ColonelJLloyd 

I got this frame a few months ago. It had been repainted and decals were applied. I'm not certain if all the decals are appropriate, but I believe the consensus was that this is, in fact, a TdF. I had originally intended to build this up as a single speed, but before I could I bought a '72 Bottecchia Professional frame, refinished that and it became my SS. I didn't want this build to be a duplicate of something I already had, so I built it up as a 1x5 almost completely with parts I already had.

This is a slightly smaller frame than I usually ride, but it's plenty comfortable despite a greater saddle-to-bar drop than I usually have. As others have remarked, and has been my experience, this 531 Frenchie has an awfully flexy BB shell, but I'm just casually riding it, not racing it. I did take it on a few packed gravel roads (the tires fare much better on fine, packed gravel than the loose, coarse stuff obviously) and even the local cyclocross park. The grass and packed dirt portions were a lot of fun. The dirt/mud climbs and run-ups. . . well, let's just say that cyclocross racers of 40 years ago were some tough dudes.

Some build details:

• 531 Gitane TdF frame (early 70s, I reckon)
• Nuovo Tipo hubs/Araya 700c double wall, eyeleted rims/swaged spokes (thanks, frankthewelder!)
• Kenda Kwick 700x30 tires (measure ~28mm @60psi)
• MAFAC Competition calipers (cobbled together with various pieces to make a pair)
• VO threadless BB (the prior owner forgot to mention he cross threaded the BB)
• Stronglight 93 crank with 45t ring
• NOS Simplex Retrofriction shifter (thanks, nlerner!)
• SunRace 14-28t freewheel and SRAM PC-870 chain
• Campagnolo NR rear derailleur with new Shimano wheels
• GB 22.0/25.4/90 stem
• SR LaPrade seatpost (26.2) and RHM saddle
• Gran Compe brake levers
• Unmarked Japanese randonneur bend bar (38cm)

It weighs in at 23.5 pounds as pictured. I don't usually weigh my bikes, but I popped into the LBS yesterday to say hi and have a beer and decided to put it on the scale. These are just cell phone pics and not great quality.







I couldn't quite figure out how this rear cable stop was supposed to work. Obviously a ferrule or other piece was missing. My solution was to tap it to M6x1.0 and use an adjuster which works very nicely.

Vonruden

Sweet ride

rootboy 

Came out real nice, Colonel. Can't quite see it. Which 531 decal did you put on it? "531 main tubes"? Not to nit-pick but...heh...why not? On most TdFs I've seen, including mine, the little "Professional Tour de France" foils should be on the down tube between the shifters and Gitane sticker. But I have a feeling you knew that. Very nice looking ride Colonel.

ColonelJLloyd 

The decals were on the bike as I bought it. Here's a shot of the 531 decal.

rootboy 

Oops. I see now "it had been re-painted". I read that as you had painted it. Sorry.

anixi

Nice work, Justin! I love the Swallow look with the bike. It's a really fine re-store jobber. BTW, I just rebuilt that Champion, weighs exactly the same as your TDF. Wanna race?

noglider 

You did a nice job, even with that brake cable stop. I think the way you did it is perfect. And the gear range should handle most conditions well enough. Lot maintenance, too.

How does it ride?

ColonelJLloyd 

Yes. Losers still get beer, right?

Thanks, Tom. I get a lot of use out of that metric tap/die set. The gearing is pretty nice. I think it breaks down like so:

86"
71"
60"
50"
43"

I've only done one ride of ~20 miles in this configuration, but I like it. I didn't notice that it rode much differently than other similar bikes of the era. With a somewhat pared down build it feels pretty spry. Of course, the tires a different experience for me as I really have no experience with a tire with more tread than a Pasela. It handles well and is easy to ride with no hands. Ideally the bars would be higher and wider, but this was a parts-bin build.

non-fixie 

Nice! Looks like it was built for a specific purpose. I like that. Gives a bike a certain 'je ne sais qoi'.

fender1

It has that "My bike can beat up your bike" look. Nice.

ThermionicScott 

Nice ride. The mocha sidewalls on those Kendas go pretty well with the saddle and brake hoods.

southpawboston

Justin, another great build as usual. Looks like it will make a really nice gravel grinder and practical all-rounder. How do you like the MAFAC competitions? Do they feel similar to racers?

RobbieTunes 

It's a good thing so many of you guys ride bigger bikes than I can handle.
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Keeps the thoughts of bike theft out of my noggin.

non-fixie 

Close enough. Thank you.

Bianchigirll 

Beautiful

Chris W.

Very cool!!!

Cheers,
Chris

ciocc_cat

My first "good bike" was a TdF in the mid-1970s and it was a super-sweet ride. Enjoy yours - you certainly did a beautiful resto!

Italuminium

Wow, nice bike! that saddle is a very nice touch, as is the single ring stronglight crank. Looks much better than a double ring setup+fd, since that tends to clutter the cool, but somewhat intricate lines of the crank design.

TimmyT 

Nice job. That looks good, and Bob's your uncle.

Any particular reason that you wanted to skip the fd on this? I'm wondering if there's a 1 x X in my future.

qcpmsame 

Very nice, hard edged bike, the build detail is very well done. the saddle and Mafac brakes make it to me. Hope you enjoy the unique ride, well done, sir.

Bill

cobrabyte

I love builds like this, great job! I did a 1x5 build once, and used a slightly shorter bb spindle. It was a fun bike and it was nice to be able to use the full range of the gears on one front ring. Made it almost as care free as a single speed but with...options

ColonelJLloyd 

Thanks, Tim. After finding a different frame for SS use, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this frame. When Neal gave me that single Simplex shifter I started building a bike in my head around that little part and there you have it.

I've used doubles with a single ring before on IGH and SS builds. I would have just tried different spindles to get the right chain line, but discovered the bottom bracket threads were effed and there's no one in my town with 35x1 taps so I had to choose a JIS spindle length and go with it for this threadless BB. I went with 107mm. The chain line is pretty dang good, though the rests for the inner chain ring are about 1-2mm from the chainstay. So far, though, I've experience absolutely no rub and I've mashed on it pretty good and even had it off road so I think I'm in the clear.

Kobe 

It's like looking through a fly's eye, I see 3 Colonels. Dang that's shinny.