| | | | | | | | | Paris - Brest 1970's Gitane? | | | | | |
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:19 pm |
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Murray30 |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2009 |
Posts: 11 |
Location: Canberra, Australia |
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Hi
Just found this site and hope you can help me identify my 1978 Gitane bicycle. My parents bought it for new from a cycle shop in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and to the best of my memory it was called the "Paris Brest" model, although I have not benn able to locate any other reference to this model.
I still have this bike and am looking to restore it. I had the frame repainted in the original "safety yellow" colour, although they painted over the chrome "socks" at the bottom of the forks and at the end of the stays.
I will post some photos soon
Regards
Wayne |
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:44 pm |
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Paul Wiseman |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2006 |
Posts: 584 |
Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Hi Wayne
You still in Bris-Vegas? |
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_________________ Wisey
Brisbane, Australia
1974 Paris - Nice
1985 Defi
1985 Victoire
1985 Victoire (yes, another one!)
1985 Professionnel |
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:35 pm |
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Murray30 |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2009 |
Posts: 11 |
Location: Canberra, Australia |
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Hi Paul
No, moved on to the cold / dry Canberra.
Being a resident of Queensland you don't perchance remember the Lifecycle shop at the Albion 5 ways? I believe that is where the bicycle I am refering to was purchased. I have contacted former staff, but unfortunately they could not shed any light upon the Gitane models of the late 70's.
Regards
Wayne |
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 1:14 pm |
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vanhelmont |
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Joined: 11 Dec 2007 |
Posts: 242 |
Location: Florida |
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Hi Wayne,
There is a 1978 catalog on this site,
http://www.gitaneusa.com/catalogues01.asp
It has several Paris-something models, but if it has a Paris-Brest I missed it. You might be able to identify your model by comparing components with the catalog.
Dave |
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 1:30 pm |
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Paul Wiseman |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2006 |
Posts: 584 |
Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Hi Wayne
I don't think your bike came from the Albion 5 ways, mate. Unless it was bought from the kitchen manufacturer, auto-mechanic, McDonalds, or found lying in the mud of Breakfast Creek! Lifecycle is actually on the Normanby 5 ways . But your knowledge of said 5 ways confirms your heritage as a Brissy boy........... even if you are a traitorous defector !!
I know some of the boys who worked for Blair at Lifecycle in the 80's. I'll ask around, but my guess is that they won't remember much either. Like the USA, we had a bit of a french bike boom here in the 70s and 80s. I still remember Tom Wallace Cycles having a big stock of P.....ts, and Gitanes. (musn't say the "P" word around here)
What are you thinking in terms of restoration? I have a gitane of that era as well. As best as I can tell it's a 76 Paris-Nice. It's hard to tell in those old catalogues, but try looking at the small details like the shape of the drop outs, the type of cable guides etc.
Can't wait to see the pics.
Cheers,
Paul |
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_________________ Wisey
Brisbane, Australia
1974 Paris - Nice
1985 Defi
1985 Victoire
1985 Victoire (yes, another one!)
1985 Professionnel |
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 7:39 pm |
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Murray30 |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2009 |
Posts: 11 |
Location: Canberra, Australia |
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Hi Paul
I was never a Briso I was originally from Mololoolaba on the Sunshine Coast, but my parents made the trip to the big smoke to secure me a Gitane bicycle!
I am sorry, but you may have to wait a while for the photos as I have to find the cabling to connect my camera to the PC
My Gitane has as originally bought, Mavic wheels, Sugino cranks, Simplex rear Derailier, and Mafac "Race" centre pull brakes. The most interesting or unusual components are the chain rings which look to have holes machined out (for weught reduction?) and a very small front pannier rack that was too small to hang any panniers off of, but from which the front light (unfortunately long gone) was mounted.
For those with an interest in such things, the only numbers I can find stamped into the frame are on the bottom bracket and are 1 457 8 269 - as the hopefully sone to arrive photo's will attest thay are not in a straight line, although there are seperate clusters of numbers.
Regards
Wayne |
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:26 pm |
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Murray30 |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2009 |
Posts: 11 |
Location: Canberra, Australia |
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Hi
Here is the promised photo - will post closeups as I come to terms with size issues relating to photo uploads.
Regards
Wayne
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:43 pm |
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citternmaker |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2007 |
Posts: 51 |
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Wow, that is really cool, with the front rack eyelets and a generator tab on the seatstay.... Is the front mini-rack original? |
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_________________ Ron Banks
Fort Worth, Texas |
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:35 pm |
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Murray30 |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2009 |
Posts: 11 |
Location: Canberra, Australia |
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Hi
Other than the paint job the bike is original, although missing the original mudgards, touring leavers for the brakes, light on the front mini-rack and the pump.
I have attached a close-up of the Simplex rear derailleur
Regards
Wayne
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:37 am |
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Paul Wiseman |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2006 |
Posts: 584 |
Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Hi Wayne
Having looked over the catalogues page again, I reckon that your frame is a 74 or 75. The frames look pretty damn close. Some of the specs are different, but (a) that is not unusual for gitane, and (b) it seems to fit with all the other 70s gitanes that I have seen here in Oz. They all seem to have Sugino cranks. So it is quite possible that the bikes were assembled here with slightly different specs to both Europe and the USA.
Do you remember what the original decals looked like? If they were silver foil, then it is definitely pre 74. If they were the classic lower case font, yellow on white or green on white, then it will be 74 - 77.
For those following this thread, when Wayne said he was from the Sunshine Coast, he was referring to one of the beautiful places in the world. It is still relatively unspoiled by the tourism trade. (Imagine California in the 1950s and you'll have some idea. Still a great place to holiday, surf and ride. Oh, did I mention that it's only a one hour drive from my place? |
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_________________ Wisey
Brisbane, Australia
1974 Paris - Nice
1985 Defi
1985 Victoire
1985 Victoire (yes, another one!)
1985 Professionnel |
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:24 am |
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Murray30 |
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Joined: 09 Mar 2009 |
Posts: 11 |
Location: Canberra, Australia |
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Hi Paul
To the best of my knowledge / memory the decals were all in lower case - definately not silver foil.
The bike was bought for me by my parents as a present for successfully completing my undergraduate studies in 1977, so I suppose it could easily be a 1976 model, given there wouldn't have been that high a turnover of Gitanes in Brisbane at the time.
In trying to establish contact with some of the staff that worked in Lifecycle at the time, I spoke to a Howard ? who remembered that they sold Gitane bicycles and that was about it.
I have posted another photo of the bottom of the bottom bracket (to show the numbers stamped into the metal), on the serial number forum on this site.
The quest continues - thank you for your interest & I hope to start working on the restoration soon.
Regards
Wayne |
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| | | | | | | | | Gitane Serial Numbers | | | | | |
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:28 am |
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verktyg |
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Joined: 14 Jan 2007 |
Posts: 2814 |
Location: SF Bay Area |
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Wayne,
The bike you have is similar to the Hosteller model sold in the States up until about 1974.
http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1970_pg3.jpg
Gitane serial numbers were created by a random number generator!
There is no rhyme or reason to the numbers that we here in the Forum have been able to determine.
Good luck in your quest.
Chas. |
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| | | | | | | | | Front rack | | | | | |
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:17 pm |
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greyhundguy |
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 |
Posts: 678 |
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA |
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Wayne,
It appears that the front rack is a TA Porte-Sac with bracket for mounting a light. It may be marked on top of the front cross bar "TA Made in France". Great for a Lunchbox but not Panniers.
Jay |
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_________________ Dance like nobody is watching. |
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