I've had this tour de france frameset for over a year and lately been picking up completely rusted out bikes for their sturmey archer hubs and associated parfenalia. Turns out if they look horrible 25$ buys em and I have a friend who wants the frames. Anyway these two things come together nicely. My gitane frameset didn't have a derailleur hanger and it has massive clearance for 650b tires without any modification. So I built an inexpensive set of wheels. Zac19 rims, aw hub out back and shutter precision up front. The aluminum caliper brakes off a completely decimated Schwinn speedster reach the rims and off we go. I have a ways to go but wanted to show someone what my flu racked body was up to. Btw, I know the skewer is in backwards and the basement's a mess.

Gear ratio will probably go up a bit.

Nice! How did you deal with the wider spacing of the rear end on the Gitane as compared to the Schwinn?

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with those 650's in there the arrestor centres appear to be in the vicissitude of eighty mm

good to see those CLB guidonnets - this will give IdahoBrett an opportunity to view how they appear...

handsome Motorbeacon there in the shadows...

hope U R feelin' mo' beddah nowadays


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It's not much different and in fact the gitane is wider by a hair. It may have been massaged before, the frameset is pretty rough looking. Anyway, I flipped the anti rotation washers over and it went together well, but I wouldn't mind using the proper anti rotation washers designed for derailleur bikes as they do a better job of centering the wheel vertically.

Getting better and playing gigs at the same time. Makes for a slow recovery. Fortunately I'm off till Monday!!

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maybe you could get together with jeirvine to form a MAEDA "backwards" front mech appreciation society...

...thinking of renaming my town "top normal"...


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Looks like huge fun ‘52! My own experiments along these lines have tended to land on upright bars, as me old back is aging (not the rest of me, nope!). Is it my imagination or are the chain stays really quite short for the size of the frame?

Looks like a fun time!

This is the second Gitane TdF thread I've seen in 24hrs and it is making me reconsider where on the priority scale rebuilding a neglected TdF in my garage should sit at. You start reading about these bikes and about how much folks gush over their superlative ride - it is not isolated. Hmmm! Things to think about.

Typically I go upright bars too but wanted to use these because they are so cool and french, plus the levers encourage being on top anyway. It's French fit for me as the frame is at the large end for me and this would probably get used like my super course three speed. The difference is this bike was definitely set up for sewups. 700c wheels won't remotely allow 35s and fenders. Oddly enough though there is a ton of room for chunky 650b. 42s fit easy. It really is a pretty sporting frame. Top gear will be around 70" or less so climbing river bluffs is easy with 40" or less and yes, the shorter chain stays help with climbing. Still experimenting.

I've only taken a brief spin down the block with only a rear brake but it's gonna be fun I think. Also with it limited to cross town and city exploration when traveling I think it might be pretty fun.

I have always enjoyed French Reynolds bikes. It's probably mostly in my head but Moto, Peugeot and now Gitane all seem to make for sweet rides. They really glide well. Not sure I ever plane on them but I imagine I do when I'm on them.

Just to delve into the pedigree of this frame I'd like to post a few detail shots.

Down tube shifter stop.

Fork crown

Seat cluster

No sign of ever having a derailleur hanger as far as I can tell.

And my goofy super bright tail light. My girlfriend is going to try painting the lenze.

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this is the first TdF example seen from this era to be fitted with Juy ends set Nr. 881-881B -



...conditions of the boom: "use what you can get"

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Do you have a rough idea of the age?

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alas, am not one of the forum's MICMO experts

it certainly appears early seventies

one demarcation is the seat stay treatment at the seat lug

some received the "willow leaf" while others received the simple cutting out of a wedge and crimping as seen on your example

also some received "fish mouth" treatment to the stay ends where they join the dropouts while others exhibit "domed" ends

verktyg has given very specific dates for these differences in his posts

do not have them in me noggin


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Your frame still has the brazed on bracket for the rear brake cable stop, whereas my 1973 TdF was shipped withe MAFAC hanger on the seat binder bolt, so pre-1973.
You also have the long-point lugs rather than the short-point Bocama the latest foil-era TdF's had.
My 1973:


Overdue for a refresh...


Member Hummer posted a thread to decode the Gitane serial number on the NDS RDO:
Gitane serial numbers

Thanks guys! I'll get some pics of it in action when the snow clears.

It appears I may have a 1971. Hard to be sure as the numbers on the dropout aren't super clear but that would make sense. I'm using a 1967 aw hub for whatever that's worth.

What mess? your goat (greatest of all time) TdF Rat Rod needs that hay bale!

You are the man! Love to go riding with you again if I can keep up!

I have looked at your frame and tried to match it to Gitane frames with a date code serial number.

The Tour de France head tube lugs changed during the early 1970s.

I found a match with the same decals and head tube lugs. That frame was dated as week 3 of year 1973.

You can see that Gitane Tour de France on another forum's thread:

https://www.velovintageagogo.com/t17...-reynolds-1969

Bon appetit.

Ty very much!

Last pic I swear.