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adam_b83 · Last edited by adam_b83 on Sun Nov 22, 2015 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total

hi all.

i recently purchased a bike from ebay over here in australia and i am sure it is a gitane aero profil. it was very cheap but needs a full restoration. the dura ace 7200 group is a bit dirty but complete. here is the ebay picture..

i am really just hoping for help to confirm or deny my suspisions that the frame is an aero profil. i have looked at length on the interweb and found the serial number under the bottom bracket has the same configuration as the aero profil on speedbicles, the setpost is the same too.

http://speedbicycles.ch/pic.php?enr=288&pic=027

everything is the same except the paint. there is no trace of blue on the fork steerer or the inside of the seat tube so i think it has been repainted. the saddle was a san marco concor supercorsa too.

there is a bit of rust on the headtube but other than that the frame is in very sound condition with no dents. it will be my winter project and i hope to have it restored by the end of the year.

here are the photos. any help or advice would be appreciated.

Frenchbuilt

Looks like one but best that one of the guys confirms.

lofter

Yes looks like mine , you'll probably find blue paint in the bb shell or maybe not , depends on if they resprayed it with the bb in . These had the dura ace ax group set . A pic of mine is in the models section of this website. There are decals on eBay that u will need if ur doing a restore on it. The paint is a little lighter blue than the regular road bikes.hold on to that seat post there are no more of those without having to forge a new one. Congrats on the find . I hope u got it for a dirt cheap price. I need to take mine in sometime and have the paint matched so I can paint a similar track frame I have . I would gladly give u the paint codes or take a scan of that pic in the model section in to who is going to paint it and see if they can match it. The front hubs are 80mm spacing instead of the usual 100mm. Its a tt bike . If u could take a pic when they take off the paint behind the head tube. Would love to see if the wedge behind the headtube is metal or some molded material.

adam_b83

thanks for the replies.

Mr Lofter, the picture of your bike is all ready printed out in colour and stuck above the work bench in the shed as inspiration! it is exactly as i would like mine to look!

I have found the decals on ebay, and the existing dura ace 7200 parts should be usuable with a polish. I have polished the seat post but there is some slight pitting so i will get it rechromed. When the frame is stripped i will take a few more photos of the gusset off the headtube.

I do wonder though, the front spacing is 100mm, not 80mm as yours is? the front spacing for this aero profil recently on ebay is 100mm also? maybe there are a few variations?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/160963526239?nma=true&si=SlDFl6Lx8gCY7%2FEN9kOVaFOYPKo%3D&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2557&orig_cvip=true

never-the-less, i will upload the photos of the bare frame soon.

lofter

Mine has mavic moyeux 580cx hubs 80mm front spacing. Her is a link to the ones I'm referring to
http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/mavic/images/19and20.jpg
These bikes were built to be very thin lined right down to the front hub . Mavic and gitane slash Renault were doing Aero stuff in the late seventies and early eighties . These are a by product of the research and testing that they were doing together. I have no idea about a different version as a 100 mm per say, but I know this ,they are not as readily availible on ebay. I've been waiting for a set for my profile track frame to come up for awhile now. You see 100mm pista stuff every now and then, but not the 80mm stuff. That being said, maybe they didn't have a 80 and stretched it to a 100. I don't know. We see the bikes in the 80 catalog and the 82 . So maybe in that time 80,81,82 they did a 100mm. That I couldn't tell you though.

verktyg

Lofter,

I bought a set of wheels from a French areo bike.

I didn't realize that the front hub was only 80mm wide until I got home! Crying or Very sad

BTW, the French standard front hub width used to be 96mm OLN (Over Lock Nut). Sometime in the 70s the standard changed to 100mm.

lofter

Ouch that had to hurt chas, my profile , track profile and my delta all have the 80mm . Confused

verktyg

logarto

rustlover

Hello Adam,

nice Profile you have, it could be that you have campa aero brake levers
and for this time of your frame it also could be that it was build up
with dura ace ex group - so my is done and it is from mid july 81
(something around the 20th of july).

There must, can be a number on the fork tube and i think that
on the bottom bracket the number is the production date and
on the fork there is the serial number of the produced Profile
(my one is around 361 (or 163) - sorry i dont have all the numers in my head) depends on the way you read it - top - down or down - top.

It will be interested to know the number, may be knowing that i am right
and we can check how many were produced (around).

greetings

july 81 profile
march 83 team pro
march 83 team pro
oct 84 team pro

adam_b83

thanks for the info rustlover.

the bike came with dura ace 7200 non aero levers, not campy levers.

i have looked on the steerer of the fork and there is a serial number, it is 340.

when the frame is stripped i will take a few more photos of the gussett.

thanks everybody for the responses too.

adam_b83

so, years later i am finally getting around to do some more work on the profil.

here is the gusset, it looks like sheet metal/steel wrapped around the headtube to form the aero fairing..

you can see the extra sheet wrapped around the headtube.

i do need to find the campagnolo levers. i have completed the dura ace group but need the levers to finish it off.

Any help/leads would be greatly appreciated Smile

sandranian · Site Admin

Wow. No wonder that thing weighs so much.

adam_b83

little bit of an update, I have picked up the frame from the painter over the weekend.
he has done a wonderful job matching the colour. I need a few small parts and then it will be ready to be built !

I will update with some more photos as it progresses.

smilingroadrunner

Outstanding !!! Great finish !!!---looking forward to the final product when the restoration comes together.

I Like Steel !!!
C.A.
Salina, KS