Okay, thanks! So the outer ring is a 52, the inner is a 42, and I'm guessing that the middle ring is a 47, or maybe a 46. It's what I have always thought of of as a "psychological triple," which combines a half-step double--lots of closely-spaced high gears--with a low gear that's the same as what you'd find on a typical racing double. It gives the rider the comforting sense of having a triple, without any of the actual benefits of a triple. It doesn't even require a long-cage derailleur unless you're using a really big cog in back.

That said, it's a handsome bike. I have a TdF in the same color, with the same fork crown--likely the same year. Not sure about the geometry, because mine is a much bigger frame. Possibly it's the same frame as the Tdf but with different braze-ons? Pure speculation on my part.

PBYO988 I just remembered something that somewhat surprised me on my Gitane GT. The Campy hubs were French threaded and they are of the era that the French Threaded hubs aren't marked. I was worried this might be the case, and hoped it wasn't the case, so I confirmed before I bought a new freewheel. If yours are original and you need to replace the freewheel, make sure you confirm the threading before you put a freewheel on.

First things first fender in French is garde boue (literally guard mud). I would ask for help on tonton velo as I think someone else may have mentioned but you could also look at eBay.fr . Shipping will be horrendous. Here is a set not exactly same with only one painted stripe. You could try to get as close as you can and repaint the stripe to match. https://www.ebay.fr/itm/284422636462...IAAOSw72JhJQt9 Judging by the cat on rear tail light that one is a s.e.v. marchal brand

The tooth count is as follows
52-46-42

Thanks!

Hey Sierra, what makes you think that?

In the UK a fender is called ‘Mudguard’.
thx for the link.

My bad. I was thinking of the cottered Durax 36/46/52 crankset on the Hosteller model.
That said, your crankset is still not the one listed in the catalog with the special drilling to accept the 100 mm bcd 36t ring.

I would say that it could be original. In the bike-boom days, French manufacturers were slamming out bikes as fast as they could, using whatever components they could get. Since this was touring bike, they more or less had to put a triple on it, even if it was a crazy 52-46-42.

Yes, what I had not considered, is that this bike may date to earlier than the 100 bcd 36t option became available. Not sure when that was. I have one on my '71 P15 Paramount.
Member Verktyg is the go to guy here on all things Gitane. I'm surprised that he hasn't weighed in on this yet.

My thanks for the heads up. I am stripping it down completely so it’s a good thing to know.

My guess, based on the fork crown, is that the bike is a 73 or 74. But that's just a guess. Chas would know for sure--if we keep mentioning his name he'll probably chime in eventually.

Yes ultimately I will sell it but I’m not so governed by profit more by the fun of restoring it.
And you are spot on that the NYC vintage market is a fantastic place to buy and sell.

Thx for the info. Is there a good place in the US to get the fluted mudguards?

I got mine thru Ben's Cycle:

https://www.benscycle.com/honjo-h29-...xoCf2IQAvD_BwE

Great site, thx.

Well, if you wanted DT shifters, Campy did make a shifter clamp with the pump umbrella built in, part # 635:Personally, for a touring bike, I'd prefer bar-end shifters, in which case you want a Campy # 633:About that rear mech: yes it's a boat anchor and not the snappiest shifter. But if you want to keep it, it's possible to make it shift better. The balance between the upper and lower springs determines the "angle of the dangle", and yours is pulled too far back, at least in that one photo. Honestly I don't remember how the spring pre-load is adjusted, but I can find out for you if you need me to. They used to teach it at Schwinn School, back when a couple models of Schwinn came with these. You either need to back off the pre-load on the upper spring, or (more likely) increase the lower. This will shorten the amount of chain between the jockey pulley and the bottom of the freewheel, a big factor in shifting performance.

They do have enough chain-wrap capacity to go to a wider-range triple in front, if interested. Someone here already mentioned replacing the right crank with one with better (smaller) choices of granny ring, but you can also keep this crank, if you replace your middle ring with a "triplizer" ring. (Link shows the one made by BF's own Jon Vara, worthy of your support!) A triplizer ring has another set of mounting holes, at the 74 mm bolt-circle that takes commonly-available inner rings as small as 24t. You don't have to go all the way to 24t of course, lots of other choices, and something like 30 or 32t might be more in keeping with the original design intent.

There are also people, such as Robert Freeman of North Bend WA, who can drill and tap your 5 spider arms to take a smaller granny directly, not connected to a triplizer middle ring.

Since you already have the longer crank spindle needed for triple, either of these methods that keep your existing crank would be an easy upgrade.

Good luck, and show us how it turns out!

Merry Christmas
Mark B

I have the mudguards to finish but this is where I am so far.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0a10403e5.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6af31d4c5.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a45c0fc38.jpeg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bb4ec6c61.jpeg

Amazing, haven't actually seen one of these before but it's right up my alley. Too bad it isn't your size!