darinm

So I'm looking to start riding again but I don't know too much about bikes. After looking around a couple shops and scouring craigslist this seems to be a good bike for what kind of riding I'd like to do.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/1995976430.html
I'm guessing that the frame itself isn't great but its got some good components and fits me well but I'd like to get some second opinions on whether this is worth the price. If anyone has any advice or experience with gitanes like this that would be great

Ex Pres 

That seller has not a clue. It's hard to tell much from those pics, but the decal on the headtube is a Guerciotti, not a Gitane one. But that conflicts with the 531 tubing. He's also incorrect on the crankset. It's not a Chorus, but it's better than that as Record (or C-Record, I'd have to look at VeloBase). The components are a mish-mash, but not really in a good way. I'd rather have matching Shimano brakes mated to a matching Campy drivetrain, etc, but this one doesn't even do that. I don't think I'd pay $500 for that collection, at least not based on the pics shown.

scozim 

This is a reported Tour de France that's been repainted. Doesn't make sense to use the wrong decals when you can get replica Gitane ones. The seller has listed several times starting at $700 this past January/February and he had it at the Cascade Bicycle Club swap meet in the middle of February. Obviously nobody is biting since he's down $200 on the price.

darinm

so do you guys think its not a nice bike or just not a nice bike for the price?

ex pres, whats the advantage of having the brake and drive train systems matching? and its weird that its listed as gitane but your right i looked up the badge and its for guerciotti

scozism, are you sure you saw this on craigslist/bike swap earlier this year?

wrk101

First, it is $500. At that price point, it should have original paint, be ready to ride and with the appropriate components. A mishmash of components means someone did some serious swapping out. How good of a job did they do? And some components don't play well together. As a minimum, I would want the derailleurs and shifters to match, as well as the wheels (even if they don't match the derailleurs, they should match each other). Front and rear brakes don't even match each other. Again, if it was a smokin hot deal, great, but at a high price point, why bother? I have bought some bikes that had similar issues, but not at this kind of price.

Personally I would not offer very much for it, as I would either be parting it out, or selling off many of the parts, and replacing them with a coherent group of some kind. Seller seems to think it has pretty good value, so I do not see him getting down into my range.

scozim 

+1 - I bought my Tour de France for too much, but much less than this (in hindsight because of the crappy paint condition) but it was all original except for the tires and from the original owner.

darinm - positive this is the same bike. I purposely sought it out at at the swap meet because I wanted to see what the bike looked like for someone to feel it was worth $700. In fact, I could tell you exactly where his space was located. I also am checking the Seattle craigslist mulitple times a day. This is an easy one to remember even though the wording of the ad has changed over the year.

darinm

Ok, so what would you guys suggest i offer if i were still interested in it?
I guess I'll go check it out again and pay better attention to how all of the componentry works and then decide if I even want to make an offer