I just realized I hadn't contributed to this thread! Here is Maitres Jacques, my c.1971 TdF. I bought it in 2013 for $50 as a frameset with a Stronglight BB and most of a P-3 headset with a Zeus locknut, rescuing it from a basement in the PNW where it had been hanging for a decade or more. Removing the tattered decals did not go as well as I had hoped, and in the end I wound up using a LOT of Testor's model paint to touch it up. I wound up with a mottled wabi-sabi look that goes well with the very tired chrome - and it has grown on me. I actually kinda LIKE this look. Anyway, I acquired this frame with the full intention of building it up as a beater fixed-gear I could take on family vacations at the beach and just knock around on. It shows its wear and its age - but this has become the bike that gets the bulk of my mileage, and has stayed there for several years now. There is just something about how it feels on the road, some combination of metric gauge 531 in a 60 cm with Gitane's geometry, some something that transforms what could be considered a Frankenbike into an exceptionally smooth yet nimble and responsive bike.

Stronglight 93 crankset w/45T ring, Phil BB with French rings, Kogswell sealed fixed/fixed hubs on MA-3 rims, MKS Sylvan Track pedals, Christophe clips, ALE straps, Nitto Tech Deluxe stem & mod. 185 bars, SR Laprade seat post, c. 2000 B17, Simplex top tube clamps, Weinmann Carrera side pulls, Dia Compe aero levers with electrical tape hood repair - and a ton of attitude.