Originally Posted by Dirtdrop
If you look at page 9 of the 1978 catalog on the gitaneusa.com site, you'll see a couple of touring bikes with racks that have attachments to the fork.
Thanks. The tabs are in the same place as these rack attachments. But that strange keyhole-shaped attachment isn't in any of the catalogues.
While you're there, email your pictures and questions to Stephan Andranian. He's an authority on Gitane bicycles.
Thanks, I'm doing just that! Thought of it the day after I posted this thread.
You have stated that the bike does not have the Super Corsa stickers and that it does. Which is it?
There's nothing on the bike that says "Super Corsa." However, the stickers are the same as the stickers on the 1970 Super Corsa. The seat tube sticker says "Service Course." More telling is the decal on the fork. It looks like the 1970 Super Corsa fork decal (there's only one fork decal left). I'd say that makes the bike a Super Corsa, but I suppose another bike-- say a Gran Tourisme-- could have been re-decaled as a Super Corsa during a re-paint. BTW, I'm assuming this bike was repainted, because there's a metallic blue-green paint underneath the white paint. Just an assumption, but it seems like the best explanation, unless the factory was in the habit of repainting frames.
The frame has to be 531, because it is verylight, and it definitely has the chromed fork ends and chromed stays, plus the Campy dropouts. That could make it a Gran Tourisme, but the Gran Tourisme had painted fork ends, so I'm assuming Super Corsa, unless somebody did a good conversion. One thing-- the 1970 catalogue shows what appears to be a chromed head tube. This bike has a painted head tube, which
could make it a Gran Tourisme.
If I ended up with a Gran Tourisme when I thought I was buying a Super Corsa, I wouldn't cry.
The small holes in the tube can easily be filled with brass and smoothed over. You can even do it yourself with a propane torch and lead solder.
Thanks! That just may convince me to take the plunge.