Help me identify my Gitane
 

I found this Gitane under a freeway overpass and decided to save it and haul it home. But I'm not going to lie, I know little to NOTHING about Gitanes and cannot identify the year or model of this bike. Any help is appreciated.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27..._606/bike5.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27..._606/bike4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27..._606/bike3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27..._606/bike2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...t_606/bike.jpg

thanks

Looks like a Grand Sport de Luxe, Gitane's entry-level during the 70's bike boom.

Since you found it under the freeway overpass, it's possible, or even likely that it was stolen-- or maybe it belongs to some homeless person?

You should really try to make sure that it doesn't have an owner looking for it before you really start calling it your bike.

Hi heatherlovine, Blue Order does have a good point. Is it possible that it belonged to someone, or did you find it missing the front wheel? It looks to have been in fairly good shape otherwise, unless you've already done considerable cleaning up on it.

Welcome to BikeForums!

East Hill

I have cleaned it up a bit. It had considerable surface rust, the tires were destroyed and flat, not to mention it had so much rust the pedals would barely rotate. I'm positive that if it was someones, it was there for a while. I also saw it there for a few days before I bothered picking it up.

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If not, you've got a good entry level 70's bike. They were always good riders, and this one actually has a paint job left. Guess that's why you got the suspicious comments.

so is it worth putting the money into? I figure since I got it for free, I can't really complain.

Even in the condition she found it in, it could still be stolen and left there for later pick up.

Or maybe it was abandoned. Hard to know unless you see if anybody has been looking for it. I'd do a Google search for a stolen bike posting, and search Craigslist as well, just to be sure. If nobody's been looking for it, then I'd consider it abandoned-- Finders keepers then.

Depends what you mean by "putting money into it." If you mean clean it up, touch up the nicks, new tires, maybe alloy wheels, cables, tune-up, new grease, replace broken parts, yes, I think it's worth putting money into it.

I think I'd put out an advert on Cl, just in case. If it's not in really bad shape, you could put a few bucks into it and get it rideable.

East Hill

Probably the Grand Sport vs. the Grand Sport De Luxe, as the De Luxe version usually had chrome forks.

To give you an idea, that bike cost about $115 or thereabouts (IIRC) brand new back in the early 70's. About 28#, not a lightweight, but lighter than American bikes of the same era and $.

and that stem: it *may* be one of the break-away AVA...if so, you need to find another French stem, or sand down a standard quill to fit the French steerer...pretty easy to do.

Best cleaned up and ridden as-is. Low end French bikes are a lot better riders than most people figure. My UO-8 brought that back to me in a very pleasant rush. Still, with my 35 year love of Gitanes, I'm always keeping my eye open for a Grand Sport Deluxe.

At the most, come up with a second set of 27" wheels (alloy rims) and swap them out.

You may be able to use 700c wheels. My Gitane will take either size. Unless the frame was produced strictly for the US market, it was sold in Europe with 700c wheels. A 27X1 1/4 tire will rub the bottom of the fork on my Tour de France. It may have been built with tighter clearances since it's a racing model. Even with 700c wheels, there's no way that it will ever have a front fender.

The TdF (back in the first half of the 70's anyway) was never sold with anything but 700c tubulars. Back in Erie, it was the big jump in the local marketplace between an nice entry level bike and something really serious.