cinco

Edit: I moroned the title - it's a 1971.

Still need to do a little cleanup on the tires and might play with re-gluing the rear, but it moves down the road and that's good enough for now. Maybe someday I'll learn to take a picture, but for now there are more detail shots here: 1971 Gitane Tour de France - Album on Imgur

I'm surprised at how light it feels. Most of my pre-'80s stuff feels a bit sluggish and that's roughly what I was expecting but this one feels pretty zippy.

sloar 

Beautiful, nice job!

rootboy 

Very nice indeed. How did you date it?

Kactus

Very nice.

3speedslow

Shiny! Certainly an effort to be proud of.

cinco

Yep, I boneheaded that one. It's a 1971 not a '70 and I managed to miss-type the title while thinking of something else - that's why you don't try to do anything useful with a migraine (got the hub-clocking wrong on a wheel I built earlier, too). As to how I dated it, the "4 71" date code on the rear derailleur is all I really have to go by, but since the usual suspects haven't been replaced (seat/seatpost, wheels, pedals) I presume that nothing else has either. Before I did my thing it had the look of a bike that saw a year or two of use and then a few decades of being moved around in a garage. It just has the feel of a bike that hasn't been messed with so I can't imagine the derailleur date would be more than a few months off the factory date considering Gitane's volume. Could be wrong, but I can't find enough info to pin it down better.

artclone

Beautiful. Looks like a lot of elbow grease went it to it. Nice job!

ascherer 

The level of finish is outstanding, great work. I rode one of those hard plastic saddles for a few years in my teens, I winced when I saw it!

bear_a_bug 

Agreed! Really nice polishing work.

cinco

Yeah, it's not ideal(e ha!) but it's not as bad as those rock-hard plastic things you used to see on BMX stuff back in the day. This one is a more flexible plastic and actually has a tensioner in the nose like a Brooks. It's a bit less forgiving than my leather saddles but the designer wasn't completely out of his mind. I'll leave it on there for the time being and bag/tag it if I ever decide to do something different.

John E

Essentially a Gitane PX-10 equivalent, and in showroom / Concours d'Elegance condition. Stunning!

What is your gearing? 52-42 / 14-15-19-21-24? (The bike presumably came with a very French 52-45 duo up front, for which that rear progression would make sense. Peugeot chose a knee-busting 52-45 / 14-15-17-19-21, which most customers immediately replaced with something lower on the bottom end. I used to run 54-47 / 14-15-19-21-28 on the Nishiki, which worked well at the top end, but had too big a gap to the granny.)

ascherer 

Exactly the one. Mine came on a gaspipe Chiorda I rode for a while in 72-73. I didn't mind it at all, but at that age I didn't know the difference, and I'm too old to know about BMX "saddles"! But I was admiring the TDF at the time...

Kdogbikes

Really nice bike. I like the foil decals on these. The mafac competition brakes looks awesome. Enjoy the ride!

The Golden Boy 

I took her out for some grease in her hubs, took her around the block for a spin... and I can't talk about what happened with the air and the tires on a family friendly forum.

Andrew R Stewart 

Really ugly yet beautiful at the same time. It was really interesting how such lowly regarded parts worked so well as a package.


My 1974 Super Corsa is one of the bikes I regret selling. But what did I know at 19 years old. Andy.

cinco

High praise coming from the likes of you . I don't have a '71 catalog so I can't say for certain what the front gearing should be, but the '70 catalog lists 52-42. This one has minimally-worn 53-42 rings and their originality is anyone's guess, especially considering the wonderfully French description of derailleurs on the TdF in the '71 price sheet I found out there: "Simplex Criterium or best available". The rear is (was) an Atom of the exact same cog counts as you listed for Peugeot (14-21) and, somewhat disturbingly, most of the (also minimal) wear is on the 14 and 15. Not being a kickboxer myself, I swapped it for something a little more conducive to riding in hilly areas and filed it away.


It is. Every time I ride a Simplex rod-type front derailleur I'm not just surprised that it works, I'm surprised at how well they work in general. From a geometric standpoint they don't seem like they'd be worth a darn, but I've never had anything other than smooth shifting from them... except of course the occasional crack. I'm going to be using a rod-type Valentino front as part of the Gran Sport shifting group on a Raleigh I'm doing. The crank and rings will be the same between both bikes so I'll be comparing the shift quality when it's done. The Simplex rears are less surprisingly good, but only because my expectations for them are higher. Their modern reputation may be deserved, but only for long-term reliability. They really were good parts which just lacked durability.

Sir_Name 

That looks great, bet it's a fun ride. I really like the foil decals.

gugie 

This bike is a great argument for the "the paint's only original once" club. Just a touch of patina on the frame, as if it gets ridden, but wiped down and cleaned after every ride.

randyjawa 

Well done and a lovely old French steed rides again. As for the saddle, believe it or not, and even I did not believe it until I tried the saddle, finding it to be surprisingly comfortable.

Again, well done! My guess, and it is only a guess, is that you have a Gitane Professional, their top dog in the day.

Grand Bois

The only thing I see that doesn't look right is the stem bolt. Those had a two piece socket head bolt. Maybe yours is an earlier version. Otherwise, it appears to be 100% correct. It even has the correct chrome clamp on the FD.

Grand Bois

He correctly identified it as a Tour de France and it was not their "top dog". That would be the Super Corsa.

bikemig 

This reminds me why I'd like to have a French bike one day; beautiful bike and nice job.

verktyg 

Nice job! Your bike is a 1972-1973 model Tour de France. Here's why - read my posts (verktyg) in this link with pictures:

gitaneusa.com :: View topic - How to identify my bike - read first


Summation the posts in the link:

List of original components on 1969- early 74 Gitane Foil Decal Tour de France US model 585 bikes:

Stronglight 93 cranks 52/42T - Sugino Mighty Competition Cranks 52/42T on some 1973-74 bikes

Lyotard 460d alloy pedals

Stronglight P3 Headset

Simplex Criterium dérailleurs with chrome plated or polished aluminum down tube shift levers

Mafac Dural Forge, Racer or Competition brakes

Pivo alloy bar and stem - Pivo stem with recessed Allen head expander bolt on some 1973-74 stems

Chrome plated straight steel seatpost

Freccia D'Oro plastic saddle (meaning Golden Arrow)

Normandy high flange Luxe Competition QR hubs - Campagnolo Nuovo Tipo high flange QR hubs after 1971

36H tubular rims - usually Mavic brand - quality level varied.

Cheap sewup tires with tube of Tubasti rim cement or Jantex rim tape

14-24 or 14-26 Atom or Normandy 5 speed freewheel

Toeclips and toe straps usually Cristophe S. M or L appropriate to frame size and white toes traps

down tubes mounted pump on some bikes - quality varied


Frames:

Reynolds 531 tubing with the 3 main tubes butted (head tubes and steerers where cheap non Reynolds material)

Prugnat Type S long point lugs - Bocama Professional medium point lugs after 1972

Nervex Professional fork crowns - Nervex DuBois fork crowns after 1972 with occasional flat top Wagner crowns before 1972

Simplex dropouts in at least 4 variations including 1 style without a derailleur hanger - rarely Campagnolo 1010 dropouts

1/2 chrome plated rear stays, fork blades and fork crown - rare European versions with no chrome or only the forks chromed

Willow leaf shaped brazed on seat stay caps - swagged seat stay tops after 1971

Bridge for brake cable stop brazed on near top of seat stays - before 1972


During this era Gitane measured frame sizes from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube which was approximately where the seat tube and top tube intersected.

TdFs were available in the following frame sizes C to T:

50cm, 54cm, 57cm, 60cm, 62cm and 64cm nominal

This worked out to approximately 19 1/2", 21 1/2", 22 1/2", 23 1/2", 24 1/2" & 25 1/2" (very nominal)

There were occasional odd ball size frames, for example I have an early 1974 Foil Decals bike with about a 61cm frame - 24"!


Gitane adopted the classic Mylar Foil Decals about 1968. According to this 1968 price list from Mel Pinto Imports, the US Gitane importer/distributor in those days, Foil Decal TdFs may not have been available in the US until February, 1969.


A few early Foil Decal TdFs had Mylar silver foil inlays in the head tube area behind the Gitane head tube badge decal.

Note, only the 3 main tubes were butted Reynolds 531 tubing on the European models TdFs. The forks and stays were less expensive tubing. Only the forks were chrome plated on those bikes. The rear triangle was painted. They came Simplex dropouts with Simplex Criterium derailleurs or Huret Alvit or Svelto derailleurs with Huret dropouts.


The above items are guesstimates based on my experiences and research. Catalog specifications were subject to change on a whim or due to availability and shortage issues during the US Bike Boom era.

The 1970 Gitane US catalog was used until early 1974.

https://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1970_cover.jpg

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Did you change the stem? That style of Pivo stem came with a recessed expander bolt was only made for 1 or 2 years. They were much better quality the rough cast Pivo stems used during the early bike boom.

White paint is very easy to touch up. I use automotive touch-up paint tubes. See pictures below.

Pictures of my restored 1969 TdF and my almost all original 1971 TdF.


verktyg

Chas.

Grand Bois

Do I see stainless spokes?

devinfan

Awesome job on the clean and polish, it looks amazing and I love that it's all original. Does that saddle say "Super Coureur" on it? If so if you ride it for a while it will become the most comfortable saddle ever.