A friend and racer back in the 70's handed off some stuff to me that has been in his basement and neglected for many years - but it includes a few cool bits, along with a large cleaning effort in front of me. Very few of the components appear to be original to the frames.

First - a Crescent, probably from about '74.
He got hit by a car while riding this bike - probably the TT dent as a result. I haven't done any alignment checks.
He said he got the Crescent because John Howard rode one - and he met John (& was passed by him) in his first real road race.


Black ano Crane derailleur and shifters.







Second, 6 unmatched wheels , but includes an old Phil hub rear wheel and a light front wheel that I haven't researched the front hub.




The wheels & rims included one Mavic tubular with the patterned brake track, and new single silver 36h Araya Aero2.


And last, a Gitane TdF, but without the integral derailleur hanger, #2 on BF this week. (Has a 26.4 post)
Interesting Campy triple, too. A 52, 49, 42






The 60cm TT plus this looong Cinelli stem means I'll never be able to ride it in this configuration. The Crescent has ~ 58cm TT, so within reason for me.


Typical training bikes from back then - well worn, many components changed out and very little matches at this point. Even with 6 or so wheels, I don't have a matched set.

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Crescent looks to have begun life as a 320.

Appears red on my monitor, is that correct?

Usually they are orange, blue or white. Red colour and absence of transfers may indicate a respray. You may discover traces of original colour on steerer or in shell or in seat tube.

Fitment of incorrect dropout adjusters an oddity.

Remember, shell will be metric threaded whilst steerer BSC.

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Oh, it's definitely resprayed, faded red. Jim indicated to me that at the end of each season they would break down their training bikes, clean, replace worn parts, and repaint the bikes to rid the rust caused by sweat.

So both are the same color, but neither an original color.

Nice! What's the seat tube length c-c?

Each are around 61-62cm. I just did a rough check with the cranks installed, i'll do a better check when apart.

Prolly right. Same exact size as my frame. Looks like mid 70's TdF. Love those bikes. Should clean up real nice. The original RD is nowhere near as good as a Cyclone. The Campy shift levers were also a big upgrade. Lucky you!

Hard to tell the difference between the 320, 319 and 318. If the dropouts are Campy then prolly 320. My blue Pepita has Suntour GS DOs so is probably 319.

My Crescent is a 1974 and has the same head badge as the OPs. Given the Crescent head badge design changed slightly thru the years, though the basic shape goes way back to the 1890s, any one sure of what specific years the OPs head badge design ran? Ours was certainly done after the Monark/Crescent merger. What date was that?

Remember - the BB is French threaded - right hand on both sides. Tubing is not metric - mine is 28.8mm with the paint.

I agree Cyclone was maybe better than Crane but Crane was the RD for the first generation Dura-Ace and a very nice RD as well.

Duh, Wiki says MCB created via merger in 1961. Does not help this badge dating. I've overhauled a Crescent roadster from around 1970 that had the previous head badge

That's an interesting part about this frame, too. I measured the Crescent tubing as imperial, the Gitane as metric, but both seatposts are 26.4. Now the ears are pinched, but I wouldn't think enough to make up ~0.6mm in post diameter. Just more discovery to do.

I'll betcha that Phil hub will treat you well. I have a Phil rear hub on my single speed commuter. I rode it through rain, snow, grime for a few years. One day, looking for something to do, I tapped out the bearings to overhaul/replace and the inside of the hub looked like one of those places where they assemble computer chips - shiny and pristine. Bearings smooth as butter.

I have a 1972 320 Crescent. I don't think the headbadge has the MCB on it. I will check.

Well, the frames are mostly stripped of parts. The Crescent takes a 27.0 seat post easily now. Looks aligned, too, so no issues there. Orange on the steerer. It does have Campy drops, so it appears to have started life as a 320. The Gitane has metallic green paint on the steerer, though more metallic than the catalogue shows. It is just overspray on a chrome steerer, however.

Thanks very much for this additional information.

Crescent pillar size what one would have expected.

Model 319 also received the Campag 1010 ends. The difference between 319 and 320 was in the fittings.

There are different geometries. The factory sponsored Swedish cycling champion Gosta Pettersson and he preferred a spinrter/climber sort of bike so they built some 319/320 machines with short wheelbases and beefy stays. These bikes have toeclip overlap.

There are also 319/320 iterations with more of a middle of the road sort of geometry. These are built with standard gauge stays and have toeclip clearance.

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Thanks for the additional Crescent knowledge.
I did notice with the two frames sitting next to each other that the head tube angle on the Crescent is steeper than the Gitane. I may need to investigate further.

Gitane surprise, an 18t spined cartridge BB. Makes it a Phil. Good, except that I do not have a tool to remove it, and it needs service.

There be two, the "consumer" and the "shop" - perhaps a member near you will be kitted and can help out...

Front hub looks like it might be a Hi-E.

I think you're right. The velobase pictures I looked at did not show the knurled locknuts/axle ends, but I found some on eBay with those. Now I just need the correct skewers, right?

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Front brake caliper on Crescent looks like it might be a GB MK III but rear caliper appears different. What brake levers, if any, came with the bike?

What is the frame in light grey primer leaning against the wall?

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Brakes are a mixed bag, have a Shimano 600, 2 Wienmann 730s with the shoes all the way at the top of the slots, and a Weinmann 500. The levers on the two bikes were Weinmann on one and early DA on the other.

The bike in the back in primer is a 1972 CNC. Not a fancy model, but I do need to build this one up. I have all the components, have the paint, but haven't had the decals made yet. Mark A. worked up the decal files for me - great work by him. I just need to complete the deal.

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Thank you for the response.

Your comment about John Howard twigged a memory. In 1971 a local cycling friend mentioned he was going to do a road race near Salinas, California. Asked if I could tag along. We were three, he and a friend did the race and I went along as spectator. In the pre-race preparations riders were making final adjustments to their machines and going through their warm-ups. Noticed a rider who looked particularly strong and mentioned it to my friend. He spoke to the third fellow saying "He thinks John Howard looks strong." We all broke into hearty laughter. Had heard the name but did not have a person to go with it.

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I checked. My bike has the traditional white/metal headbadge with Crescent word and moons over a black painted/decal with gold trim.

Sounds like the often encountered wwwwwwwwwraparound head emblem. Expect it must cover about 280 of the 360 degree circumference of the head tube. Always wondered about getting them on/off without damage.



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More photos of the Gitane, please.

Thank you.

Just 'cause I'm curious: how is that inner ring spaced on that "triple".

The arms look to be a standard Campy double. Besides longer bolts, what spacers were used?

thanks.

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Chanced upon this gallery with text covering a Crescent Pepita 320 frameset, dated as 1975. Shown in ex-works livery. Text identifies crown as Agrati(?).

Frameset - 01

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