me stand over the frame and lift it up as we thought it might be a bit big. I was able to get an inch or so of clearance under the front wheel which he said was acceptable. So it might not be the perfect size for me but should work.

I dropped it off at the LBS and they're going to do a bit of work on it this weekend. The wheels need to be trued up a bit, replace the cables, new wraps on the handlebars and a little cleanup. But otherwise they thought it should be ready to ride without much else. It was suggested to me that I get some Frame Saver and treat it with that and then clean up and wax the frame.

I'm not sure about the pedals though. Not sure if I'll like having those cages (not sure the correct term) on them or not. I'll give them a shot and see if they work ok for me but I might have to put something else on instead. Perhaps some clipless pedals? I dunno, we'll see when I get it back and ride it.

My coworker was looking it over and said the derailleur had a date stamp of 74 on it. No idea if that is original or not though. Any idea what year the frame is from the photos?

sandranian · Site Admin

That is an early 1970's Tour de France. 1974 sounds about right for that bike, although it does appear that there have been some parts modified on it (i.e. the brakes).

Very nice bike, by the way. Hope the bike shop is skilled with old french bikes, because there are some "hitches" in them that new mechanics aren't aware of.

The shift levers, by teh way, have slipped down. They are too low, and are up around the braze-on "stopper" that is designed to prevent that. A call to the bike shop to move it into the correct position before they replace the cables would be a good idea.

The front derailleur cable guide is likewise out of its correct position (too high).

Replacement decals for the down tube, seat tube, and top tube are available on Ebay from a seller called "cyclomondo", if you are interested. They are high-quality reproductions.

Very cool bike. I wish I had uncles who had good stuff for me like that!

scozim

If you're just going to be riding it around town the pedals and toe clips/straps should work great. With that vintage crankset you may find that they are french thread and won't accept modern clipless pedals without having the crank arms re-tapped.

The pedals should clean up nicely with some 0000 grade steel wool. I use a small amount of WD40 to aid in cleaning the rust.

Here's the pedals from my late 60's Gitane.

Before:

After only 40 minutes of work (a little more is needed for the little corners)

LeicaLad

Oh, very sweet bike. That is pre-1974. It’s too much exactly like my ’71 TdF. But, given it’s provenance, I’m gonna guess that the previous owner did what almost ALL of us did who bought them new back then. We started with the core bike and upgraded components as soon as we could afford to do so.

The Stronglight crank is a fabulous crank. Campy had the huge name appeal, but the smart riders kept that crank. Do warn your shop that it IS French threaded. It’d be a drag if they stripped it without thinking.

The dropouts are Simplex, as the 70-72 TdF’s were. That means that the original owner or uncle had to machine the dropout to accept the Campy rear derailleur. I did, too. Even though the original Simplex derailleurs were excellent and very light (the best model of the time came on the TdF), they got zero respect. Everyone HAD to have the Campy. Clearly, the original owner drank the kool-aid, too. We all did. It was soooo tasty. I’d guess the brakes came much later, as the Dura-Ace name hadn’t yet come on the scene.

All in all, it is a fantastic bike. A riding dream. The bike is tight and will be tricky to handle, at first. I say this ‘cause you’re coming from a mountain bike. No comparison. But, you will love it. My latest project, the 71 Super Corsa thread, is essentially the exact same frame, but came with the Campy components. I got it precisely because I LOVE my 71 TdF so much. You might scan thru that thread, just to see what a little cleaning can do to the bike. All those nasty little rust spots can be replaced by shiny, new-looking bits.

Oh, and the size sounds perfect. Current bike shops sell bikes too small. Your stand-over + 1" is perfect. I ride my Gitanes at flat-foot stand-over, just.

Take good care of this. Be wary not to leave it unattended nor out of sight. It is a thief magnet.

A light polishing wax, like it’s a classic old car, will make it shine, too.

That’s a fabulous color, too. Back in the day, I didn’t like it. Now, I wish my SC project frame was that color!!!!

Congrats! And welcome to the forum (from another newbie here).

Owen

ArcaneFlame

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies, all the information, tips and suggestions. Much appreciated!

I'm really looking forward to getting it back from the shop and starting work on the clean up of it. The pictures you guys have posted are very inspiring as to what can be accomplished with a bit of time and elbow grease.

I have a questions about cleaning it up and polishing it. The general consensus seems to be using some steel wool in cleaning it up. Would you recommend staying away from using a Dremel and to take it slower just to be on the safe side? How about for polishing it? I've got some polishing wheels and compound for it but I wanted to get your opinions before I took the Dremel to it. I'm much rather take it slow if that will be "safer". I'm kind of leaning towards doing it by hand for the most part and perhaps using the Dremel at low speed to get into tight spots. Any suggestions or warning as far as that goes?

I'm also planning to get some Framesaver and treating the tubes once I get it back as well.

The saddle is in somewhat rough shape. It's missing one of the rear rivets so I'll have to try and replace that but doing so shouldn't be too tough. I've heard that the leather can sometimes be restored. Do you think it would be worth it for me to try and do so with mine or should I simply look for a replacement?

As for keeping a close eye on the bike, thanks for the warning. I'm able to store my bike in my office at work so that's as safe as can be and at this point where I will be riding to most often. Any other time that I'm out and about it'll get locked up tight and I won't be far away, generally within sight of it, and for short periods of time. So hopefully I'll be ok.

LeicaLad

I'll comment only on what I'm discovering with my own '71 bike.

For the paint, start with some auto polishing compound. Don't use too much elbow grease. You'll be shocked at how that takes off a layer of oxidized paint. Follow with a little car wax.

Steel wool for the chrome bits, although you can also use brass brush. As I was warned, do not use on the aluminum bits, like the crank.

Start there and see what you discover. I found it pretty surprising.

Owen

Gtane

Nathan,

That's a lovely bike and will clean up very well indeed. What a gift! Enjoy the restoration and do post the machine in the Owner's Gallery.

Thanks for posting

Tim

verktyg

As other have mentioned, It has the standard first class upgrades from that era:

Brooks B17 saddle (or Brooks Pro)

Campy Nuovo Record derailleurs

Shimano DuraAce brakes which became available sometime in mid 1974.

Someone also switched from the the alloy Lyotard 460d pedals to Campy NR pedals.

Even the pump is original!

Folks who couldn't afford Campy derailleurs used Suntour V and later Shimano Crane models.

Here's a picture of my all original 1971 TdF.

The reason why I'm thinking 1973 is because of the Pivo stem with the recessed hex key expander bold.