Thanks Dirtdrop. I think your comments (and Sierra's) are the ones that have convinced me I need to check out an upper end vintage Gitane.

I have two of them and I understand why. Out of the approximately 40 to 50 bikes that I own, including three Paramounts and a PX10 of the same vintage, my two Gitane Td'Fs are my favorites. They are just Sweet!

Good. You won't regret it, I'm sure. You shouldn't have to pay too much for one. Prices are well below what you'd have to pay for a comparable Peugeot. I think I paid $123 for my TdF and it was complete, but had the wrong wheelset and crankset. Be sure to check out the link I posted above. Stephan Andranian seems to know everything about Gitanes and he's glad to share. Bikes come up for sale on that site once in a while, too. I hate that format. A real website is coming soon.

Let me know if you need any parts. I may have what you need or I can help you find them.

Thanks!

I actually joined the site yesterday, so I'll be keeping my eyes open for the right bike. And a job, so I can buy the right bike.

I have a 56 cm Gitane Professionnal Super Corsa frame and fork I would be willing to sell. It has Nervex Professional lugs and chrome fork tips and rear stays with Campagnolo long horizontal dropouts. The bike needs paint. This bike is rust free, not cracked, bent, is dent free and in overall solid excellent condition. It was Gitane's top of the line model when new in 1972. It needs to be painted and in primer at the moment. The original color was the dark copper metallic (if any of you Gitane buffs remember the color). The chrome is in nice condition. Any interested, let me know. I will even include an excellent set of NOS original decals to the one who is interested. I do not want a lot of money for this frame, but I want to cover my costs of the frame and decals. If interested, reach me here and leave me a way to contact you. I am also a member of the CR site.
Thanks,
John

You have a '72 Super Corsa frame with Nervex Pro lugs? Send me pictures! The last thing I need is another bike, but I'm crazy about Gitanes.

Here is a good Gitane website that has catalogs.

I've got an 84 Sprint with Vitus 788 tubing and it weighs about the same as my 1997 Bianchi between 22-23 lbs. The bike is very responsive and fun to ride - over 50% of my training has been on this bike. For $150 in the LBS last year I think it was a fantastic deal since they'd already gone through the bike.

By the 80's some of the Gitanes were being made with Vitus 172, Vitus 788 and Super Vitus 983. Many by '84 had gone to English thread bottom bracket. I'd love an early to mid-70's Reynold 531 Gitane - the ride is supposed to be fantastic.

Paint has always been an issue with the French bikes. The aluminum foil decals in the 70's were also notorious in coming off but reproductions can be bought from what I've hear.

This is my '72 Tour de France commuter bike. I found it in the back of a metal shop. It had probably been there for 20 years. The bike is now all original except for the handlebars/stem and pedals (the picture shows a differnt crank I ran for a while), and I LOVE it. The seat looks horrible. I had to soak it many moons with some sort of boot leather restoration stuff, but it is actually quite comfortable.

I am currently commuting on tubular (sew-up) tires becasue a bunch of folks find out that I still use them and give me all their old ones for free. I have gone two years now without repairing any of them, though I have about 4 which need patching.

FWIW, I also have a Super Corsa. It is too small for me, so it is now my fixed gear knock around bike when I want to pretend to be hip. Though the bike is technically one notch higher on their offerings, the frames were identical except for the dropouts (Campy vs. Simplex). If you upgrade your drive train, this won;t really matter except the Simplex dropoiuts do not have a deraileur hanger.

Some with Simplex dropouts had no derailer hanger and some did. Mine has one. It also inexplicably has Campagnolo fork ends.

Gitane seemed to be just throwing things together during the bike boom. My Super Corsa has a TdF fork. I have also seen TdF's with a Campy fork (I would have traded, but mine is red, and the other guy's was green).

Here's my 73 (I think) Tour de France. Pretty much original except for the replacement clincher wheel set. The original sew up wheel set had Tipo hubs like the replacement set has.

I've never owned any Gitanes, but I have been interested in them since my younger brother bought one in the 80's. Interesting thing about his Gitane (Criterium model) was the ultra steep angles (it resilted in a very long top tube) it had that seemed to have been given to it to match it's model name. Although it was mcuh more responsive, hadling -wise than my contemparary Peugeot PSv, it shared the Peugeot's plush ride because it also had Supervitus tubing, so I found it so unusual. The bike also have very nice touches like an internally routed top tube.
I would not mind finding a good one one day to go with my PSV. But I would even be happier if I could ever own a mint Columbus framed "team" bike from the mid/late 80's.
One bad thing I do remeber about my brother's Gitane though, was it's very fragile paint finish that chipped really easily and IIRC, the Gitane decals were not even clear coated, so they fell apart and peeled off on many of them, including my brother's.

Chombi
84 Peugeot PSV