Jixr

So if you've seen me post before, early in the fall i picked up a ( from what I understand ) a 1972 Gitane Tour De France in rough shape, and I've cleaned it up a good bit, got it all fixed up, polished out all the paint, chrome, and aluminium.



The bike fits me fine, looks cool, but for whatever reason, I never really liked the bike. I only rode it when I felt like I needed something more suited for hills and distances over my SS bike.

After sumbling across a Sram 2-speed automatic coaster brake hub, with little review information on it, I took a chance, bought it and had a wheel assembled around it, and threw it on my old gitane frame.



I stripped down all the shifting hardware ( which thankfully is all bolt on and leaves a very clean frame ) and tossed it all in a box.

And now this bike for me has been competely transformed for me.
I'm more of a social rider, and this little skid monster is amazingly fun to ride.

Coaster brake + rear hand brake is super fun to slide around on, and the shifting action on the hub is actually pretty smooth. My biggest complaint of the bike as it was previously very clunky to shift, the shifting components would brake often and constantly need adjusting. A bit heavy of a hub ( the bike still weighs about 25lbs, ditching the shifting hardware was made back up with the weight of the rear hub )

I did have this bike for sale, but with the new hub, I'm probably just going to keep it ( and maybe get a matching front rim laced up ). And if I ever want to put it back to stock, it would only take me about two hours to put everything back on and adjusted.

Hate to strip down a mostly original bike, but its so much fun the way i have it now.

bassogap

what I am most struck by is the obvious joy the changes to the bike are bringing you. Even though I'm thinking, "why in the world would anyone do that to such a cool TdeF?" (I bought a 72 gitane interclub new, so maybe I'm being little over sensitive.) But we are all very emotional about bicycles.....

big chainring 

"Shifting components that brake often"

bwilli88 

I am building this old Gazelle (83) with a 2 speed hub, just need spokes for the front wheel.

bikemig 

I like it. It solves your problem as to which bike to bring to that metric century you want to ride and solves the shifting issues you had been having all at once.

Jixr

I'm going to do that on my single speed, I love that bike, and its fast as hell. Going to a 50 mile ride on it this weekend, and if all goes well I should be able to hit the 70 on it.

bikemig 

If you are comfortable doing 50, you can do 70. Just ride within yourself.

rustystrings61 

One of the things I like the most about the 1976-73 Gitane TdF is how adaptable it is. You can remove the derailleur hardware and store it away and know that you have a nice, clean single-speed or similar bike without doing anything permanent, then build it back up stock again very quickly. No harm done, no evil "drewing."

Here's mine, a c.1971 I got as a frameset with BB and headset. I may someday break down and get the Cyclomundo decals and the proper Simplex drivetrain parts and make it a period-correct derailleur bike again. Maybe I will take the old Maillard/Weinmann 5-speed rear wheel in the work shop, spin on a narrow range freewheel and have a stop-and-change-gears coastie. Right now, though, I enjoy it too much as a zippy, fun road fixed-gear to change a thing.

John E

My first bicycle had a Bendix 2-speed coaster hub, which is the same as your kickback, but with a shift lever that looked like a brake handle. I got a 10-speed road bike six months later and never looked back.

Having said that, I also acknowledge that I once temporarily converted that first road bike, a bottom-of-the-line Bianchi, to a 3-speed coaster setup, and for commuting a couple of miles between home and UCLA, and for theft-resistant parking at UCLA, it was kind of fun.

I suspect the key is that my old 45-pound 2-speed was what Schwinn euphemistically called a "middleweight," whereas my 3-speed coaster bike weighed about 30 lbs, arguably at the top of the "lightweight" category. I am not a weight weenie by any means, but there is a huge difference between something in the mid-20s, like your Gitane, and a lead sled north of 40 lbs.

For serious riding, hills, and distances, however, I still really like a derailleur setup with 12 or more gears, and the only breakdowns I have had have been a snapped shift cable once every 20 years or so. (I used to snap shift cables often when I was a teenager with Huret Allvit derailleurs, which probably reflects both the hardware and pilot error.) This type of transmission has never stranded me and requires remarkably little attention.

Jixr

its actually an automatic hub, and changes at about 10-12mph

Jakenks

That's when the rear derailleur falls into the spokes....

bwilli88 

I got this finished rides like it's on a train track, shifts nicely and the coaster brake works very well

mountaindave 

Your rear derailleur looks more modern, but I can personally attest to the suckitude of the Simplex plastic front derailleurs and the matching shift levers. Somehow Simplex came up with the best friction shifter in the world (Retrofriction), but the bike-boom gear was terrible.

From a fellow TdF owner, congrats on finding a way to enjoy your bike. That's what it's all about!

mountaindave 

Now that's what I call "relaxed tube angles"! Must be quite comfy.

rootboy 

I prefer the before version but, it aint my bike.

The addition of the thermostat to the top tube here is a definite upgrade, however.

John E

Interesting -- I did not know one existed. Kids used to mistakenly refer to the old Bendix kick-back 2-speed as "automatic."