bigwoo

After so many years and so many high-end vintage race bikes there aren't many bikes that come along and surprise me any more. I had picked this up this week thinking I'd flip it and after a brief test ride I was shocked at how nicely it rides. Then a longer ride surpassed everything I could have hoped for. Very, very French and even with the heavy steel bars, steel pedals and clunky brakes it's insanely light weight. The first bike in a long time that has that exceptional laser/rail-type cornering and handling response- (Think Columbus TSX, honestly).
My best guess, especially given that there must have been a head decal instead of a nice badge, is that it's a higher-end Gitane with almost certainly Reynolds 531 or Super Vitus. Just a guess but Gitane decals were always so lousy that's my best thought on it. It has also been a very long time since I've come across a matching pair of Simplex dropouts....
It's nice to still be surprised like this

https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Wc&usp=sharing


p.s.,
It's been so long but I hope that Scooper, Lamplight, PastorBob, TMar, BigBossMan, that crazy painter Mark, Easthill and all of the usual suspects are still peddling and smiling. I just got busy with life.......

bigwoo

Oops, I completely forgot to mention that there is not a serial # to be found anyplace. Bottom bracket, stays, head lugs, seat tube- nada, zip, no stamp anyplace..... Wouldn't be the first time that happened in France

RobbieTunes

There are few things I can think of that fit your post's title, bike-wise, but I'm glad it happened.

bigwoo

I'm all ears buddy. TdF or 300 were about my only thoughts. I'm glad it happened too! This despite not having much room in the garage right now. I'm trying to eliminate, not accumulate...

MZilliox

cool bike, if there isn't any room, i know a guy who likes blue french bikes

bigwoo

Muahahah, nice try man.

John E

I presume it has a 28.0mm seat tube OD and a 26.4 or 26.6mm seat post OD, which would indicate butted French spec. Reynolds 531 or comparable frame tubing. Does it have an integral deralleur hanger? (I can't tell from the photo.)

Very nice -- I have always liked the TA Professional crank, the higher-end Simplex downtube shift levers, and the SunTour rear derailleur. It could be quite the keeper with a decent set of bars and pedals.

bigwoo

Hi John, I'm with you, man. There was always something kind of exciting to me about the old Stronglight and TA sets when I saw one. Yes, you are correct in that I think the seat post is a 26.6. Yes on the integral Simplex hanger. Someone was kind enough to upgrade both derailleurs and they work quite well with the orig DT levers. I'm guessing they logged a lot of miles on the orig drivetrain.

verktyg 

The frame is a 1969-1971 Gitane Tour de France that someone has done some nice file work on.... namely the seat stay caps.



TA cranks, derailleurs, seatpost, seat. bars and stem are replacements.

Someone did a nice job on the frames.

26.4mm was the standard seatpost size for those frames. Someone could have reamed the seat tube/lug out to 26.6mm but .2mm is a lot of material to remove. There's a slim possibility that the frame was made with lighter gage Reynolds 531 tubing but 28mm seat tubes with a 0.7mm wall thickness at the top was standard on most French production frames back then (that's why 26.4mm is the standard for seatposts on those bikes).

verktyg

Chas.

pastorbobnlnh 

Welcome home @bigwoo! Glad to see you posting again!

I can offer no help on the bike, but isn't that a serial number buried under the PC on the left rear dropout?

cb400bill

Nice looking bike.

cb400bill

Looks like it could be.

LeicaLad 

I think that just says "Simplex". Try moving your rear wheel forward in the dropouts a bit, too.

The French bikes, at least the better ones, just ride very very nice.

Congrats, and welcome back.

bigwoo

Thanks verktyg, I wondered about that but that would mean that they ( I think) would have had to removed a rear brake cable bridge and repainted. There's no bridge in back and no sign that one ever existed. Now I'm more stumped than before unless Gitane had a model without the bridge....???

Bob and Bill, I'll have to check this morning but all I saw in back was the "SIMPLEX" . Apologies for the lousy cell phone photos. And thanks!

Leica, that's indeed what it says. I can't find anything else back there. And thanks!

Maybe this thing was repainted? There are some chipped spots where I see white (orig?) Paint underneath.

bigwoo

Ooh, just an FYI. I took it for a nice 9.5 mile round trip ride for sushi dinner last night and wowee, it's got that "it" or "mojo" that puts a smile on my face. Maybe it's just the really great set of shoes (ie: great hubs, rims and the only thing I did was threw the 1 new tire on). But I actually think that it's also something the French did very well too.

LeicaLad 

I have two 1971 Gitane bikes. One has a brake bridge, the other doesn't.

Consistency was not a virtue in the Gitane factory. I'd guess they had a box of seatpost hangers on hand that day.

Still, I'd second Chas's comments that this one was probably built by one of the most senior/talented builders at work that day. The details are better than most I've ever seen, even while they still seem to scream GITANE!!!

I have two because they ride so very, very nicely!

Congrats!

bigwoo

I'm definitely with you on the way they ride, LL. Just awesome and special. I've had 2 in the past and I especially always regretted selling this one to a bike shop/museum up north in CO. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4y...ew?usp=sharing

But in a way, this nice lil number is getting me that great "racee Francais" feeling back! I did a very speedy 25.3 mi loop on it today and it was easy-breezy! Just like the other 2 TdF's, this one is a precise laser and a blast on the downhills.

The Golden Boy 

It's nice to see you posting here again. I've read a lot of your posts.

bigwoo

Thanks man! Waukesha- Home of Les Paul!

The Golden Boy 

The Wizard of Waukesha!

For the past few years they've been doing this "Guitar Town USA" thing. Big, 15 foot tall Les Pauls all around the downtown area. They're not really "guitar-y" but more "art-y." But cool, nonetheless.

Waukesha GuitarTown


For my first ride with my "new" wheels on my Trek 400 Elance- I took a little ride over to Prairie Home Cemetery and stopped by Les Paul's grave.





It's right over by my mother in law's grave, but I'd never stopped by- I just thought it would be tacky. It's a very nice, and serene spot.

bigwoo

Whoa, that sounds like an awesome way to break in the new wheel set! I miss the Brewtown and the Madtown. I always thought that it would be nice to do a ride starting on the lower east side of Milwaukee and ride along Lake Michigan for a while. I've ridden Mendota and Monona in Madtown and it was really very nice riding around a lovely campus. Then we stopped on the Union Terrace and had beers with Chris Farley (he had family there in Edgewood) and watched a band out back. The food and people in WI are pretty awesome. Nice Trek!

Grand Bois

How do you know that they are 1971 bikes? I've never been able to date mine.

USAZorro

Welcome back, bigwoo. Happy to hear you got this bike that you're loving. I know next to nothing about French bikes, so I'll shut up and watch, and hopefully learn something.

bigwoo

Zorro! It's great to hear from you and I've been reading some of your recent posts. Yeah, how nice to get that feeling again from a nice old bike. As I'm looking through a lot of the posts on C&V I'm realizing that this page has remained very consistently great!

LeicaLad 

I have an advantage on this. The first one I bought new in the Spring of 1971. I got it the day the shipment arrived, so I know it was straight from the factory.

The second one came dressed with the full Campagnolo kit, and RD and lock nuts are each stamped '71. The serial number suggests it was made within a week or so prior to my other one. Oh, and an original sales receipt came with it. It was $250 because of the Campy kit. My original purchase was $175, but still came with Tipo hubs and silk sew-ups.

When in doubt, you can present detailed photos. Chas has the minutia down pretty tight. When they've been refinished, it does become a bit harder, but we can still get within a year or two just on frame details.

Cheers!