I am now the happy owner of a 1984 Gitane Tour de France! Our well-known gentleman of Gitanes, Verktyg (Chas) was willing to part with this beaut. Here it is hanging at his place.



And on a ride we took on my first day with it. Chas wanted to ensure I’d like the bike, so we went out on a 20 miler, his blue an my new orange. This is them, while we have lunch.
Coolest bike seller I've ever known.



At my place after a few adjustments.


What a great bike! What a great guy! I think he might soon be selling a few others from his collection. I'll buy as many as he'll let me (n+1)!

In my, not always, humble opinion, the seat post is dangerously high. Damage to the seat post lug is a definite, unless that post is longer than I think it to be. To that add, that should the post actually stretch the lug, and this is not an uncommon result of a insufficiently inserted post, a crash might well accompany the failure of the lug to secure the post.

Anyway, none of my business, but I would hate to see a fellow VB (vintage bicyclist) experience difficulty in such a situation.

All that said, lovely bike (love the color) and I would give my left te$ticle for the crank set, as the one on my Jamaica Bianchi bought the farm this year.

Beautiful bike and verktyg has a cool collection of Gitanes, Bertins, and I'm sure other makes as well. Why don't you give a run down of the parts? Also what kind of drop outs? Is that supervitus 980 tubing? That's nice stuff.

Fine ride! Correct me, but shortly recall Chas stating this was one of his fave.

Always interesting to compare ~ does this Gitane with Super Vitus 980 tubing have a chainstay bridge? The SV980 tubed Peugeot PSV10 does have a chainstay bridge though I've read comparisons reporting the Gitane had less torsional flex.

Every time I see a pic of one of these Gitanes I like them more. Just a great looking (and surely riding) bike. Congrats on the score.

Thanks for the kind remarks all of you!

Indeed randyjawa, the seatpost is dangerously high. I have my eye on an Origin8 model, because I like the 2-bolt adjustability. But of course it's not a period item. Verktyg says he may have another.

The bike rides amazingly well. Much nicer than my specialized carbon/disc/ultegra bike.

Bikemig (Big Mig?) I started a ledger of sorts, see below. I don't know the model of shifters, but I suspect others will recognize them - Campagnolo. I'll likely change the bars and stem to larger & longer Nitto items soon.

Love the ofmega mistral

[QUOTE=cyclic_eric;21348185]Thanks for the kind remarks all of you!

snip . . .

Bikemig (Big Mig?) /QUOTE]

Big Mig is a little faster than me. He's Basque and I'm not. But I reckon I have more bikes than he does, so there's that.

I like Gitanes a lot; this is a good one,

Looks fine.

Thanks SurferRosa - I can now ride tomorrow without fear!
Still, a longer one would be better, she sa...

I think Chas has a blue (one or two...) framed bikes he prefers. Mine is Vitus 983, without the chainstay bridge.

It looks like I could easily fit 28mm tires, but will they adversely affect the sweet handling the bike has with these 25's? It currently has Panaracer Pacela "Prolite Belt" tires, and they feel pretty stiff and heavy. All the rough roads, cracks, and potholes are beating me up - on all my road bikes. I'm thinking of switching to 28mm Continental GP4000's or GP 4 Season's.

All that said, lovely bike (love the color) and I would give my left te$ticle for the crank set, as the one on my Jamaica Bianchi bought the farm this year.[/QUOTE]


An old post, I know, but what does a left testicle go for these days?

Have a soft spot for the Gitanes. We sold the entry level ones with the honeycomb dropouts around 1976 when I was 14...

Of course, this thread is going on 5 years old, but I'm still enjoying the Gitane. However, most of the fun rides involve hills, where those 52/42 chainrings aren't so popular.
So from time-to-time, I do think about putting on a compact crank. But right now, the shifting is perfect, I wouldn't want to spoil it.
I think there are at least a couple other forum members with the same frame. If I recall correctly, Chombi1 has a very nice one.

Here's my 84 Gitane TdF that I made "Tout French", by replacing all of its original Italian components, to ones made in France, including saddle, tubular tires and rims..
I just couldn't figure out why Gitane chose to install Italian components on a French bike that was honoring the iconic French bike race.

Not wanting to hijack the thread but I have what I think is an '84 tdf, chrome fork, vitus 181? Modolo brakes, Huret groupset - guessing its a mid tier example? About to do a sympathetic rebuild on this obe, Thanks, Dan.

Very interesting. In my reading on these Gitanes, that is the first time I've heard of Vitus 181. Mine is a Red TdF decaled SuperVitus 983.

Looks like a worthy project! Vitus 181 makes for a nice bike, but not a TdF. A brief look through a few catalogs indicates it is likely a Sprint or Grantour.
You can compare measurements against those listed in the catalog link below. It wouldn't hurt to start a new Gitane thread in C&V.
Catalogues Gitane

Thanks for the info, lookinglooking brake setup and the forged Vitus dropouts plus frame details looks like its a Sprint - anyone ridden one? Dan

Gitane bikes were imported to the U.S. and distributed by Trek in 1984 (note the mention of Waterloo, Wisconsin, in one of the catalogs). There are at least a couple of Bike Forums posters who worked at Trek back then, I believe. Maybe one of them can offer some insight into why Trek made the move to import the bikes and other memories about that period in Trek's history.

The partnership with Trek to sell glitches in the US in the 80's was good for Gitane, as the quality of their bikes reqlly went up from just being similar to Peugeot and Motobecane to much better build quality and finishes. The brazing quality and lug point final shaping on my 84 Gitane TdF is definitely a couple of steps up from my 84 Peugeot PSV. The red finish on the TdF was a breath of fresh air in their model lineup, and it really stood out amongst the mostly blue bikes they sold those years.
I don't like what direction Gitane went in the late 80's though, with graphics that were notthat great and paint colors that were not that striking. Heck, they even went to a cow motif with white paint and splotches of black! Peugeot at that time, went similarly with uninspiring colors and graphics on the bikes, too.

I have no need for another testicle, but I do have a Mistral crank that is surplus to my needs. Crank and rings only; the bottom bracket spindle is terminally pitted. PM me, and we can work something out. N.B. Mistral cranks do not use the proprietary early Ofmega spindle taper and will mount on any Campagnolo-type bottom bracket.