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Pontivy

Although I've been a long time 'guest' on here, i'm finally a proud Gitane owner and so it's time to post something for a change.

Looking at the catalogues I think I now own a 1970 57cm TdF (French domestic model) . It was imported by a guy who trawls the fleamarkets for french vintage bikes selling them on in the UK, usually destined to be fixie-ised.

It's a little battle scarred and has some, um 'variations':

-Painted rear stays,
-Simplex dropouts,
-Bizarre DIY drilled seatpost,
-(Suntour?) Sprint rear Derailleur - hanger cut off Evil or Very Mad

-Campagnolo front derailleur, a little mangled,
-Mafac Competition brakes,
-Mavic Montlerey rims
-Aldo stem,

-It also has Le Coulant downtube decals, I think this may be a shop or a team sponsor, I think I remember seeing the name on team jerseys.

I'm pleasantly suprised by the colour, that shade of blue is much more irridescent than it looks in photos.

The seat tube has the scanty remains of the 531 decal, but the painted rear stays and the campagnolo derailleur have me a little confused now. (Confusion seems to be a default state for first time Gitane owners Smile

)

In line with consensus on here I intend to strip it, overhaul the hubs, BB & Hset, replace cables/tyres/seatpost/derailleurs, polish it, touchup and then ride it: keeping the patina. Another one saved from fixie limbo.

I'd love to hear your thoughts/observations.

Thanks, Pete.

verktyg

Greetings Pete and welcome to the Forum.

Congratulations on your find. This is one of those examples that I've frequently mentioned about Gitane TdFs that don't match the ones listed in the US catalogs.

I suspect that it's a 1973 French market Tour de France (obviously since you bought it in France).

The frame has the 3 main tubes made of butted Reynolds 531 tubing.

The wheels have Normandy Luxe Competition hubs and it originally would have had Simplex Criterium derailleurs.

Interestingly, the headset is a Gitane model not a Stronglight P3. The pedals also look to be upgraded from the standard Lyotard 460d pedals.

The stem, bars, brakes and Stronglight cranks are all probably original. the seat is a replacement.

The seatpost may be a chore to get out.

One suggestion that I read about is to remove the seat and bottom bracket, turn the bike upside down and pour some penetrating oil down the seat tube via the bottom bracket shell and let it sit for a while (maybe a week). If the seatpost has an open end you will have to plug it. It can get messy. From time to time you can try moving the seatpost from side to side to get it to work loose.

One other trick, remove the seatpost bolt and gently pry the ears on the seat lug a little to open them up. Sometimes that may be enough to loosen the post.

the crank arms take a special 23.35mm extractor. An old TA extractor is 23mm but it might strip the threads and the newer extractors are 22mm.

The fixed BB cup (right side) has right hand threads.

After you get it out, carefully clean the crud and corrosion out of the seat tube. Once clean you can use an automotive brake cylinder hone in an electric drill or fashion your own device with some heavy wire and emery cloth.

Here are some pictures of similar TdFs.

This one has proprietary Huret dropouts

This one has Huret dropouts and derailleurs to but no chrome.

This is how your derailleur hanger looked before it was emasculated. Notice it's been threaded and slightly cut away with a file so that Campy style derailleurs with fit. Crying or Very sad

The person who butchered your frame should make sure that their genes stay out of the pool, if you know what I mean! Evil or Very Mad

All is not lost though. A competent frame builder can make this simple repair and have your dropout "standing proud" (or hanging proud) again! Shocked

Pontivy

Chas,

Thanks so much for your time and that considered reply. Even with the catalogues I was struggling to establish the year, it really adds to the fun of owning an old bicycle to be handed its real provenance.

I think I've cleared up the Lecoulant decal mystery too. On the racing section of this very website! Who knows it could have been one of theirs Wink

I didn't know about the unique Stronglight crank extractor Shocked

, a quick google shows Sheldon Brown linking to only one supplier: J.A Stein in the US - so I assume that they are the only source. In any case you've saved me from some agony there.

I also had no idea that it would be possible to reinstate the derailleur hanger so easily and am seriously considering making enquiries.

Alternatively i'm wondering if I would be able to attach a more suitable (non japanese) vintage derailleur to the existing mount or say a Simplex with it's own version of that mount?

Similarly I'm a bit unsure as to what models of front derailleurs may be suitable to replace the shredded Campy.

In any case the seatpost decided to come out today, probably reducing the overall project time by about 50%!

Thanks again, Pete.

verktyg

Pete,

There's a Gitane Lecoulant jersey on eBay:

http://tinyurl.com/4zcdz5m

Lecoulant may have been an espoir team of promising 2nd tier beginning pros, or an amateur team???

Many thousands of bikes in the UK came with Stronglight 49, 93 and other model cranks that used that size extractor. If you check out some of the older bike shops you'll probably find someone with the correct 23.35mm Stronglight extractor.

To be on the safe (sneaky) side I'd ask around first to determine that the 1. the person has the correct extractor and 2. they know how to use it!

It's probably worth a few £ to have someone with the correct tool do it for you. Plus, if they have the PROPER bottom bracket tools (and know how to use them) get them to remove the BB while they are at it.

I'm not sure that the derailleur is Japanese. It looks like some uncommon Simplex or at least a knockoff.

The later metal Simplex derailleurs work well and are still readily available: SX410 or SX610 rear and one of the multitude of newer model front derailleurs.

SX410

SX410 with :claw" mount

SX610 with "claw" mount

Front Derailleurs

Not, most Simplex rear derailleurs with the claw mount are very difficult to convert to a direct mount.

The Campy levers will probably work OK for now.

scozim

I'd vote for a Simplex SX610 or SX630. I just bought a SX410 at a swap meet for a reasonable price but haven't had a chance to use it yet. The Super LJ's are a little pricey still. The other thing you can do is look for a rebadged Simplex. A buddy of mine picked up a super nice Gipiemme for
something like $15 or $20 US.

Scott

Pontivy

scozim

Remember, too, if you're using a claw with the derailleur because of the lack of a derailleur hanger there are other options. Simplex would keep the bike more original.

I used a Suntour V-GT Luxe for my 60's Gitane and have moved to Suntour derailleurs on many of my bikes. Depends if you want to keep it original or functional. I lean toward functional since I ride all my bikes.