Gitano?
 

Spotted an old road bike in a local goodwill store, was wondering if it was worth picking up? It was a "Gitano?" and said made in france on the frame, was a yellow/gold color and by the components I would say mid 70's? Anybody know anything about this manufactur?

Are you sure it's not GITANE which means gypsy in French. This was a pretty well known brand in France for many years, but they never really gained a significant foothold in the U.S.

Gitane: a French manufacturer of bikes. Some popularity in the US during 'bike boom' 70s. If I recall correctly, even raced in the Tour de France. Also made tandems.

Could very well have been a Gitane it was shoved in with a bunch of Huffys and stuff and I could get a real good look with out taking the pile apart. Looked like somebody had kept the mechanicals up, is it worth picking up as a project bike?

Gitane was the bike supplier to a number of TDF teams, though I can't recall which teams or which years.
Some of the 70's Gitane bikes had a seat tube decal with TDF on it.

now this is a nice gitane!

I just picked up a Gitane from Goodwill in Austin. Vitus steel frame tubes, Simplex Bernard Hinault (the Badger) deraileurs, downtube friction shifters, very comfortable Concor America saddle(has a cool flag reflector built in), Weinmann brakes, Mavic wheels. Probably mid 80's. From the looks of the drivetrain, the bike was ridden very little. Cleaned it and tuned it up. Rides like new.

Greg LeMond rode Gitanes for part of his career.

Have no real experience with them. The "Tour de France" model was their high-liner and is collectable.

Like most importers during the Boom they sold alot more lowliners than high, but you never know. Worth taking a look.

:beer:

This link will give you a bit more info.

http://sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-g-n.html#gitane

Dear Mr. Jim,

Dear Mr. Jim, I owned a purple gitano in the early 70's. This is different then gitane.. I loved my bike then. I hopw this helps. I believe it was an Italian bike.