 |  | | | |  | |  |  | Hi, first post...here is my 'new' Gitane :-) |  | |  |  | |
 Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 1:48 am |
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| Andy1969 |
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| Joined: 20 Apr 2014 |
| Posts: 5 |
| Location: Leicestershire, England |
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Hi, so happy I found this site:-)
I've been looking for an early 80s Gitane for sometime and found this locally to me. I went to view it and snapped it up right away for a serious bargain, leaving my wife to drive home alone and me to ride home in my jeans and trainers! 
Pretty sure it's an '81/'82, but not sure what model....maybe someone can help. The finish is a copper metalflake.
The bike is in really good order and even has the original bar-tape. There are a couple of marks to the decals on the downtube, but there is zero rust.
I've cleaned and polished quite a lot so far, trued the rims and greased the bearings. The gears are pretty bad, so I'll be uprating them to Simplex at some point and changing the dreadful bargain bin saddle to a Rolls. I find them really comfortable after a serious hip injury. I will put toeclips on the pedals, but will quite possibly train on clipless, as I'll be putting a lot of miles in over the summer.
Cheers, Andy in less than sunny Leicestershire
How it looked when I finally got it home....really bad mudguards,a poundstore trip computer, a terrible saddle and lots of oil and grease!
How it looks now...
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:30 am |
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| scozim |
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| Joined: 26 Sep 2008 |
| Posts: 629 |
| Location: Ellensburg, WA |
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That's a nice looking ride. I like the copper color - haven't seen that before on a Gitane.
Is it Super Vitus frame/tubing? Can't tell with the sticker on the fork. If it is, my guess would be on the Vuelta model (UK specific). Should be a really nice ride.
What derailleurs are on the bike right now? |
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:29 am |
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| Andy1969 |
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| Joined: 20 Apr 2014 |
| Posts: 5 |
| Location: Leicestershire, England |
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Thank you,
it is the 102 Aerotubing.
It is also a French market bike....I bought it from the original owner who bought it whilst living in France in the early 80s; I hadn't seen the colour before either and can't find anything about it on the internet .
Gears are the original Sachs Huret. I shall be replacing them short term with something more rideable from my 'stash', whilst saving for some period Simplex to do it justice.
I will post some more photos towards the weekend, as it looks a lot better now.
Thanks. |
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:13 pm |
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| scozim |
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| Joined: 26 Sep 2008 |
| Posts: 629 |
| Location: Ellensburg, WA |
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I would suspect it's probably upper low end to middle of the product range for the French bikes with that tubing.
I've got a late 60's Peugeot that I put Simplex derailleurs on and a tubular wheelset and it's a blast to ride. Not the lightest but the tubulars really give it a nice feel.
You've got a lot of options available to you to make it a sweet bike. |
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:29 pm |
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| Andy1969 |
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| Joined: 20 Apr 2014 |
| Posts: 5 |
| Location: Leicestershire, England |
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| scozim wrote: |
I would suspect it's probably upper low end to middle of the product range for the French bikes with that tubing.
I've got a late 60's Peugeot that I put Simplex derailleurs on and a tubular wheelset and it's a blast to ride. Not the lightest but the tubulars really give it a nice feel.
You've got a lot of options available to you to make it a sweet bike. |
Thank you,
yes I suspected it would be pretty low down in the range, but I love it.
The bike is just so comfortable and responsive too, surprisingly. It also has done so few miles and I suspect that helps. |
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:39 am |
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| Andy1969 |
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| Joined: 20 Apr 2014 |
| Posts: 5 |
| Location: Leicestershire, England |
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Please excuse the picture quality!  I have this afternoon off and the weather outside is awful!!!
My bike looks like this now and I'm really pleased. Complete with stop-gap Shimano rear mech. I've polished lots re-dished the rear rim, serviced it, set it up for me, and it rides like a dream
Cheers
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 4:32 pm |
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| mountaindave |
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| Joined: 22 Jun 2010 |
| Posts: 75 |
| Location: Flathead Valley, MT |
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Nice! She polished up really well. Was that an old Avocet 30 cycle computer you removed? Now you just need some tan sidewall tyres and you'll be good to go.  |
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 11:00 am |
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| Andy1969 |
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| Joined: 20 Apr 2014 |
| Posts: 5 |
| Location: Leicestershire, England |
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Thank you,
no the computer was a dreadful modern 'thing', not a cool old Avocet, unfortunately!
Here's some better pics and a couple of funky parts, the Gitane logo chainstay protector, bar tape and end caps are original....and I just love the Nervar cranks; never had any before and they're just terrific! cheers
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 5:38 am |
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| sandranian |
| Site Admin |
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| Joined: 27 Feb 2006 |
| Posts: 2701 |
| Location: Southern California |
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| Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 5:21 am |
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| txmnjim |
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| Joined: 02 May 2014 |
| Posts: 25 |
| Location: Minnesota |
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| that saddle looks fine to me. let me know if you want to sell it cheap |
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