knight weiduh

Shoutout to all the old heads who ignored my post like a gatekeeper. Same energy! Progress...

Mocked up

future crank, waiting for the bottom bracket

NOS EVERYTHING!

YOU CANT FIND THIS STEM

Brooks cambium special

FRENCH REYNOLDS DECALS AF

Brooks C15 special cambium

NOS Phillips bar and unbranded french star stem! FWM

knight weiduh

I tried to keep this bike as french and period correct as possible but man, are NOS french track pieces expensive! The wheels are either going to be the polished Normandy hubs with new Mavic clincher wheels or something carbon track. It's coming along. Shout out to Velocals for the sick decals that are better than the original. The seat tube decal is in the mail.

knight weiduh

If no one knows, this is what it was before being disassembled, sandblasted and powder coated. Getting this bike left me stranded after a 6 hour trip to and from so its been a long road to get this bike to this point. Not much more to go.

Andy Antipas 

And now for something completely different.......

BertoBerg 

Yes! This is awesome.

BertoBerg 

It’s a beauty! Great build.

VintageRide

A 1970 / 71 Gitane Tour De France that was for sale locally for a few months, the overall condition convinced me to eventually buy it. One image as purchased and where I am with it currently. I seem to be leaning towards a 650b conversion but the longer I have it as configured I am starting to think I should leave it this way otherwise it will receive fenders, Rando handlebars and front rack with a Berthoud bag and other changes. Prefer platform pedals so a pair of Lyotard 460D or similar would be perfect.


The tubular wheels are from the early 1960's but I prefer large flange hubs although running sew ups may not be the most practical the 700C wheel set that came with the bike have Araya clincher rims with small flange Shimano hubs. I do have two pairs of Challenge Strada tubulars along with the Vittorias that are mounted, which are definitely offer not as comfortable a ride but more puncture resistant. I do think the bike is perhaps a bit too nice to modify though, especially being rather uncommon. If I could locate a pair of 700C clinchers with large flange hubs and then use a 32mm tire that might be ideal. I doubt one could fit anything wider though due to clearance under the fork crown. The Rene Herse tires tend to be quite good so that is one option.



I installed a Shimano Crane long cage rear derailleur since I will need lower gearing, most likely will use a 5 speed freewheel with a 32T cog, the Crane allows using the Simplex dropout without any mods short of being tapped and threaded which had already been done. Thankfully it was not modified further.

VintageSteelEU

The only Alu frame I would accept in my life

Andy Antipas 

This is the Peugeot's slightly oversized carbon fiber 3 main tube version of the Vitus frame.

Oldairhead 

Still a work in progress but coming along......

Pcampeau

My 1972 Gitane Tour de France with Campagnolo dropouts instead of the usual Simplex.

Schweinhund

Edit: maybe another day, sorry.

VintageSteelEU

Ah. Not for me then, thanks

Just kidding. I don't really care about what bicycles people ride. I tend to like the looks and craftsmanship of older bicycles, but that's all I ever rode. Few years back I was considering Alu Vitus frame and some bamboo frames, but eventually ended up with a hand me down steel frame, then upgraded that to Motobecane and got into vintage frames and components. I guess part of the fun was taking something that's 30-40 years old and bringing it back to life. Now the only problem is that I ended up with too many bicycles

Chombi1 

The main tubes are CF.......

VintageSteelEU

Yes, that's been explained already I thought initially it's a Vitus 979. Literally the only Alu frame that would be of some interest to me (and probably only in the shape of Motobecane Prolight), Not that I would actually ride it, maybe on some special occasions.

Fourthgrace

Original to frame is the Norex 38 saddle and Mavic Championat du Monde rims (with Mavic diamond decals), rest is reimagined. '67' stamped on rear dropouts. No other frame serial numbers. Frame features Nervex 110 Legere lugs and a grease nipple to bottom bracket - was brass, now replaced. Any thoughts on frame date? (I'm thinking late 60s/early 70s).

georges1

some 7 years old picture from my 1992 Peugeot prestige in Reynolds equipped with a mix Ultegra 6500/Dura Ace 7700 which will be upgraded with SL 7800, RD 7800, CS 7800 cassette, CN 6601, FD 7700, slime tubes and conti grand prix4 seasons, the brakes have been changed by Dura Ace BR 7700. A bike in very good condition that I own since 1996 when I began road bike racing , originally fitted in Ultegra Tricolor I upgraded it in 1999 with 6500-7700 components. The bike is very comfy but rigid. The fork was replaced after an accident I had during a race. It was replaced by a time carbon fork, nowadays you rarely see such Peugeot frames.They are of high quality and very durable for long distance riding and racing

juvela

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good investigation on your part

date a real puzzle due to reworking

without the reworking the NGS road ensemble would be a helpful clue

someone put a good deal of investment in terms of work and treasure into this machine

features such as under bottom bracket cable routing clearly not original

MAVIC rims do indeed appear to be plausibly original...

am able to see nothing which clearly makes it a Lejeune; have never before seen one with this lug pattern

you need to hear from the forum's resident maven on all matters Sauvage - Lejeune member CV-6


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ehcoplex

Good to see this thread get it's periodic resuscitation! I don't think I added this one already... Very little info on the Valgan 'brand', or who actually produced the frames. Apparently a bike-boom endeavor set up between a guy in Vestal, NY and friend in France. Mine was in very rough shape, but it still had the Super Vitus 971 'extra leg ere' decals and seemed nice enough to bring back to life.

1989Pre

That's gorgeous. Well done. The ride must be fantastic.

ehcoplex

Alas, it is waaaaaay too small for me- I rode it around the yard like a clown a little bit just to check the shifting, etc, but no sense of the ride from that. I finished it up after a cycling pal who it will fit headed south for the winter- when he's back he'll give it a proper test. If he likes it I may just give it to him- or I'll keep it on hand as a loner for when (shorter..) friends visit.

Fourthgrace

Thanks for your reply, always interested to hear thoughts on this, especially anyone familiar with Lejeune as it's not a well catalogued marque. The age of the saddle/wheel decals may be the best indicator on dating this frame. The rear stay treatment and dropouts are consistent with Lejeune models, but not the B. Carre frames that are most often posted. The lugs appear to be rare. So far I have only found one other frame with them (the maker unknown, but French), and that frame exhibited holes for a metal headbadge, but there were also several other notable differences vs mine, so unlikely a match.

Paul Waque 

I enjoyed cleaning up this circa 1974 Peugeot PA60. I wish it was a bit bigger. I sold it.

Notably it had a sticker form a bike store in Trenton Ontario. I read on this site that this 60 Series was not available in the states, I guess that at least some came to Canada.
Edit: Trenton has a Canadian Air Force base. I guess that it is possible that the bike was purchased at a European NATO base and returned with the owner. The store sticker would have been added later.

thumpism 

Another one we did not get was the PX-60, the full Reynolds 531 version with the same color and overall look (fenders, rack).