I am going to come right out and say it I am a newbie to restoring bikes and I have been pulling my hair out for the last few days trying to figure out what I have and wondering if I have just created a big headache for myself. Any help will be very much appreciated.

So I picked up a Gitane frame from re-sale shop here in town, paid $20 for it. I know vintage French bikes can be a PITA to restore and I was hoping that the bottom bracket wasn't shot. Well of course I take it home strip off the parts to find that yes indeed the bb is shot and moves a lot. I have two major problems. Number 1 being I have no idea what model I am working with as I can find no identifying markings on the frame and haven't come across pictures of my decal set on other bikes on the web. Second is obviously not knowing what kind of bb I am dealing with, crossing my fingers that it is standard british threading...

Does anyone know what kind of mess I have got myself into?!

imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer

Well this is a fairly low end late 60's early 70's French frame based on kick stand mount so it well most likely need a French BB, headset and stem. The BB looks to be a cheaper Stronglight circa 1970. Based on the rough condition I would suggest you look for a nicer different frame bike to rebuild it cost about the same to do a basic rebuild on a fairly nice bike as it does a lesser French bike.

Basement Model

This
Amazon.com : Bottom Bracket CUP SET FRENCH 35X1MM 2xRIGHT W/RETAINER : Bottom Bike Brackets And Accessories : Sports & Outdoors

The DT decal suggests mid-seventies Gitane Pacific issue - probably one of the more popular budget Gypsy Sport or Gran Sport models.

French bikes are really no more difficult to work on than Japanese or American bikes - IF the parts are all accounted for and in decent condition. It's just a matter of servicing it and reassembly like any other bike, BUT if you buy a rough frame devoid of useable parts, restoration becomes more of a quest than an viable economic alternative.

You need to watch project bikes, it's easy to turn a $20 bike into a $1,000 bike very easily. There are a few things to consider, first is, is the frame straight, you can determine this with a piece of string, tie one end onto a rear drop out, loop it around the head tube, and tie onto the other rear dropout. Take a marker, mark the centre of the head tube (use a ruler if you need to, on the string), and where it comes off each dropout. Untie it, and using the headtube mark, measure the other marks, if it's less then 1/16" (about 2mm) your good, if it's more then 1/4" (5mm) then it will need straightening by a frame builder using a straightening jig. This alone will cost $100 minimum. You need to get that BB out, the left looks OK, the right looks rusted in, let it soak in liquid wrench for a few days, and see if it will loosen up. It looks like a cottered crank, if you have the crank, then is it in good shape? Probably be easier/cheaper to go with a cotterless crank, then trying find a cottered French BB, but that adds at least another $150 to the investment. You need to then find the other parts you need, need a French stem and bars, but you also need to see if that headset is in good shape or not. If you have a decent collection of bike parts, you should be good, otherwise, it's going to cost about $300, for saddle, seat post (need to check the size here, French is always different from everyone else), stem (again check the size, it's probably weird and incompatible with anything else), bars, tape, cables, RD. FD, wheels..... You can look for period correct parts, but those are expensive. You also need to consider whether you want to media-blast and repaint that frame, which adds another $300 or so to the cost. You are now the proud owner of a $970 bicycle based on a $20 frame.....

If this one is straight, and you can find a French bicycle with a badly bent or broken frame you can get for another $20. You can swap components and end up with a decent bicycle.