 |  | | | |  | |  |  | 1973 Gitane Gaves Tandem Restoration Project Advice?! |  | |  |  | |
 Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:42 am |
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| pargeterw |
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| Joined: 30 Aug 2012 |
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Hello all,
I'm just about to start restoring a 1973 Gitain Gaves Tandem, and have started a blog do document my progress, but, most importantly, to coalesce my inevitably huge number of questions for the tandeming community into one location.
http://gitaingaves.blogspot.co.uk/
I would be eternally grateful if anybody here had time to read the whole thing (it ended up longer than I meant it to...), and hopefully put in a few useful comments?
Thank you!
Will
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| | | | | | | | | 1974 or later, not 1973 | | | | | |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:18 pm |
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| verktyg |
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| Joined: 14 Jan 2007 |
| Posts: 2814 |
| Location: SF Bay Area |
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Greetings and welcome to the forum.
I suspect that your bike is a 1974 to 1976 model not a 1973.
Gitane used foil decals from 1968 until early 1974.
In 1974 they switched clear plastic decals with yellow or green characters and used that style through 1976.
I suspect that someone changed the cottered steel cranks to the current alloy cotterless cranks.
Also,
One of my nag points:
http://gitaneusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2327&highlight=modesty |
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_________________
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 |
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| | | | | | | | | Re: 1974 or later, not 1973 | | | | | |
| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:50 am |
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| pargeterw |
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| Joined: 30 Aug 2012 |
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| verktyg wrote: |
Greetings and welcome to the forum.
I suspect that your bike is a 1974 to 1976 model not a 1973. |
Hmm... You may well be right... Looking at the catalogues that you have on the site, I can see the old Gitane logo being used in 1970 (http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1970_cover.jpg), but on the 1973 French catalogue cover, the new one is already being used (http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1973/FR_1973_01.jpg) Further to this, while it appears that the Gaves does have the decals that you mention, the "Monts D'Auvergine" next to it, does have the decals that you accuse of not existing until the year after? I also can't fine a double-mens in 1974-6?
That was the reasoning that led me to believe it was '73, anyway. Obviously I didn't know about the Decals thing!
Re: Your nag-
The reason for this was I wheeled it out of the garage forwards, and parked it facing that direction, and then walked around until the lighting was best! I have never photographed a bike before and didn't know there was a convention; There is a photo from the other side, in the album linked to by the blog (or here:http://i.minus.com/i7MzketNHQMOt.JPG) Another reason is because, since I only had pedals on one side, I could only prop it on the block on the right side, and I wanted that behind the bike...
Forgive me?!
Will |
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| | | | | | | | | Re: 1974 or later, not 1973 | | | | | |
| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:41 pm |
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| verktyg |
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| Joined: 14 Jan 2007 |
| Posts: 2814 |
| Location: SF Bay Area |
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| pargeterw wrote: |
Hmm... You may well be right... Looking at the catalogues that you have on the site, I can see the old Gitane logo being used in 1970 (http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1970_cover.jpg), but on the 1973 French catalogue cover, the new one is already being used (http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1973/FR_1973_01.jpg) Further to this, while it appears that the Gaves does have the decals that you mention, the "Monts D'Auvergine" next to it, does have the decals that you accuse of not existing until the year after? I also can't fine a double-mens in 1974-6?
That was the reasoning that led me to believe it was '73, anyway. Obviously I didn't know about the Decals thing! |
There have never been any bicycle specification police...
"Specifications subject to change without notice"
There is only 1 bike pictured in the 1973 French catalog with the new style decals.
I suspect that catalogs were produced in the fall for the year end holiday buying seasons.
The bikes shown on this page have the old style foil decals.
http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1973/FR_1973_01.jpg
Gitane performance models had silver foil decals on the seat tube.
The bike pictured on the front and back of the 1974 catalog never existed... it was a one off show bike! 
In addition Gitane, Peugeot, Motobecane, Raleigh and some other larger European bike manufacturers produced different models for the specific markets they were being sold.
Those model names in the French Gitane catalogs were most likely only used in the French market.
If you look at the UK catalogs, you'll find model names that aren't listed in any other catalogs.
Don't believe everything you think! 
Male/Male and Male/Female frames were available in all of the Gitane tandem models whether they were listed in the catalogs or not. |
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_________________
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 |
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:43 am |
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| pargeterw |
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| Joined: 30 Aug 2012 |
| Posts: 6 |
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Oh dear....
Hopefully it doesn't matter!? It wont really be 1970's when it's finished with anyway 
Thanks for the info, and I'll be sure to do my research thoroughly before making such assertions in the future!
Will |
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