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verktyg

I found these pictures of an old Gitane Tour de France on French eBay. It's a good example of a bike that was probably made for the French domestic market.

http://cgi.ebay.fr/VELO-DE-COURSE-GITANE-ANCIEN-huret-campagnolo-simplex_W0QQitemZ120267363084QQihZ002QQcategoryZ115208QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

I figure the bike is a late 1960s model because the Mafac brakes say Dural Forge. Around 1969 Mafac changed the name to Racer brakes. Also it has willow leaf shaped caps on the tops of the seat stays. One interesting point is that most of the Gitane Tour de France and Super Corsa frames from this era have a brazed on rear brake cable stop at the top of the seat stays.

It has a Campy headset rather than a Stronglight P3 and Campy BB cable guide instead of Huret. The Brooks B17 saddle and Simplex seatpost are probably not original but I would venture a guess that everything else is.

Note that the forks and rear triangle are not chrome plated and it has Huret dropouts not Simplex. The frame is probably made of Reynolds 531 throughout. The old Reynolds waterslide decals were pretty fragile so they're probably long gone.

I want to point out that this is a top of the line bike with low end Huret Luxe derailleurs! A lot of bikes made for the European market came with cheap derailleurs. Rolling Eyes

The seller listed this as a 57cm frame but it looks more like a size 60cm. If it were a real 57cm I'd be interested in it. Also, the seller is offering a set of Campy Nuovo Record hubs in place of the sewup wheels with Campy Nuovo Tipo hubs if the buyer wants them.

Chas.

Kinst VonSterga

Thanks for the link Chas! Its been a crash course in TdF this week and I'm really starting to appreciate the frame I found, especially after seeing all of the other TdF variations that are available. Shocked

The lugs look very different (which type?) on this bicycle as the spires/tips look much shorter in length. Other than the stronglight crankset, the rest of the drive-train / pedals look so primitive & budget oriented Wink

Cheers

verktyg

Kinst,

The lugs on this bike are Prugnat Type S style also referred to as "Italian" style lugs. Gitane used these lugs on all of their top end Reynolds frame bikes from the late 1960s until about 1972 or 73 when they switched to Bocama lugs.

The fork crown was probably made by Wagner.

Chas.

sandranian · Site Admin

I love the painted Pivo stem. Also, it is a wonder why this guy didn't clean the bike before posting it. It actually appears to be in great condition, once all of the grease is taken off of it.

I also find it interesting that on most US TdF bikes, the fork decal is cut off at the bottom, making the yellow circle "incomplete". Any ideas why that would be? Also, what are the numbers at the bottom of circle on this decal?

verktyg · Last edited by verktyg on Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:26 am; edited 1 time in total

Stephan,

The stem is a Philippe not a Pivo. Philippe also made this same style with the red paint for Milremo. They were "generally" a little better quality than Pivo stems but still made of cast aluminum.

The only thing that I can think off concerning the fork decals is that maybe the ones that you've seen were damaged. BTW, Back in the day, many of us Gitane owners peeled off the foil decals on the seat tube plus the Gitane top tube and fork decals because they were usually damaged and they looked cheesy. Shocked

Chas.

verktyg

sandranian · Site Admin

verktyg

Gtane

Thanks for posting the information Chas. It's very much appreciated and a lovely, original, looking bike it is too.

Would the bike have had parallel angles?

Tim

verktyg

There was a somewhat standard geometry for road racing frames from the late 60s through the mid 70s. This was designed for riding long distances on roads with rough paved surfaces that were common in Europe during that era.

The average angles for many European road racing bikes was 72° parallel head and seat tube with a 55cm to 57cm top tube, a 45-50cm fork rake and about a 100cm to 103cm wheel base. The idea was to make frames that would absorb a lot of road shock but were stable handling so riders could comfortably move around on the bike during a long race.

These angles were usually adjusted for frames under 54cm and over 60cm. You need to change the geometry on smaller frames for front wheel toe clip clearance and move the rider's weight more forward on larger frames so that the rider isn't sitting over the rear axle.

There were also bikes with steeper angles (73° to 75°) designed for more responsive handling in criteriums. Additionally there were frames with longer wheelbases and more fork rake for racing on the "Pave" coblestone roads in Northern France, Belgium and Holland, that area known as "The Hell of the North:. Twisted Evil

As roads in Europe improved racing bike geometry also changed to more upright angles and shorter wheelbases. Italian bikes of the mid 70s started coming out with parallel 74°-75° geometry frames that would have been considered only suitable for track racing a few years before.

Not all French bikes had the relaxed frame geometry. My 54cm 1967 Peugeot PX10 has 74° head and seat tubes (it's a harsh riding bike). I also have several early 70s Motobecane racing bikes with parallel 74° angles. They're a little more comfortable because they're 58cm frames.

The more relaxed angles on Gitane racing frames of that era make for very comfortable riding bikes. That's why they're still in demand. Cool

Chas.

Gtane

Thanks Chas. The 72 parallel rings many positive bells. As you say, the geometry is so important to the rider.

Today, angles don't have the prominence in a bike's description as they once did. I'm a medium!

Here's a wonderful piece of history about the Taylor brothers that was made in the early '80s by a British production company. Great to see it again. The full documentary is about an hour in length. It's a simply delicious clip showing the art of frame building which we know was so common place at that time - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMA8X5pk2kI

Tim

greyhundguy

$138.00 sounds like a good price to get it to the US. I paid $30 to get a Saddle here.

Jay
Virginia

Kinst VonSterga

Reply from the eBay seller / jeanpaul2044
First, thanks for your interest in this vintage Gitane bike.
There is no evidence of frame sticker / label / or remaining(s) on any tube.
The rear stays diameter and shape would argue for Reynolds, anyway. Also a genuine 531 period label can be provided with.
Yours truly,
- jeanpaul2044

verktyg

The interesting thing about this bike is the lack of chrome on the forks and rear triangle. At some point in the mid 60s Gitane used a "Chrome" mylar foil decal that covered the whole head tube between the top and bottom lugs.

This TdF pictured in the 1968 catalog shows the same Huret Luxe derailleurs and leather saddle as on this bike.

http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1968/1968_pg3.jpg

This earlier model TdF has 3 main tubes made of Reynolds 531 with Durifort forks and stays.

http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1960_pg1.jpg

Gitane was one of the few large bike makers that used 16mm seat stays like on this bike. That's why I suspect that the frame is all Reynolds. On the other hand Interclub and Track Standard frames were not made with Reynolds but had 16mm seat stays too???

Chas.

verktyg

I emailed the seller because the frame looked bigger than 57cm. He was very helpful and emailed me back after rechecking the measurements. It's 57cm Center to Center which makes it a 59cm Center to Top which is how Gitane used to measure their frames. This was listed as a 23 1/2" frame in the US catalogs and would have been a 60cm in the European catalogs.

Too bad that it's too big for me. Someone in the group should jump on this bike, it a rare classic. Save this bike from becoming a fixie! Crying or Very sad

Chas.