gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Gitane Interclub '77?    View previous topic :: View next topic  Gitane Interclub '77?   Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:06 pm noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI Greetings to everyone- new to this site and first post. I've been reading the info here on this forum for the last several days trying to gain a little info in an attempt to identify a recent find (and hopefully get a little knowledge out of it too. Recently found a nice little bike at a local estate sale, looking extremely neglected and unused. I've always been a sucker for this kind of stuff, so it came home with me for a serious bath. Turns out that underneath the layers of grease and dust, a pretty nice vintage Gitane was hiding. I'm not a professional restorer, but I do like to clean vintage finds up and make them useable again and I'm pretty happy with the results. Kinda glad for the grease and dirt, kept most of the chrome intact Needless to say- LOVE the bike!! Handles and rides great! Really lightweight for a steel bike. I'm fairly new to road riding and only have experience with the aluminum frames. Unfortunately it is just a little too small for me After riding it, would love to have one that fits, so I'll either be swapping for one in my size or sell and buy one in my size. I'm 5'10" and after measuring this looks like maybe either a small 52 or more likely a 50. OK, enough rambling- back to the issue: Can anyone give me a little info as far as model/year? I will list what I can and add a few pics- Huret shifters and derailleurs Mavic Module E3 wheels "Honeycomb" rear dropout Normandy hubs (stamped 09 77) Serial number on frame also has a 77 in it, not sure if that is relevant Simplex front dropouts Mafac Racer brakes and levers 3ttt stem, but no name visible on bars Bocoma lugs Unsure of crankset- input? Guess pics would help Seat tube decal is kinda chewed(previous owner attached a BikeGuard to it) If I can't swap and have to sell, is there a reasonable value I should ask for? Did Gitane make the Interclub in 77? Did they come with the Racing Team decal? So many questions for a newb, guess I'm living up to my new username Thanks for your time and hopefully assistance- have a great week!- weather finally broke here a little, gotta get out on the road!!!! _________________ Dave   Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:10 pm noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI This is still a work in progress by the way- the bike is a little cleaner now than this set of pics _________________ Dave   Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:55 am Pontivy Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 11 Location: Wirral, UK Let me be the first to say welcome to the forum, it's a great resource. That's a great looking Interclub - even in its half-cleaned state. It's a shame it isn't your size, but it's obviously whetted your appetite for these bikes. I'm 5'10 and find the 57cm frame size to be a perfect fit. The 54cm should also work well for you. Although I'm not knowledgable enough to answer your questions with any confidence, there are some real experts on here that will be able to help.   Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:54 am noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI Hello- thanks for the reply. Thank you for the compliment - most of the heavy cleaning done now, just need to get in the corners and edges with a tootbrush and maybe polish the wheels a bit. Nice to see it come back to life little by little. _________________ Dave   Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:02 am noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI Oh and to answer your earlier statement- yes, consider me hooked on the bike. I just wish it was a tiny bit bigger. After a little more digging around, found the cranks are Sugino Racing Apex 170 mm, and the pedal clips are Christophe. Still unclear about the year though. If anyone you might know has the answer, would really appreciate it. _________________ Dave   Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:40 am Pontivy Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 11 Location: Wirral, UK As far as I know the Interclub was still being made in 77 possibly the last year they used your decal scheme. As for the actual year we need someone with more detailed knowledge to butt in. I don't think the serial numbers are meant to correspond to anything: the 77 is probably a coincidence It is probably 74-77. I've got a 73 Tdf which I actually thought was an Interclub at one point as it's got painted rear stays. I really like them and they are well thought of on here. Yours looks like it may have some upgrades. There will definitely be an answer to your questions, eventually 1974-75 Interclub   Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:18 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Greetings, Your bike is probably a 1974 or 75 Interclub. In 1976 they had a slightly different head tube decal like the lower one in the picture below. As far as I know, Gitane never used SR brand cranks. It probably originally had cottered steel cranks or maybe Sugino Maxi alloy cotterless cranks. The stem and saddle look like replacements too. The stem looks a little high. It should be inserted at least 75mm to 80mm into the steering tube for safety reasons! Value? $150 to $225 USD. _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:43 pm noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI Good evening- thanks very much for the response. I was browsing the catalogs online here earlier and was noticing the same thing about the cranks. Great resource, by the way. The chainrings look like possibly Sugino Mighty, but I'm not an expert- just looked at a whole bunch of pictures in the last few days. Not sure where the seat came from, but if not original, I won't feel too bad about replacing. Seat post is a little high, only for my height- just wanted to ride it up and down the road a bit, is lowered now. I'll be replacing that as well- after sitting unmoved in a garage for what I was told was close to 20 years, a lot of the chrome came off after a VERY exhausting extraction Wish it was my size, would love to be able to spend more time on it. Thanks again for the info. Dave _________________ Dave   Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:55 am noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI Stem was also high when I got it- has been lowered since. Noticed it was up past the max line marked on it _________________ Dave   Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:09 am verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area noosantz wrote: ...The chainrings look like possibly Sugino Mighty, but I'm not an expert- just looked at a whole bunch of pictures in the last few days. Dave The crank arm says SR which is the logo for the Sakae Ringo brand name. It's different from the Sugino brand that Gitane used. These crank arms are "melt forged" which is a BS way of saying they are cast aluminum not forged like the Sugino Mighty cranks. The Maxi cranks are cast too. Both these SR cranks and the Maxi cranks have the chainring carrier or spider swagged onto the right crank arm. When the Japanese first started making this style of cranks, they had a lot of problems with the crank arms coming loose from the spider. I guess that they were not designed for heavier, stronger riders who bought these kind of bikes in the West. They must have improved the designs back then because I stopped seeing those kinds of failures by the mid 70s... If this was a European model bike it could have had cottered steel cranks or else the original Sugino Maxi cranks failed like I mentioned above and were replaced with the SR cranks. noosantz wrote: Normandy hubs (stamped 09 77) 09 77 is the manufacturing date for the hubs but wheels are not a good way to judge the date of manufacture for abike because they are so easily changed. Also a European model bike may have came with tubular tires. _________________ Chas. SF Bay Area, CA USA ============== 1984 Criterium 1969 TdF 1971 TdF 1974 TdF 1984 TdF x 2 Bikes 1970 SC 1971 SC 1972 SC 1984 SC 1984 Team Pro 1985 Professional 1990s Team Replica   Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:32 pm noosantz Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Niles, MI Thanks for all the info- definitely cleared up a few puzzlers for me. Like I said before, I'm still fairly new to cycling but I love it. And it's great to be able to come somewhere like this and get some answers if I have questions. Just not sure what to do with it now that I have it. Would love to have to have a larger frame of the same bike(after measuring, it is only a 50cm- I need a 54-56:( ), but it was a lot of fun getting it cleaned up and breathing a little life back into it. Previous owner said if it didn't sell, it was going out to the curb the next Monday and I couldn't picture it being crammed into some Waste Management truck for a trip to the landfill Will probably list on eBay, and put the cash away until I can find one in my size. REad one of your previous posts about the bikes currently listed being built for giants- definitely not the case with this bike. Unfortunately for me, these bikes appear to be more scarce than the average. I know I'm new here, but if you or anyone has any info about one in my size available keep me in mind. Thanks again and have a great weekend! Dave _________________ Dave Gitane Interclub '77?     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 1 of 1   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.