Originally Posted by 8bitevolution

I picked this up last Sunday. Just finally getting around to sharing some pictures.







I'm guessing it's early 70s but I haven't had much of a chance to read up on dating Gitanes. I haven't even flipped it over to see if there's any kind of stampings on the bottom bracket shell.

I'm thinking of running it as single-speed for a bit while I consider my options. I'd like to restore it. I know some parts will have to be replaced but I think a lot of the stuff there is still intact and could probably be re-used.

Any suggestions for places that are good at re-spraying/chroming these older french frames? How about decals?

Also, this is a dumb question, but I want to clean the bike up some. What's the best way to do that? Just soap and water or is there a better way?