gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » My lovely find    View previous topic :: View next topic  My lovely find   Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:05 am MiloFrance Joined: 18 Aug 2014 Posts: 12 Location: France So I found this on the interweb, and bought it. I was the second enquiry but the first guy didn't turn up. All the lugs, cable guides, chrome etc don't match anything I've yet found on the web, but very happy with it. https://plus.google.com/photos/110750286229279612895/albums/6048959875674563201?authkey=CNLq3Mu5_oa9dw I was about to go for a ride on Sunday when the tyre wall blew, but the 100m I did do felt lovely! New tyres and tubes on the way...[/img] _________________ Brompton Edge Mango (Custom SS welded by Carl Strong in Montana) 1998 Colnago Titanio with ll the original chorus gruppo Not a Gitane but Pretty frame with wrong decals   Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 1:34 pm vonfilm Joined: 15 Jan 2014 Posts: 13 Location: Austin, Texas Very nice. Nice Find   Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 2:14 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area Miles, It certainly is a nice find, but... Breaker of hearts, bearer of bad news: It's not a Gitane frame. Two reasons: 1. I've never seen a Gitane with Nervex DuBois lugs. Peugeot oi, Gitane non. Gitane used Bocama or Prunat lugs. 2. Gitane didn't use fluted seat stay caps like on your frame. I don't know what make the frame is but the Reynolds 531SL forks could be from a top end Gitane or Peugeot from the late 1970s or early 1980s. Whoever repainted it used some replacement 1984 Gitane decals from Cyclomondo in Australia. Ride it and have fun... Don't worry about the heritage, Just call it a 30+ year old royal "batard". _________________ 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: Wed Aug 20, 2014 1:19 pm MiloFrance Joined: 18 Aug 2014 Posts: 12 Location: France Well that explains a lot! I was starting to get suspicious not being able to find a match in either US or EU catalogues. I'd love to know what it is, but with only a frame number its not likely. The weight is good, so I'm still hopeful its a 531 frame and the respray decals are genuine. The fork spacing is 90mm I found yesterday afternoon, so the plot thickens. Is there a 'batard Français' section in the forum? _________________ Brompton Edge Mango (Custom SS welded by Carl Strong in Montana) 1998 Colnago Titanio with ll the original chorus gruppo Not a Gitane but Pretty frame with wrong decals   Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:20 pm verktyg Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2814 Location: SF Bay Area MiloFrance wrote: ... I'd love to know what it is, but with only a frame number its not likely. The weight is good, so I'm still hopeful its a 531 frame and the respray decals are genuine. The fork spacing is 90mm I found yesterday afternoon, so the plot thickens. Is there a 'batard Français' section in the forum? She is more of a bâtarde Français'... Judging by the quality of the frame work it's made out of premium quality alloy steel tubing like Reynolds 531, Columbus or Super Vitus. The Reynolds 531 Extra Légère decal (531SL en anglais) on the fourche looks original so that would date it to somewhere between 1975 and 1982. Le cadre was probably also made of Reynolds 531SL (531 Extra Légère) tubing so it should be a rally nice riding bike. Reynolds 531SL tubing was about 200g to 400g lighter than the 531 tubing used on most production bikes. 90mm front hub spacing was used on some time trail bikes during the early 1980s. Those hubs are real batards - 90mm hubs were only made for a few years. I want to say that the frame is a high end Peugeot - it screams Peugeot except for the fluted seat stay caps (chapeau du hauban???). It's most likely a custom built frame made by a constructeur or else a private label frame made for a small bike shop. One dark night it was left in a basket at the doorway of an orphelinat (orphanage). _________________ 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: Wed Aug 20, 2014 11:57 pm MiloFrance Joined: 18 Aug 2014 Posts: 12 Location: France Would it be beyond the bounds of possibility that the 8123003 serial number, if it is a small builder could be 1981, week 23, 3rd frame built? I think it might be a forlorn hope to find out, but I'll keep looking... _________________ Brompton Edge Mango (Custom SS welded by Carl Strong in Montana) 1998 Colnago Titanio with ll the original chorus gruppo Not a Gitane but Pretty frame with wrong decals My lovely find     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.