So I finally finished my b-day present to my cousin. He lives up in Seattle and needed a bike, so I scrounged up a Gitane in need of much TLC, and this is what I did to her:



And here are some detail shots:















The existing freewheel cassette was obviously some kind of racing configuration, or from a rider who didn't see a lot of hills. Since the bike's destination was Seattle, I replaced it with a more realistic gear set-up. That little operation was the only work I didn't do myself...and I think it was $8 well-spent.

I don't know what the deal is with this bike's fork. It's not crowned, has really sloppy brazing, and honestly feels as heavy as the frame itself. Those caps, from a hardware store, are meant to stick in un-used faucet holes on a basin sink. I thought that was pretty clever .

Taking a page right out of Rivendell, the cloth bar tape is shellacked and trimmed in cotton twine (I wasn't going to special order hemp twine).

I'm pretty proud of the fact that I didn't hop on here every day and pester you guys with questions. I did use an archived thread where the important trick of removing bar-end shifters is explained. It was about 1am, I needed to get a new stem on the bars, and after torquing an allen screw, I was ready to chuck the whole mess. Thank you RegularGuy, if you're still around.

Let me know what you-all think.

Ummm, so is it bare metal? In Seattle... that bike is going to rust orange before next summer. If it's cleared that will buy some time but I here it doesn't hold up for too long.

It's clear coat enamel. It will last for a while, especially with a spare can around for touching up nicks and chips. It won't last forever, but by the time it needs another paint job, he'll know what color he wants it.

How about "blue"..?

Well how the hell are ya? Welcome to BF!!! You'll have to keep everyone here updated on the resiliency of the Seattle weather vis-a-vis clear-coating bare metal.