gitaneusa.com :: View topic - NOS Gitane Interclub on Ebay

sandranian · Site Admin

Hi all...check out item No. 160195651252 on US Ebay. The seller claims that it is a New Old Stock (NOS) Gitane Interclub. It even comes with the original owner's manual. Pretty nice bike, all in all. However, it does contain one major oddity: A Reynolds 531 (3 Tubes) sticker (in French) on the seat tube.

I am unaware of any Interclub using Reynolds 531, but maybe someone can set the record straight here. Gitane also placed the tubing stickers on the down tube, not the seat tube. Also, the parts don't seem to match a frame made with any "stickered tubing": Note the commuter brake handles and the chain guard on the crankset, which is a low-end Nervar crank.

Any thoughts on this bike's identity/pedigree?

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-GITANE-INTERCLUB-10-SPEED-BICYCLE-NOS_W0QQitemZ160195651252QQihZ006QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

verktyg

Stephan,

There was a short period during the mid 1970s when Gitane Pacific was assembling bikes in Hawthorne, California. They used painted frames and components supplied by Gitane France. It was never clear whether the frames came in from France with the decals on them or they were applied in the US.

By 1977 inexpensive European bikes were in short supply in the US because of the unfavorable exchange rates. The US Bike Boom had crashed by 1975 and Japanese bikes were starting to take over the US 10 speed market. The problem with most Japanese bikes from that period was poor frame geometry - they handled like wheelbarrows. Japan didn't have a tradition of sport cycling. Japanese rode 50 lb. 1 or 3 speed bikes with rod brakes. The Japanese bikes coming into the US were made to the specs of the US importers many of whom had no idea how a bike frame should be designed.

The Japanese did have Keiren track racing with paramutuel betting. Keirin racing is more like thoroughbred horse racing.

In 1976 and 77 we bought all of the decent quality leftover French and Italian "10 speeds" we could find.

Gitane Pacific had a bunch of bare frames from 1974-76 that didn't have any decals. We bought most of those. They sold them cheap "as is" so we took what they had. They may have been leftovers or spare warranty replacement frames. Some had damaged paint or other problems.

I seem to remember something about Gitane Pacific didn't have any decals for these frames. Previously Gitane Pacific had supplied us with a large quantity of replacement decals like those on the "Interclub" in question so we were OK. We assembled the bikes with period correct components and sold them.

Most of these frames were Gran Sport models but there were a few Interclub and Tour de France frames. They had the better quality paint jobs and colors of the mid 70s. If I remember correctly the Interclub and TdF frames came with decals on them and there were a few leftover complete TdF bikes.

The bike on eBay looks brand new. Most of the components match the catalog description for a 1977 Interclub. They had a Nervar 3 arm crankset with a chainring guard, Atom pedals, Huret Challenger derailleurs, Pivo bars and stem, Mafac brakes with extension levers and a cheap suede covered saddle.

The wheels should have Normandy high flange hubs with 27" Mavic Module E rims and Michelin Elan 27 x 3/4" tires. This bike has Normandy Atom low flange hubs and steel Ridgida rims (yuk!).

I think that it has a Tour de France frame with 3 main tubes Reynolds 531. The lugs are long point Bocama lugs with cutouts. These didn't come out until later in the 1970s. An Interclub frame would be made of Durifort tubing with shorter lugs and no tubing sticker.

French Reynolds stickers were impossible to get back in the day. I've seen Gitane frames with the stickers on both the seat tube and down tube on during the mid 70s so it's probably a genuine 3 tubes Reynolds 531 frame.

The bike has a Gitane Pacific sticker on the back of the seat tube. My guess is that it's a 1977 TdF frame assembled with Interclub components and somewhere along the line someone switched out the wheels for cheap steel rims.

It looks like a good deal and should go for ~$350-$500.

Chas.

Paul Wiseman

Sandman - compare that frame with the "racing team" you've got. I reckon it's almost exactly the same.

sandranian · Site Admin

Thanks for the explanation. I did compare it visually, and I agree that the frame probably isn't an Interclub...but more likely a Tour de France.

verktyg

verktyg

Stephan,

There's another Gitane frame that just came up on eBay. It's listed as a 1975 Interclub with a Reynolds 531 3 Tubes Reinforce sticker on the seat tube and an Interclub decal on the toptube.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1975-Gitane-Interclub-frame-62cm-24-1-2-Reynolds-531_W0QQitemZ330202393884QQihZ014QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

I don't now what to say about this one. I don't recall ever seeing an Interclub decal before. One thing, I don't think that Bocama lugs came with cutouts until 1977 or later.

Chas.

sandranian · Site Admin

Yeah...what the heck is that sticker??? This is the first time I have ever seen that one. What an odd brand...you just never know what you are going to see. Makes it so difficult to talk about "standards"!

verktyg

My experience and interest with Gitane ended around 1977 and didn't pick up again until last year when I bought my 1984 Gitane SC frame and joined the group. Except for a few of Lemond's Gitanes hanging up in LBSs I hadn't seen a Gitane for over 20 years. There's a large gap in my knowledge about Gitanes but this website has helped fill in some of the blanks

We stopped selling Gitanes about 1977 for a number of reasons.

A. They had a limited offering - 4+ models:

1. Gypsy Sport which from 1976 on, was a clunky 38 Lb. bike made in Taiwan for Gitane Pacific.

2. Gran Sport Luxe, same as the old Gran Sport with steel cranks, rims etc. but a new stem & cheap Suntour derailleurs.

3. Gitane 600, a Gran Sport with Alloy cranks, rims and Shimano 600 derailleurs plus some other "bling".

4. Interclub, probably made with Durifort tubing, Huret honeycomb dropouts, alloy cranks, narrow alloy rims with Michelin Elan tires and Huret Challenger derailleurs (which by the way were some of the best friction shifters I've ever used).

(5.) There were a few (very few) Tour de France bikes available. They were for the most part Interclubs with 3 main tubes Reynolds 531, 1/2 the rear triangle was chrome plated and they had Stronglight 93 cranks. I seem to remember these TdFs listed for ~$400. You could get full Reynolds 531 framed bikes with better components for less than that from other brands.

B. Along with hard to get, Gitanes were overpriced for what they offered compared to say Raleigh, Motobecane, Peugeot and the Japanese brands hitting the market.

In 1976 we bought a few of each model Gitane to check them out. We had a hard time selling them because they were too pricey. We ended up clearing out all of those Gitanes except for 1 orange Gypsy Sport which we kept as a demo to show customers how badly cheap bikes rode and handled.

I don't remember seeing any new Gitanes after 1977 and as I mentioned earlier we bought up a bunch of bare frames cheap from Gitane Pacific. It was never clear whether Gitane Pacific was a subsidiary of Gitane France or just an importer. They just sort of faded away.

We did come by one of Lucian Van Impe's TdF Gitanes which we displayed in our collections of classic bikes. I'm not sure where we got it. I was disappointed because there was nothing special about the bike.

As far as having a confusing model line up (the 1973 and 74 Gitane catalogs for example), Raleigh was probably the leader in that category. They made the same models under different names for the UK, European, Canadian, US and Asian markets.

Now you know all that I know about Gitanes... Laughing

Chas.

verktyg

The high bid for this bike was $405. The high bidder (there are no winners in auctions Laughing

) has no record of buying any cycling related items but has bid on a lot of them.

I know several eBay sellers who will have a "friend" bid up a valuable items if they are not getting what they want for it. They pay the eBay fees and then sell the items somewhere else.

I've reported a number of sellers to eBay for what I suspected was shill selling. Apparently one of them was 86d' from eBay (under that ID).

Chas.