I know nobody has responded in 2 years now, but this bike astounds me, it's whole build is just really strange. In 1988 and a bit later on I remember a lot of bikes (at least in the UK) that were mid range offerings built were using 531 Competition tubing. These bikes were equipped with groupsets like 105 and occasionally Suntour Cyclone or late GPX; 653 frames were often adorned with Shimano 600 or occasionally Suntour Sprint. The fact that this mid range bike used 501 tubing strikes me as really weird, it's a seamed tubeset that has less curb appeal than even the lower end sets of 531. The equipment choice is equally confusing, Sachs-Huret New Success was their top end offering, and while I found the quality to be a little sub par compared to the competition, I'd sit it slightly below Shimano 600, it's still ostensibly high end stuff. Did Gitane cheap out on the frame and use the remainder to buy nicer parts? Surely 531 frame tubes and Sachs Rival would present a far more enticing choice to your average consumer?