Bought a Gitane!
 

So if any of you were following my previous threads where I was asking opinions on all sorts of bikes; Well, I had narrowed it down to two different ones, a Bianchi Trofeo, and a frame-up build of a Gitane with Huret Dropouts.

The Gitane came out of nowhere, and I went to see it and fell in love! The guy who was selling it did a lot of work on it, it has a bunch of newer components whereas the Bianchi was all stock and I wasn't sure what state it was in, it had been stored for awhile, and I wanted something that was ready to go immediately.

So I made an offer and got the Gitane! The only I need to change on it are the pedals, other than that it is good to go.

I don't have any pics yet, but I will take some tomorrow when I get the new pedals on, and maybe someone can help ID the particular model, because it does not have any stickers on the frame...

Now if it wasn't so crappy and wet outside.....arg

http://i.imgur.com/dCnnI.jpg

Way to go - lots of Gitane lovers here. Be sure to join over at GitaneUSA.com also.

where in ontario are you craggen?

I am in Ottawa

So you are saying it did not happen? We definitely need some pictures.

For some reason Gitanes are the only French bikes that I really like. Is it Reynolds 531 steel?

added a pic :)

Very nice! I love those honeycomb dropouts. I'm not sure of the model, maybe a tdf? It looks nice the way it is, but if you're looking for decals you can get nice ones from cyclomondo. The "bubble" ones would be period correct for that frame, I think.

Actually - are those shifters clamp-on? Maybe not the bubble ones after all.

Turn it around the right way and post another picture.

http://i.imgur.com/r2Jzo.jpg

Working on it, my computer is from the stone ages!

a bunch more pictures! http://supervillain1.imgur.com/gitane

The rear brake setup looks very strange. Could you post a picture of it?

I would guess a TdF or Interclub from the mid-70's.

http://i.imgur.com/LfOit.jpg

Sorry for the crappy pics, using an old P&S camera, not my good one :)

Looks like the old centerpull is mounted with not enough clearance of the seat stays. There should be a spacer for the mounting bolt, from 5-10mm thick.

I see the fork takes a recessed brake mounting bolt. I suspect the rear does too.

I will have to look into that, the brakes work fine, you think they will rub against the seat stays??

It looks like it will rub against the tire. You need a brake with longer reach. It won't rub aganst the seat stays, but it's not mounted correctly.

A mid seventies frame should not take recessed mounting unless it has been drilled.

Strange that it has a solid rear axle.

The cables look better behind the bars.

It has some issues, but I like it.

Grrr, can't see the pics from work. :(

Painted dropouts means Interclub, chrome means Tour de France. I believe the honeycomb dropouts were only used in 1975-1976 but I might be wrong.

Sidepull in front and centerpull in rear? Odd. That centerpull is a cheapie and the sidepull looks (from here) to be more high-end. But that concerns finish, not performance.

It does look as if the rear brake shoe hits the tire. You're going to have a blowout quickly if that's the case.

But all that aside, I'm guessing it gives a fantastic ride. It looks pretty high end, and best of all, it's French.

I love the paint on this bike. I would change out the crazy rear brake as well, but other than that it looks great. I've never met a Gitane that didn't have a nice ride, and I'm sure this one's no exception. I am currently working on a weight-weenie build of my '84 Gitane Criterium, I'll post pics when it's done.

Maybe verktyg will pop in and tell us more than we ever wanted to know about this particular model.

I checked out the rear brake, I guess its just the camera angle, but it does not rub against the tire or the seatstays :)

What do you mean the cables look better behind the bars?

Yup, the rear brake is not as good as the front, the front is a Shimano 600. Any ideas with something I can replace it with?
Oh and the brake does not hit the tire, think its just the camera angle, I triple checked :)

It looks like you'll need to find a rear brake with a long reach; it might be that the bike originally had 27" wheels rather than the 700C you now have.

I think thats what happened, the seller mentioned something along those lines, and that's why he had to change out the back brake. So how do I search for that, anywhere that would sell them, or any brands/models?

If you're still in need of a rear side pull brake with long reach, I do have a set of Weinmann Type 730 (reach is 73mm, center of mounting bolt to center of brake pad). Send me a PM if you want me to dig them up. See here for a picture (not mine): http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Weinmann...#ht_1175wt_754