So,
Do folks know, did most of the older Gitanes have French bottom bracket threading, or did some of the models have standard threading?
I know having the year, model and maker of the dropouts would help greatly here... I will check tomorrow and post that info. I do know its Reynolds 531 or 501. Decals are rubbed off pretty bad. Its says handmade in france, has big foil decals and if I remember right, simplex drops. No derailleur hangar and a big u shaped bracket for the rear brake cable brazed onto the top of the seat stays.
I'm building up a Gitane frame which was donated to a shop I worked at.
The reason I ask is that a standard thread BB fits, but feels loose once it's threaded in. Could someone have retapped a french BB to standard, or would that just have become a total mess? I know sometimes folks re-tap standard BB threads to italian when they are super messed up.
But since standard and french tpi and diamater are so similar... just R and L hand threads, It seems if someone tried this it would just be a total disaster.
Ideas? If the BB threads are messed up, what to people think about the replacement Bottom Brackets that thread onto themselves? Are those a bad Idea?