This is true and might even disprove my title claim. I have a '77 Gitane that I resurrected as a fixie. It's got new wheels (Mavic CXP22/Formula). The stem and seatpost are also new, but since odd sizes were required they're cheap Kalloy pieces. I originally built it with a new Origin-8 crank, but I've since upgraded to an old (though still not as old as the bike) Shimano 600 crank. On the other hand, I have left what remains of the original paint and supplemented it with mismatched touch-up as necessary. I guess this bike is fairly recognizeable as a beater, and there's really not much I could upgrade. Switching from 27" to 700c wheels has even forced me to keep the original center-pull Dia Compe brakes.



BTW, I guess I should apologize at this point for having essentially duplicated the 20-year old clunker thread. All that's missing is Sixty-Fiver's seemingly endless stream of beautiful old bikes.