JJScaliger

I bought this Gitane Interclub about a week ago to be my new commuter bike. It looks like it was barely ridden. The paint is still really nice and the lugs are lined. It does have Suntour derailleurs, shifters and freewheel (fd Spirt, rd V, fw perfect 14-24), which I assume are not original. It has tubular 700c wheels. The front didn't hold air so I decided to give the yellow jersey 3 for $50 a try and mounted one on the front. The rear has a Clement 50 that holds air fine and is in great shape.

I haven't had a chance to take it for a real ride yet just a couple of miles around the neighborhood. I thought the Bocama lugs with the angles on them are pretty cool and I have the willow leaf seat stay caps. Pretty cool for a gas pipe frame!







The crank is cottered with 50/45 chainrings. I"m not sure of the make. The 1970 catalogue on Gitaneusa lists Durax, but this crank didn't look like any I could find online. That gearing is kind of tough guy for the hills I usually climb. I might
have to switch it out.









This plastic saddle has to go. I'm probably going to replace it with a Brooks team pro classic.

This is my first French bike so any advice or comments are appreciated.

LeicaLad 

Very sweet. And in amazingly great condition.

The InterClub was a nice riding machine. Frankly, it's probably the best "gas pipe" frame you could hope to ride. It is certainly more lively and responsive than the Peugeot UO-8 which was about the same price point. Many more UO-8s are still around, and people love them. When I ordered my 1971 InterClub, it did not arrive, so the shop owner made me a deal to buy a TdF for $30 more. I think that the price points were close was part of the reason the InterClub pretty much disappeared from the shops.

Chas may weigh in with more precise details, but my guess for you bike is 70-71. Having the rear brake bridge as a braze-on tells you this was earlier than the true bike boom craze when attention to detail totally went out the window.

The Suntour equip was not, as you guessed, original. The crank set is unknown to me, too. Pop on a nice Stronglight 93 and it'll be an ersatz TdF!

As for trusting that rear tire. . . You are a brave man. Be sure to carry one of those spares!

Oh, yeah. That saddle MUST go.

Congrats on a great find, and thanks for the photos!

:-)

rootboy 

Really nice condition. Looks well cared for. Love that color too.

Grand Bois

Please don't let anyone talk you into changing that beautiful cottered crank!

ftwelder

It's a French invasion tonight! Beautiful...

jimmuller 

Is not that little emblem on the chainring the Cyclo emblem?

Nice bike! That's an unusual chainring combination. Probably set up to be a half-step crossover. I wonder if it was a custom selection.

peter_d

I have a very similar Interclub with the Durax cranks and Pivo stem. Its a very nice looking bike and the workmanship is a cut above similar era Peugeots that i've restored. The frame seems to be about the same weight as the Peugeot Carbolite frames. It feels great on the road, a combination of the heavier frame and superlight tubular tires and rims I think. I agree with Grand Bois....keep the cottered crank. A Brooks Swallow or even VO #6 saddle in honey looks great with the green color.

auchencrow

Gorgeous example JJ - Quite a find especially in such condition!
I'd take the other's advice and keep it original.
Well, I might swap the Unicantor for a Brooks for riding, but I'd still hold on to it.

verktyg 

WOW! That's as nice as any Interclub that I pulled out of a box to assemble! Don't change anything but the seat and get a set of 700c clinchers for commuting.

The Interclub was Gitane's entry level racing model with standard steel components, Simplex Prestige derailleurs, MAFAC brakes plus alloy bars and sewup wheels with Normandy hubs. Tubing on these frames varied from the same gas pipe tubing used on Gitane Gran Sport bikes, a lighter non alloy steel tubing and even a few made of Durifort tubing.

Peugeot (PA-10), Motobecane, Jeunet, Mercier and others made similar models during the late 60s and early 70s.

Many early 70s Interclubs came with steel cranks with 1/2 step gearing. TA Cyclotouriste alloy chainrings could be used on some of those cranks.

Some of the other French makes upgraded their entry level racing models to Nevar or Stronglight 49 alloy cranksets. Stronglight, TA and Nervar cranks where scarce during the peak of the bike boom of the early 70s.

Gitane started supplying Sugino Maxi alloy cotterless cranks on some Interclubs about 1973. During 1972-73 because of availability issues, some Interclubs still came with steel cottered cranks.

They also started supplying Interclubs with Suntour derailleurs. They may be original???

I had several Interclubs back in the 70s that I used for commuter/training bikes. I built them up from bare frames. I just traded off a late 60s Interclub frame. It was a 60cm, too big for me. The frame was almost new.

Poguemahone

That's a nice one... take the advice of verktyg above and get a set of clinchers. Tubies are great, but they're a seriously bad choice for urban riding. You can switch wheelsets back and forth if you want.

Grand Bois

Gitane cheaped out on the saddles. That's probably the original. Even the TdF came with cheap plastic.

LeicaLad 

yeah. we called 'em a**-hatchets.

In theory, they were supposed to be the lightest, most race-worthy and newest thing.

In practice we all hated them and swapped 'em out at the very, very first chance.

rootboy 

When my pal and I bought our Gitane TdF and PX-10, respectively, in 1971-72, the first thing we did was buy saddles. He got the Ideal 90 for his Gitane. I got a Brooks pro for my Peugeot.

Italuminium

that's beautiful, great score! nice, full set of rubber on those MAFAC's. Hm, I suggest riding the saddle first. In my experience plastic saddles can work great if they fit you and they're great for commuters since you can ride them in any weather without worries. I actually prefer my unicanitor to my brooks pro.

Grand Bois

What saddle did your Peugeot come with? I thought it was either Brooks or Ideale on those. My '74 came with a leather covered plastic Ideale 2001.

rootboy 

That's a good question, GB. To tell the truth, I can't remember. But I vaguely remember having to step up for an upgrade. Though it's hazy at this point.

Hell, I don't know Grand Bois! That was nineteen seventy two. It's a wonder I can remember anything from that time.
I think I had a white bike with a French name on it.

I believe you're right. I remember him having to buy that Ideale saddle but mine came with Brooks on it.

...half of what I say is unreliable. And the other half is suspect.

rootboy 

...just one other thing. Which is older in that first pic? That bike? Or the Plymouth?

JJScaliger

Thanks for the comments everyone! I know it's not the most high-end bike in the world, but I have to admit I almost like it too much to make it my rainy day commuter. I rode it to work today to show a coworker who is interested in cycling and received compliments from several others about how great it looks for the age.

I did a little research online before I purchased it and learned a lot on the Gitaneusa site, especially old posts from verktyg. Most of the information I found was about the interclub with the honeycomb dropouts, not the lowly stamped ones like mine. I took a few more pics for posterity before my bike gets less photogenic.

head lugs with 72 stamped on top lug


rear drop out non drive

drive side with Suntour V rear derailleur


head tube with BCM stamped on lugs



I'm still infatuated with it, so I'll probably spoil it for a while and keep riding my Surly to work (it is supposed to rain/snow for the next 3 days). I willing to give the half step gearing a chance, and I don't plan on replacing the cottered crank, maybe just a switch the smaller chain ring from a 45 to 42.

The Plymouth is older.

Grand Bois

I paid $25 for a pair of pump pegs like those and they required a soak in molasses to remove the rust.

The hubs are Normandy Sport. The bike is very similar to a Peugeot PA10. I have one and it's a nice ride. The little bit of extra frame weight over my PX10 is hardly noticeable on flat ground. I've always said that the French had a way with gaspipe frames.

Why aren't your zinc plated spoke crusty and corroded like every other set I've ever seen of that age?

The 72 on the lug is the angle.

verktyg 

1966 Plymouth Valiant

The Huret Honeycomb rear dropouts came out in 1974. Prior to that Interclubs came with stamped steel dropouts.



You'll probably have a hard time finding a 52-42 chainring set. 52-45 was a common "racing" chainring set back in the early 70s. Peugeot PX-10s came with that gearing.

JJScaliger

Here are some pics of the Gitane InterClub with its new Brooks Team Pro saddle and french chrome toe clips. Thanks for the suggestion of a honey colored saddle Peter D. I was originally going to get a black Brooks, but I think this honey Brooks looks great!











I took it for a longer test ride today, but after about 5 miles the fixed cup started to work loose. I had to shorten the ride to 13 miles and finger tighten the cup a couple of times on the way home. Barring this problem, the Interclub rode very nicely. I think I'll be ok with the half-step gearing. I rode up a few hills and was fine, although definitely slower than usual.

kc0yef 

we need more pictures of the hubs please...

auchencrow

Stunning, JJ.

Do yourself a favor and put a bottle cork in the top of your seat post. Your local hardware will have them in various sizes. It will keep foreign material and vermin from settling down in there.

Grand Bois

Do yourself another favor and put the front brake cable behind the bars and get the bend out out of it.

I could be nit picky and say that the cables are a bit too long and uneven and that your brake lever ends should be even with the bottom of the bars, but I won't.

Awesome bike, though.

JJScaliger

@ KcOyef I'll take some pics of those Normandy sport hubs sometime soon.

@ Auchencrow Thanks for the suggestion. I'll pick up a stopper this weekend.

@ Grand Bois Yeah, I agree. The shop I bought the bike from only did two apparent things to this bike: new jagwire cables and green cloth tape. Both done a little awkwardly. At the shop I used to work at we used a ruler to make sure the bottom of the lever was even with the bottom of the drops. I just didn't want to mess up the tape job. The levers are comfortable like that too. As for the long housing, I know they're too long, I've been too lazy to fix it.

This is my first non aero brake road bike, so I wasn't sure whether to run them in front or behind the stem. I looked at pics on this site and people seemed to run them both ways. Tomorrow is another day, I'll correct it then. Thanks for the advice.