I recently bought—from a gentleman who assured me he was the original owner—a 1966 Competition. It caught my eye because it has lovely chrome Campy dropouts and Campy Gran Sport F/R derailleurs and shifters, which he said are original.

Other details: frame is gold color, Reynolds 531. Wheels are Normandy with old Mavic rims, I can barely make out the vintage sticker on them. Sport, maybe? Brake/levers are MAFAC, Huret cable clips, Atom 14-24 freewheel, Stronglight crankset, Lyotard pedals, Pivo stem, bear trap style headset.

From reading old catalogs and forums online, I don’t think this is your average vintage Gitane. I also know they often made bikes from parts on hand that did not always match the published “spec.”

Seller says he chose it over a Paramount in ’66 because the bike was European, and he wanted the nicest bike in the shop. He clearly rode it many years and cared for it before putting it into storage.

Any thoughts welcome! The forum won’t let me post pics because I don’t have 10 posts yet (weird). Thx!

Try the Gitane Bicycles Facebook group. There's a few collectors that would love to see what you have.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/154950624602070