IthaDan 

Figured it was about time I really tried my hand at a true restoration. I came across this guy yesterday- a friend was moving and wanted this to go to a good home, so he gave it to me and the upstart bike clinic I've been a loose part of. I only have a couiple of pictures at the moment, but I'll get this to work tomorrow and get into it a little deeper.

Here she is, my "ordinary" gitane:





The bike has a drivetrain scheme with a chain (currently removed, along with one of the four plates that make up the chainring) under the pie plate pushing a freewheel.


Enhance:


Not so sweet welds- I don't know the exact timeframe of this bike, but I have a feeling it's from the early 70s- making these some of the earliest [tig?] welds I've come across on a bicycle.


Sw8 bars.


I'll be going over this and getting it working, the guy I got it from told me he rode it once and had issues with the chain skipping. I have a feeling I'll either have to turn a bushing for the pulleys or make new ones out of delrin or something. I also snapped a spoke on the rear (16 hole, 350A) wheel, so I'll need to tend to that as well. Should be interesting. I'd love to retrofit an IGH to fit around the crank spindle so I can really ride the snot out of this thing, but that might be a little too ambitious. Are there thru-axle IGH hubs?

All told, I'm a little confused by this thing. When discussing it with the PO, he kept mentioning that he thought it might be a prototype of some sort; there is conflicting information saying it was only provided to gitane dealers at the time. Either way, the welds lead me to believe this model hit full production and was at best in a 'beta test' phase before they slipped into obscurity.

Please weigh in if you know anything about this contraption.

Lascauxcaveman 

Here's what I know: that thing is awesome.

I cannot imagine anyone working at a bicycle company any time in the last 100 years believing there could be a sizable retail market for such a sick little whip. Your guess of an early 70's vintage is probably correct; hallucinogenic drugs were peaking in popularity about then.

John E

Yes, the decals look like early 1970s vintage to me. Weird!

BruceMetras

That's pretty fine... here's another I Found.. but yours with the transmission is very cool..

BruceMetras

Here's your Gitane! .. Save the ebay page before it evaporates .... so cool!

BruceMetras

BruceMetras

Fun Reading French forum translation ... okay, I'll stop now and await the full ride reports!

bikemig 

Someone paid $660 for this, how cool is that? I need to stop investing in the stock market and start putting money into funky old bikes.

So this is a mini-bi bike from the 70s; I'm wondering if it was just a few decades ahead of its time, ?

shoota 

Bidding has ended on this item.




[TABLE="width: 100%"]
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[TD="colspan: 3"] [h=1]Very RARE VINTAGE "Mini-Bi" GITANE Bike from France 1970's[/h] See original listing
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[TD] Item condition:
--


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[TD] Ended:
Mar 12, 2013 13:30:18 PDT


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[TD] Winning bid:
US $660.00
[ 16 bids ]




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[TD] Shipping:
$200.00 Standard Shipping



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[TD] Item location:
Montsoreau, France


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sailorbenjamin

We were just discussing a 2 speed unicycle hub over in PastorBob's unicycle thread. That's probably what to look for.

IthaDan 

THanks for this! I had seen the first couple links, but I hadn't come across this one.

Not sure a unicycle hub could work as planned- this is a freewheelin' boneshaker.

Gary Fountain

How un-ordinary is your ordinary!

mountaindave 

Have you tried asking over in the Gitane USA Forum? Some hardcore, knowledgeable people over there.

lofter

Interesting , never seen one with the older wheel and the seat cross support. Usually u see the older wheel and no cross support . Mine has thesmaller front wheel mechanism and cross support and the original saddle. Mine is orange. Some of the come with a black #plate . Mine didnt. Ive several of these .u unbolt the fork to change the front tire. Bought mine from germany seen several in the states.all different colors. Havent ever seen them in catalogs 71-72 is the years i seen a ad. If you dig on google there was a ad from a denver store that had one . Mini penny farthing , carefultightening the handle bar and seat the bolt has a tab to keep it from spinning. Mine is snapped need new bolt.u would be suprised what gitane made back in the seventies

IthaDan 

You have a triplet as well, no? I think I came across a picture of your gitanes in a orange bike thread from the fall.

Thanks for the info. I have the same two-part fork scheme, but I don't have the rake fork your bike does.

lofter

Yes i have a triple and yes that was my two bikes in the orange color bike thread. These make great parade bikes . I rode mine in the state fair parade and u shouldve seen all the smiles from the kids and adults too. Plus u can free wheel and that makes a big differance from the big ones which cant. It takes some getting used to riding it. Have fun on it . Prices really do vary on these things , i watched the one go for 699 also and mine is in almost mint that one wasnt. Almost had me one for 50 bucks off craigs before i bought mine . I paid bout 230 euro for mine plus 200 shipping . The guy who shipped it put it in his shop window for two weeks before he shipped it . I didnt care . Its all about the smiles not the miles with these bikes.

dddd

Seems that with a bit more engineering, that hub could have been a two-speed(?).

And, with a LOT more engineering, perhaps a 3-speed?

Imagine if bicycle design had evolved around this design, with racers on advanced carbon versions with sealed, 3-speed oil-bathed versions of this hub assembled from precision-made exotic materials.

Coulda happened.

Heh, this from the guy who races a Pedersen.

And btw, those don't look like any tig welds I've seen.

IthaDan 

They look like tig welds I've been responsible for.

dddd

IthacaDan, an honest man.

qcpmsame 

Calling Vertyg, attention Chas..................

There was a thread here a few years back about these Gitanes and I saw the eBay listing last week. The IGH set up is possible, Dan Burkhart has spoken about the unicycles with that type of arrangement. The big time long distance Unicycles have gear set ups on them, those are really strange looking rides, too. Nice, neat score.

Bill

IthaDan 

^^^ true, but unlike a unicycle, this bike has a freewheel. I'm still somewhat sure I can rig something like a regular old IGH, but I need to be able to fit the crank spindle through. Still curious about the thru-axle mountain bike IGH.


Got it rolling and riding today. Unfortunately didn't take any pictures. It's a hoot to ride- it's very bizarre to steer with your legs following, especially at low speeds.

Had to turn new brass bushings. Thankfully the dimensions were straightforward- inside the pulleys is 8mm and the diameter of the spindle is 5mm. I didn't have any of the oil impregnated bronze on hand, so a 3/8" rod of brass worked in a pinch. The chain still skips under a semi-serious load, so I'll probably have to turn new pulleys as well. I'm not sure what the material will be for the pulleys themselves- maybe nylon.

I also rebuilt the (350A/14") rear wheel, I jettisoned all the old spokes and used new spokes from a 16" kids bike. Thankfully the 16" was laced radially, and the 14" wheel was laced 1x, so I didn't have to trim any spokes or find an occasion to use the coop's worthless hozan spoke threader that's been flogged repeatedly over the years by novices.

Also gave it a basic shine and degreasing in the parts washer. There's a lot of potential here. Next up are the braking systems and the wiring.

Cougrrcj

For bronze bushings, try the various size automotive door hinge bushings in the carded parts 'Help' section of your local auto parts store. You just might get lucky!

IthaDan 

Oh, I have a machine shop. I ordered some 3/8" oil impregnated rod that I'll turn down to the proper diameter tomorrow. I've learned that a #9 drill bit is a VERY nice fit for a 5mm stud.

Some pictures and an update:

Looking better:



Newly cleaned and rebuilt rear wheel (took the 16" tube out and replaced it with a 14" tube I found at walmart of all places):



Still some work ahead, I've used nothing but a parts washer to get the grease off and aluminum foil and water. Pretty impressed with the results:



MUCH better (the inside shined up really well; all that grease kept it from corroding) See also: new brass bushings and cleaned chain. Thus far, only boeshield for lubrication (all I had at work), that'll change:



A video of the gears in action. Pretty obvious when you see it, but I know I wouldn't have thought of it.

Horrible action shots of a coworker on the thing, proving it has been ridden:

mountaindave 

Now we need a video of you riding it. Thanks for the photo update!

IthaDan 

That's easy. The weather finally broke- should be am opportunity for that later today.