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Me and my Helyett, well, hem, disguised 1978 Gitane Nation 
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:16 am Reply with quote
Karloman
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
Posts: 7
Location: Fontainebleau, FRANCE
Hello, I'm Karl from France and I'm joining this forum today after one of its french members named Pouthecascadeur told me it would be a good idea to post what I own from the Gitane production. He also told me how friendly and knowledgeable people were here.

In fact I'm almost new to the world of road bikes as I mostly do MTB riding and self contained bicycle touring only with bikes fitted with 26 inches wheels. Last year a friend of mine told me I would be better on a road bike with skinny tires to ride my once-a-week back-from-work 48 km (32 miles) commute. As we're of the same body size and shape, he lent me a spare bike he had lying in his garage. I got hooked on the thing and I began to look at 700C wheels with different eyes.
At the beginning of this year, and as I'm fond of lightweight steel framed bikes, I managed to find a vintage high end 1979 Motobécane C4 in my exact size. That bike was a revelation : sharp, silent, comfortable with precise shifting and quite powerful braking, very modern in fact.Shortly after I saw an add for a very nice looking red Helyett which I knew was a serious brand. The photos I asked the seller showed nice componentry, a Reynolds 531 throughout sticker and a super clean condition, so I bought it.
Once at home a closer look made me notice a stamp on the fork crown that I reminded having seen on Gitane bikes. Some searching instructed me that Helyett had been bought by Gitane at the end of the sixties who commercially used the brand for a couple years on rebadged Gitanes. So here it is, strictly as I bought it (I know, the rear quick release is the wrong way around) :






Once again I'm a total newbie in road and vintage bikes so I won't have much to say. But I've already seriously improved my knowledge reading here some threads like the one about Vitus tubing. Thanks to you guys who have an amazing culture of the golden era of the french production. French sites on that subject are very scarce and not really informative. Unfortunately a lot of those interested in vintage french bikes are mostly the ones who go around with the "fixie abattoir" as somebody called it here. Sad.

Cheers


Last edited by Karloman on Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:17 am; edited 2 times in total

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:22 am Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
Karl,

Looks like you have an extremely nice example of a Helyett-Gitane with top quality components. The Huret "Success" derailleurs are some of the best. If they are original to the bike it would indicate a mid 70's bike as they were not introduced until 1975. Both the front and rear should have a 4 number Date code. Look carefully. First 2 numbers are the Week of the Year, second 2 are the Year. My RD is 4875 (48th week, 1975) one of the first made.

The Logo on your fork crown is what Gitane used in the mid 70's.

It does appear to match the 1978 Gitane "Nation". Very interesting!!!

Congratulations!!!

Regards,
Jay


Last edited by greyhundguy on Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:52 am; edited 1 time in total

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:01 am Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
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Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
Karl,
Huret Date code location: FD, in front just below the clamp bolt. RD, on the back plate.

Jay

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:45 am Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
Karl,
Please provide a photo of the head tube Badge.

Thanks,
Jay

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:14 am Reply with quote
sandranian
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
Welcome to the site! Always nice to have more French folks join us here! That bike is stunning. I wonder if it came with a downtube decal (it must have), and if so, what it looked like. Really nice bike. Campagnolo dropouts as well. Very high quality machine.

I saw the pictures you have posted on Flickr. The funny thing is...that for all the detail, if you notice the chain stay and seat stay ends aren't finished even close to identical on both dropouts (when comparing right and left). That would certainly indicate a classic "Gitane" build. However, it really has a nice finish, with the paint scraped from the dropout contact areas, which wasn't standard Gitane procedure (but was done on some of the high end models).

Thanks again (Merci). Very nice bike!

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:50 pm Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
Karl,
In a conversation with a knowledgeable Friend this afternoon, he commented that Gitane made a Commemorative Helyett around this time frame. This could well be one of those bikes.

In any case, I hope it never ends up in the hands of someone that wants to turn it into a 'Fixie'.

Jay

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:00 pm Reply with quote
sandranian
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So...did Gitane build the Helyett's ridden by Anquetil and the St. Raphael team in the early 1960's?

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:09 pm Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
sandranian wrote:
So...did Gitane build the Helyett's ridden by Anquetil and the St. Raphael team in the early 1960's?


Helyett was an independant Brand until sometime in the late 60's when Gitane purchased them or the name is what I was told. Anquetil rode a HELYETT.

Jay

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:16 pm Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
All,
Here is an EARLY Helyett that just sold on eBay. It had much more contemporary components but the original frame condition was great!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Helyett-Speciale-Vintage-Bicycle-NOS-Condition_W0QQitemZ280410458517QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4149c40995

Jay

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:18 pm Reply with quote
sandranian
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Anquetil rode both Gitane and Helyett. But that is the question...did Gitane build his Helyett's? If they purchased the brand, can they then claim that he rode "Gitane", when he really rode Helyett for 2 (I think) of his tour wins? The catalogue recently posted claims credit for all 4 of his Tour de France wins, but clearly, he rode Helyett for at least one if not 2 of those.

So I guess there are now two questions out there....

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:34 pm Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
My understanding is that he rode a Helyett (early) and/or a Gitane (later). Not a Gitane built Helyett. Corrections appreciated for my records.

Jay

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Helyett/Gitane 
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:57 pm Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
I found this info on theracingbicycle.com...

"Between 1957 and 1964 Jacques Anquetil
won the Tour de France five times and was one of the most charismatic
figures of his time. Riding a Simplex equipped Helyett Speciale for his first
three Tour victories, these bikes were essentially French, using Simplex
derailleurs, TA pedals, Mafac brakes, Atom hubs, TA and later
Stronglight cranksets."

"In 1963 Anquetil switched teams and
would ride Campagnolo equipped
Gitane bicycles to victories in the 1963
and 1964 Tours de France"

Jay

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:06 pm Reply with quote
sandranian
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I think that is correct. Strange how Gitane claims all of them in their official brochures, isn't it?

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:14 pm Reply with quote
greyhundguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 678
Location: South-Central VIRGINIA
sandranian wrote:
Strange how Gitane claims all of them in their official brochures, isn't it?


Just advertising hype!!!

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:08 am Reply with quote
Karloman
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
Posts: 7
Location: Fontainebleau, FRANCE
Hi everyone.
Here's a bit more information about my bike :
-full Reynolds 531 frame and forks, size 52 (I'm 5'6 so perfect !)
-Campagnolo dropouts
-Huret shifters and Success derailers (Titanium on the rear)
-Sugino crankset
-Weinmann brakes and levers
-Stronglight headset
-3TTT bars and stem.
The wheels are not original. The original set of wheel ended in ... the dump because the previous owner got fed up with tubulars and switched to clinchers.
He was a 72 year old man and bought the bike new. He told me he was very sad to sell the bike because for 30 years it had been his "petit bijou" (little jewel). That's why it's in such very good condition. And I promised him to take good care of it, so no riding in the rain for this one.

Stephan, for the reason above, I'm not sure there's ever been a sticker on the down tube as I can see no sign of old glue or a diference in the paint.

Jay, the fixie trend is something totally incomprehensible to me, why in hell would someone give up free wheel and even brakes for street/road use ????? Mysticism, talibanism or poseurism ? I don't see the point in any case. I can assure you this machine will never be sold by me to anyone but a proper connoisseur, if it ever happens. And as you asked for it, here's the headbadge.


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Me and my Helyett, well, hem, disguised 1978 Gitane Nation 
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