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chelsea2323

Hello ,bought this bike in somerset england, and not sure what it is , or what its suposed to have on it , and what year and model
the number on the bottom bracket is 098980, its got a nervar crank on it the forks have vitus B1 in chrome with sloping tops ,
brake cable goes into top tube , brakes are weinman 605,
gears are huret front, shimano rear ,nitor unicor saddle, 22 1/2 inc frame
jpr on seatpin, hubs are mailard /F pelissier /R and wienman rims ,
Im hoping some of you guys will be able to tell me the model and what it should have on it , been painted yellow not very well, badged ,gitane milano, doesent seem right , so is it worth restoring ?
any help would be welcome , regards, Gary, windsor england,

verktyg

Gary,

Welcome to the Gitane Forum.

It would help identifying your bike if you could post some closeup pictures of the lugs, seat stay cluster, fork crown and dropouts.

If it's a Gitane, it's probably a late 70s early 80s model.

Chas.

sandranian · Site Admin

My "knee jerk" first impression is that it is a 1984 Gitane model "Tour de France". Whoever owned it painted the frame, but left the chromed forks. I would imagine that they might have left the Chrome on the rear triangle if it was a Super Corsa....

The original decals on the frame were thus destroyed, and for whatever reason, they added "Milano" to the name. Maybe they thought it was an Italian bike...or that Italians make nicer bikes (Ugh!)? Who knows?

But that is my initial diagnosis...as the chromed forks, internally routed rear brake cable, and one set of bottle bosses would indicate Tour....

You can see a picture of it on the catalogue page of the GitaneUSA website, along with the original components (those are definitely someone else's oleo). There are some folks on the forum who have '84 Tour de France's as well, so you can take a look at those. Here is a link to Chas.':
http://www.gitaneusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545

Worth restoring? Of course! Actually, would be quite simple.

verktyg

Stephan,

I thought that it might be a 84 SC or TdF too but both of those models had fast back or "shot in" seat stays. That's why I requested an closeup picture of the seat stay cluster.

I was thinking that a 1979-1982 bike might have the chrome forks and non fast back seat stays. If we only had some more catalogs....

Chas.

sandranian · Site Admin

I see what you are looking at. Yeah, maybe some close-ups would be better. Like I said: Knee jerk reaction!

PS: More catalogues would be nice. Working on that...just have to pick them up as they come along!

verktyg

A 1980 Moto catalog just sold for $42+ on eBay. I threw $15 at it because I have several 1980 Motos. It should have done the trick. I guess someone wanted it more than me. Laughing

http://tinyurl.com/aa4z2g

Chas.

chelsea2323

Hello , thank you ,some more photos , yes it looks very simular I presume the equipment would be whats on the tour de france discribed in that link , will have to check for original colour and stickers , nice bike, would like to make it more original , or pretend its a italian distant cousin? rl=http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVhf200]

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sandranian · Site Admin

Probably an earlier model Tour de France. I would say perhaps 1982, or so, with 1983/84 decals. Gitane did a whole lot of screwy stuff with their bikes, and perhaps they had the older frame and just slapped on the newer decals (?).

But I think you could accurately call it a Tour de France, paint it red, and put the 1984 decals on it.