gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Another Gitane Pro bike sold cheap on eBay

verktyg

A 1985 or 86 54cm Gitane Professional just sold for $405 USD on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110202787508&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=001

The same seller sold another Pro frame or bike cheap last month.

They claim to be a consignment shop but it looks like they sell a lot of unclaimed pawn???

I bid on this bike but the forks didn't look right, they're too straight and look bent back in one of the pictures. It may be lens distortion but I didn't want to spend too much on a possible problem.

Chas.

dvancleve · Last edited by dvancleve on Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

This bike had either Campy Victory or Triomphe, can't quite tell from the angles provided. This was fairly low end for Campy, does it make sense that it would be on this frame set?

Doug Van Cleve
Chandler, AZ

verktyg

Doug,

Shimano and Suntour were starting to bite into Campy's market share. Campy brought out the Victory grupo to replace their aging Nuovo Record series. Triomphe was designed to replace the ugly, cheap looking Gran Record stuff for mid-range bikes. Super Record was to remain the top of the line pro equipment.

What happened was there were a lot of Nuovo Record OEM grupos still in the pipeline and they were being sold cheap in the mid 1980s.

Victory and Triomphe components looked too similar and the Victory stuff was more expensive than NR components so they never really took off. There's quite a bit of difference between Victory and Triomphe components.

To answer your question, Victory components were/are underrated and the consumers of top line bikes were not ready for a change from Campy's 1950s look.

I rather like the looks of the Victory/Triomphe cranks as they were some of the first design departures from Campy's Record cranks that everyone copied.

I have a number of Victory cranksets.

Chas.

dvancleve · Last edited by dvancleve on Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

Chas,

I didn't tell the whole story. I like Victory. I have a complete gruppo, Campy rims even, that came on my first good road bike (a 1987 Raleigh Scott Tinley Technium Trilite). I am most likely putting the Victory on either a 1984 Dave Moulton Fuso or a 1984 Gitane Tour de France. I was leaning toward the Fuso for the Victory since it has all the features that any mid-late 80s bike would have with the Gitane getting a mix of used but not used up Nuovo/Super Record stuff. Now I am wondering if the Victory should maybe go on the Gitane if I buy it. I think the cranks and shifters are the easiest way to distinguish between Victory and Triomphe. What did that eBay Gitane have?

Merry Christmas :^)

Doug Van Cleve
Chandler, AZ

verktyg

Doug,

I think that it had a full Victory grupo.

I have a 1988 Bianchi Giro with a full Victory grupo on it. I bought it last summer but haven't taken it out for a spin yet. It came out of SoCal. The bike looks like it's hardly been ridden except that someone must have taken it out on the beach and put it away wet. The top side of everything looks new but the undersides were rusted or corroded. I had to rebuild all of the components. I still have to polish the front hub and put in new bearings, plus install all the cables and it will be ready to go. Maybe this coming week.

Chas.