gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » So, I've got this Gitane TdF Professional, early 80's... Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3    View previous topic :: View next topic    Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:41 pm lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 Yellow Jersey has lots of Helicomatic cogs. I bought a 28, but he had a 30. I didn't ask about a 32, but I bet he had some of those as well. _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR   Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:42 pm lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 One more thing - the Testor's Light Blue seems to be a pretty close match. I haven't done any painting yet, so I could be very wrong I'll start somewhere inconspicuous, like the part of the fork that is concealed by the head tube. _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR Touchup   Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:01 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Lynne, Get one or two small camel hair brushes, they make touchup easier. You are much better off with 2-3 light coats than 1 heavy coat. Let the paint dry overnight. Small scratches are the hardest cover, paint chips are usually the easiest. Check the paint after it drys, it will frequently change color either lighter or darker. You may have to add a little white to lighten it up. After 2-3 weeks you can rub it out if needed. Chas.   Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:00 am lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 progress update: Stronglight Impact compact double crank arrived (from France, no less) still waiting on the Cane Creek SCR-5C gum/pewter brake levers attacked all the rust spots yesterday, plus the surface rust in the bottom bracket and head tube The big, ugly, paint gone rust spots are all on bottom facing surfaces; those have been painted. The paint is a bit lighter, but not terribly noticeable in outdoor light. What's next: continue frame tidying up apply Framesaver wax the frame do the wheel bearings make brakes and derailleurs shiny (Simichrome) make chrome shiny (ditto) remodel the freewheel (got the 28T cog and Helicomatic tool) find a new saddle contemplate fender offerings (Velo Orange?) buy new chain, cables and housing buy new tires and tubes decide on pedals - I'm thinking flat ones with PowerGrips put it all back together _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR   Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:55 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Cool crankset. Can't wait to see the finished product. By the way, I looked at your pictures of Prague. My wife and I went there (almost 10 years ago now...ouch!!!) and it brought back all kinds of memories. What a great city. Thanks for posting the pics, and for sharing the Gitane project on this site. _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com Rear hub spacing weirdness we won't even discuss the headset   Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 6:30 pm lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 The rear wheel fits very tightly in the rear hub. When I repacked the bearings, I noticed it had two spacing washers on each side, rather than one, so I took the extras out. Now, the spacing is less tight (still tight), but the Maillard Helicomatic lockring catches on the inside of the dropouts, not allowing the wheel to turn. My next trick is to put two spacers on one side and none on the other, and see if that works. The wheel will still fit very tightly. My mechanic is "re$pace!" Other mechanic friends say "steel frame, it will live". My thought - it has been that way for about 40+years now, and still seems fine Thoughts? The headset has been dissassembled, cleaned, reinstalled, and is not happy. To say that it sticks partway around is an understatement. Mechanic says not to worry YET, see what happens when everything is back together. I see that French thread headsets are still available, so I'm not worrying. Much. I'm pretty much ready to put it all back together now. _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR Re: Rear hub spacing weirdness we won't even discuss the hea   Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:40 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area lynnef wrote: The rear wheel fits very tightly in the rear hub. When I repacked the bearings, I noticed it had two spacing washers on each side, rather than one, so I took the extras out. Now, the spacing is less tight (still tight), but the Maillard Helicomatic lockring catches on the inside of the dropouts, not allowing the wheel to turn. My next trick is to put two spacers on one side and none on the other, and see if that works. The wheel will still fit very tightly. My mechanic is "re$pace!" Other mechanic friends say "steel frame, it will live". My thought - it has been that way for about 40+years now, and still seems fine The headset has been dissassembled, cleaned, reinstalled, and is not happy. To say that it sticks partway around is an understatement. Mechanic says not to worry YET, see what happens when everything is back together. Your bike came with 120mm wide rear dropout spacing to fit 120mm wide 5 speed hubs which were the standard at the time. As I understand, Helicomatic hubs are 126mm wide to accept 5, 6 and 7 speed freewheels. Stretching a steel frame 3mm per side every time that you put in the wheel isn't that big of a deal, but.... Bent or broken axles are frequently the result of misaligned dropouts. You cold be very lucky and have your dropouts perfectly aligned but I've seen many top of the line pro bikes with misaligned rear triangles and dropouts. Maybe who ever has ridden the bike for the last 40 years didn't weigh much or carry any extra weight on the back of the bike so bent or broken axles were never a problem. You mentioned that you were planning on using this bike for touring. I'd recommend that you have someone with the proper frames alignment tools and experience spread the rear triangle to accept the 126mm wide rear hub, realign the dropouts and align the derailleur hanger. Everything will work better afterward. Think of this situation, you are touring with bags on the back and you have a flat tire and it's raining and you have to fight to get the rear wheel out and back into the frame.... This link shows how dropouts are aligned: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=40 General frame alignment procedures: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=43 The type of tool used for aligning the derailleur hanger: http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=48&item=DAG%2D1 Next thing, your headset is probably OK. The old Stronglight P3 headsets are a pain in the butt to adjust properly. I just repacked the bearings on my late 60s Tour de France. It took me almost 20 minutes of adjusting to reach a happy medium where it's not too loose or too tight (same problem as your's) and I've been working on these things for close to 35 years. The old style French headsets with toothed lockrings are notorious for being difficult to get properly adjusted. What I should have done was waited until I had the time to take the frame down to my LBS or my local frame builder and face off the top and bottom of the head tube and the fork crown. I've had the bike since last December and I've never ridden it. I was in a hurry to get all the bearings repacked and take it out for a ride to see if I like it, keep it restore it, paint it or get rid of it. If you have your frame and fork faced off the problem with generally go away. Here's how it's done: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=108 http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=109 I took my almost new condition 1985-86 Gitane Professional frame to my frame builder friend's shop and had him align the frame and face the head tube and fork. Everything was off enough to require some work. Chas.   Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:26 am lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 I wasn't planning to tour on it. I've got other bikes for that. I was thinking a daylight-savings-time commuter (other bike has generator hub ) and just-riding-around. For the record, the mechanics at my LBS are eminently qualified to do just about anything. They are very, very good and very, very experienced. _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR And it is rideable!   Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:27 pm lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 http://lynnerides.blogspot.com/2008/04/gitane-rides-again.html The Velo Orange fenders didn't work out - they didn't fit in the fork crown. I'll try some other ones I've got in the garage (not NEARLY as nice looking), then probably will get some Planet Bike Cascadias if those don't work out. I've got a nice old silver Blackburn rack to put on it, as well. Clearly I need to remember how to ride with downtube shifters _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR   Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:15 pm lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 (hey, she's back!) I have ridden the Gitane - commuted a couple of times with it, and ridden it to the grocery store. The handling was troublesome. I had to pay COMPLETE attention while riding. I'm not taking it out for a longer ride until the issue is resolved. Today it visited my friend B. the mechanic. After pulling the headset, it was obvious that the fork crown had never, ever been faced. Much conversation in the shop, then she faced it. Still not perfect, but very much better. Pic here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethness/3026990468/ Except, when reinstalling everything - the stem bolt broke (!) 7mm Allen stem bolt, recessed. Something about rust... B says it was spot welded and could possibly be repaired. This after digging through the shop's box of French stems, and not finding a piece to cannibalize. Off to locate a welder tomorrow. _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR   Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:48 am lynnef Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 29 Update on the stem bolt - Acme Welding fixed it for me (husband: "and how much was it? ($20)") He didn't get that the whole bike depended on that stem bolt. Well, not really; friend B gave me another Pivo stem to use if I couldn't get it fixed. But it wasn't as pretty as MY Pivo stem. Aaaaaand - it rides SO MUCH BETTER! I'm a happy camper! I'll actually ride it now, rather than just look at it. _________________ Lynne F Portland, OR   Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:08 am sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California Glad to hear that it has worked out, and that you have a bike that you are proud of. Wouldn't be very good if the Gitane rode like a pig! _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com Like a pig?   Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:47 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Palease Stephan, like a Peugeot or a Raleigh but not a PIG! Chas.   Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:42 pm sandranian Site Admin Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2701 Location: Southern California My apologies. I meant "PIGeot". _________________ Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA www.gitaneusa.com So, I've got this Gitane TdF Professional, early 80's...     gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours   Page 3 of 3   Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First  Select a forum Gitane USA----------------Vintage GitaneGitane RacingModern GitanePro Racing - Classics/Giro/Tour....Owner Gallery   Powered by phpBB © 2001-2004 phpBB Group Designed for Trushkin.net | Themes Database.