gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Gitane team pro 90's?    View previous topic :: View next topic  Gitane team pro 90's?   Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 1:43 am gitane el Joined: 20 Feb 2014 Posts: 3 I have this team pro frame which I was planning to respray. Can anyone tell me how rare it is and what its worth as id rather sell it and get a different frame then ruin a classic. I thinks its about 90s and has columbus el tubing. Any info would be great. Thanks Rare 1990s Gitane Team Frame   Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:17 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Welcome, How rare? Very rare in Team Blue color. I have one of these ESOL (Columbus EL Oversize) frames. This is only the second one I've seen in blue. The black and white "pinto pony" bikes were probably a little more common. They were probably offered around 1991-1992. Columbus ELOS frames were not that common and mostly seen on Italian brands. I got my frame from a seller in the UK. He said that a friend of his raced with a Gitane sponsored team in France. My 55cm bike weighs under 20 Lbs. even less with sewups. It's a great riding and handling bike. If this frame is too small for you, repainting it isn't going to solve the problem... This is a very rare classic frame. A respray will destroy any value it has. I'd suggest finding a bike or frame that fits and selling this frame to someone who will appreciate it... Not someone who butcher it and turn it into a fixie. BTW, the most important features on a bike are on the right side not the left. Good luck.... _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:02 am gitane el Joined: 20 Feb 2014 Posts: 3 Thanks for your info! How much are they worth? What did you pay for yours? If its not worth much I'll respray. The paint isnt great and starting to rust on the chrome. Cheers   Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 1:32 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area gitane el wrote: How much are they worth? What did you pay for yours? If its not worth much I'll respray. The paint isnt great and starting to rust on the chrome. What size is your frame - measured from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube? The frame looks like about a 50cm size. Do you normally ride a small frame like that? If it's to small then find a frame that's the correct size for you. If in doubt, put some wheels in the frame and check the standover height above the top tube. Ideally you should have about 1" (25mm) of clearance between the top tube and your personal area (safety factor in case you have to dismount in a hurry during a panic stop). If it's more than 2" (50mm) then the frame is generally too small. Most light rust can be easily removed from chrome with some steel wool. Once a frame is built up with shiny components the flaws become less noticeable. I paid over $300 with shipping for mine about 5 1/2 years ago. There are currently some similar quality Gitane frames listed on eBay for $400-$1200. Your frame is worth at least $300. Rarity: Consider this, during the early 1980s when Gitane was really hot in the racing scene, they never made more than about 200 Team frames and Team Replicas! The same holds true for most other bike makers. Premium bikes like that amounted to far less the 1% of all the bike produced world wide! Gitane probably made less than 10-20 of those frames in that size. It may even have been specially made to order. Once repainted, the frame will loose most of it's value, especially as a collector's item. It's your frame, if you want to destroy a 20+ rarity then have at it, but... BTW, your frame is a Team or Team Replica model. A little patina (paint chips, scratches, minor rust on the chrome) are perfectly acceptable on classic collector's items like your frame. _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 5:35 pm lofter Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 1162 really , don't paint that frame . a little steel wool cleans rust up , or let someone else do it as their restore . its part of the fun . if it wasn't so small I would buy it . its in gitane blue , my favorite gitane color. I tried to snag a slx frame week or two ago . was right on the border line of too small but I wanted it , it had a defect in the paint but nothing I wouldn't have touched up . its part of the fun.   Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 5:37 pm lofter Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 1162 and that frame ended up going for 355.00   Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:43 am gitane el Joined: 20 Feb 2014 Posts: 3 It is too small really but its not too bad as its quite long I'm 5'7" its about 50cm. Its very light at only 1760grams so really want to keep it! Might build it back up and see how it looks! I guess even repainting it the same colour and getting the same decals would still ruin it?   Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 6:46 am lofter Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 1162 just from that one pic you posted it doesn't look bad so it has some chips n dings on the paint . a lot of my top end bikes r chipped and dinged on the paint , they r used bikes . I don't think anyone here is going to tell you u cant re paint your bike but its what ever you want to do with your bike . ive never seen the those decals online so you would have to have cyclomondo or someone make them and that's a 50 spot. 2 to 400 on the cheap side to paint , don't know how much about re chroming the stay.all this for a bike you don't know if your going to keep . I collect gitanes and if I bought it as is now , barring any structural damage I would just build it up , clean up the rust on the chrome best as you can with steel wool, and maybe try to match the paint and do some touch up. I used to think boy look at these scratches, but its too easy to get them on your bike . there character builders lol. ive only re painted one of my bikes so far and that's because the down tube had to be replaced. just trying to give you advice , save you money . but its your decision to make . Patina   Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:43 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Patina, all the little chips and scratches that come with 20+ years of use. Once you get all of the components on a frame, it'll look a lot better. Back in the 70s we got one of the Gitane's that Van Impe rode when he won the 1976 Tour de France. We got it for display at our shop. I was sorely disappointed when it arrived, The bike was "rode hard and put away wet". Scratches, dings plus all of the components were worn out. Here's a picture of the actual Gitane that Greg Lemond rode when he won the World Championship in 1983. Notice it shows a season of racing. http://gitaneusa.com/lemond.asp When I got my 1990 Team frame, it had a lot of paint chips and scratches. Some steel wool on the chrome, model shop touch up paint and car polish made it look like new... from a distance. It just needs to pass "the 5 foot test". At 5 feet (1.5 meters) only those with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) will notice the flaws! How my frame looked when I received it: After pictures: Note, as lofter mentioned, Gitanes with those decals were pretty rare so you're going to need to have them special made and that can set you back $50 to $100+ USD. One other thing, beat up components on a bright shinny frame stick out like a sore thumb. Be prepared to shell out some money for shinny looking components if you're going to destroy the value of the bike by repainting it! Some advice from most bike painters, put the bike together and ride it for a while before you decide to repaint it. If you don't like it then the frame is still worth something. Unless you shell out big bucks for a total restoration, a repainted frame may be hard to sell. You might be lucky to get $50 - $100 for it! If you want a bright shinny bike then go buy one of those $5,000+ Chinese made plastic bikes that cost less than $500 dollars to produce, ship and sell! _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica Gitane team pro 90's?     gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours   Page 1 of 1   All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First  Select a forum Gitane USA----------------Vintage GitaneGitane RacingModern GitanePro Racing - Classics/Giro/Tour....Owner Gallery   Powered by phpBB © 2001-2004 phpBB Group Designed for Trushkin.net | Themes Database.