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themichaelwells

Can anyone provide me with some information regarding this Gitane. I know it's one of the lower end models, likely a Gitane Pacific, but would like to upgrade the old cottered cranks. Does anyone know if these older low end models have French threaded bottom brackets?

sandranian · Site Admin

This will likely be French threaded. Why would you want to replace the cranks on this? These bikes are great, by the way. Just re-did one for my wife, and she loves it.

Contrary to popular opinion in the USA, these "mixte" bikes were NOT women's bikes, but rather "unisex". They are durable and ride well...even if they are a bit heavy!

verktyg

Welcome to town...

I suspect that it's a 1975 or 76 Gitane Gypsy or Gran Sport (not a Gran Sport DeLuxe).

These bikes were distributed by Gitane Pacific and I think that they may have come into the US as bare frames without the decals. They were assembled here in California by Gitane Pacific.

If you want to switch to an alloy cotterless crank you will need to find a metric (French) thread bottom bracket. The cranks and BB will probably set you back $50 to $100 USD.

Your money may be better spent on getting some alloy rims instead. That's where you can make the biggest improvement in performance - up to 3 Lbs. weight savings (plus they may slow down better when wet).

You can probably get some 700c rims laced to your wheels cheaper than finding an ally crankset with a metric BB.

27" wheels have been obsolete for many years. 700c offers a far wider choice of rims and tires. New stainless steel spokes are much stronger than the old steel spokes on you bike plus they wont rust.

Good luck!
Wink

themichaelwells

Thanks for the information. I'm curious, is there any reason that a sealed French thread bottom bracket from Velo Orange won't work with the newer Shimano crankset I intend to place on this bicycle?

Wheels are next up. I'm lucky enough to have access to a bike co-op that's overloaded with parts. I plan on tracking down some decent rims and hubs and building the wheels myself.

Thanks again. This is my girlfriend's bike and having the information in advance definitely helps me plan better. Better planning means less time off the road.

verktyg · Last edited by verktyg on Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:45 pm; edited 1 time in total

I'd do the saddle 1st! A comfortable saddle is much more important for women riders than us guys! Wink

BTW. those thick cushy gel saddles are comfortable for about 5 miles then you start sinking in and getting pressure where you don't want it.

Next brakes, new pads and cables are critical.

Then I'd do the wheels.

Cranks and derailleurs are more vanity items than critical components when it comes to riding.

scozim

themichaelwells

This is all great advice and I thank everyone for it. I'm still curious about the prospects of using a Velo Orange sealed French threaded bottom bracket on this bicycle. *WARNING* I do not intend to tackle this project immediately. I am simply gathering information for the future and have no experience working on French bicycles. The brakes have been redone, the wheels are in the works, and a new saddle will soon be in the offing. I happen to have a decent crankset sitting around that I'm not using, so changing it out will happen at some point as well. Now, with that being said...will someome please shed some light on whether or not I will be able to use the aforementioned bottom bracket with this bicycle?

Thanks again.

gmany

The tricky part is getting the correct length.

For instance, I replaced the BB in my regular rider (triple chainring before and after) late last year. I bought one the same length as the original (circa 1989). Installing it was simple and easy, however after tightening the crank arms, they each sat probably 5mm or so further off the spindle than the original which was nearly bottomed out (I tried retightening to no avail). That meant I had to adjust the front derailleur and then the largest chainring could only be used on half the cassette.

I'd try using your original BB to size up the length to get for the cranks you want to use.

Oh, if removing the original BB gets tough look at the tool tip from the late Sheldon Brown's website. - I still needed to use a breaker though.

verktyg

scozim