Originally Posted by old and new

Gitanes are a little tricky to get parts for. No trickier than other french bikes. I'll say that your bike is better suited to keeping as is and/or selling as is. you can get a bike MUCH, MUCH better for "fixing". Parts: crank thread, the parts it has are do-able, not ideal. From what I can see in the photo, it's a nicer model Gitane. Folkes pay well for those. If it's a "Tour De France", in good shape,it can fetch $200 or more. In the early '70s, a very cool bike to own, they rode well too, better than most French bikes in their price range. They were light compared to most bikes and rode and were finished well. Get a rat-bike to fix, don't blow away a full-packege. A sound bike with bad shifters and such is a better choice