gitaneusa.com :: View topic - 72 Hosteller with factory braze on's for cantilever brake?!?

Cary1

I have a 72 Hosteller. I recently made a shocking discovery! The bike is outfitted with braze ons for cantilever brakes! Looks like that was a factory thing. I have looked at the catalogs for the bike in those years, and nothing stated for most of the models in those year ranges to have cantilver brakes. Has anyone heard of 70's Gitane touring models with factory cantilever brakes??? You can see the Braze on's on the fork. Has Universal Mod 61 brakes on it now. Thats the way it was when I got it.
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verktyg

Greetings,

For some reason the picture of your Gitane Hosteller doesn't show in your message. Here the picture:

I've only seen maybe 3 Gitane Hostellers in the flesh (or rather steel). We had one for sale at our shop in the early 70s plus several came in for service.

They were not very common in the US nor was the Campy equipped Reynolds 531 frame Gran Tourisme model. These "touring" models were only available in the US for a few years, from the late 1960s until about 1973.

Only one of the Hostellers that I recall had cantilever brakes. The others had standard Mafac Racers or Weinmann center pull brakes.

During the Bike Boom of the early 1970s component supplies were always subject availability and substitutions were frequent:

"Specifications subject to change without notice."

1968 Gitane Catalog showing Hosteller with Mafac Racer brakes

1970 Gitane Catalog showing Hosteller with Mafac Racer brakes

One or two of the Hostellers that I remember had triple cottered steel cranks but at least one had only a double steel crank. The crank arms used the same bolt pattern as T.A. Cyclotouriste alloy cranks.

Hostellers shared the same frame and most of the same components as the Gitane Gran Sport except Hostellers had braze-ons for a front rack on the forks plus a generator mounting tab on the left seat stay.

They came with fenders, wired in lights, alloy randonneur handle bars plus front and rear racks.

There were several reasons why the Gitane touring models were not common in the US.

Mel Pinto Imports was the US importer/distributor for Gitane between the mid 60s and 1974 when Gitane Pacific took over the operation. Gitane Pacific reduced the number of models offered from 10-15 to 5 or 6 with no touring models.

Bicycle touring, hostellering, randonneuring was much more popular in Europe than the US. Bike touring didn't really take off until Bikecentennial '76 (1976). The Gitane Touring models would have probably sold well if they were available then.

Gitane offered a number of other touring model bikes for the various European markets.

Lastly, during the US Bike Boom, "10 Speed Racing Bike" was the marketing terminology: drop bars, no fenders, no racks, no lights. The Gitane touring models didn't fit that mold.

Cary1

Thanks Chaos. I wish the frame would talk, and give some history of where this bike has been. But this is my first steel frame bike, and I love it. It has sparked a love for these classics. So now I have this Hosteller, I picked up a 73 Raleigh Record late in the summer, and turned it into a "tourist model", and I just picked up a 71-72 TDF. I come from a automotive backround, but I have always had a passion for bikes! Laughing