gitaneusa.com :: View topic - 1971 TDF Restoration

TQ

Total novice here - Any comments, warnings, or advice would be much appreciated as I reassemble.

I am having a blast restoring my '71 TDF. I bought it 20 years ago for $30.00 at a garage sale. I had no idea what I bought, but could tell it was something special. It has been out of commission and stored for the last 10 years. I finally decided to break it down and rebuild it.

I am now in the process of putting everything back together. I am posting pictures here of it completely disassembled, and cleaned. Hours and hours of elbow grease, as you can see.

Questions / Comments I have ate this stage are;

1. The front simplex derailleur broke (I kept the part, but it will be the only non original part), would it ok to replace it with an inexpensive Shimano for now?

2. The orange frame paint has some chips and scratches. The paint is slightly dull, and seems fragile. The purist in me says; clean it, wax it and leave it, it'll look cool and be better off original. On the other hand, I have so much work into it, I could have it re-painted.

3. What would be the value of this bike in this condition?

4. I don't have the original seat, I'm going with a Brooks B17 honey brown leather saddle, and Salsa gel cork tape. It's expensive, but I think it will do this bike justice.

Thanks in advance.

lofter

IMO,keep it original. Simplex stuff is pretty common on eBay . paint ain't that bad I've got worst in my collection .I like the orange bikes.

gman309905

Welcome,
I'm sure you'll get a few response's, this is just my opinion. I never did like the plastic simplex line, the ones I had broke and it seems to have happened to a few other people on this forum. If you plan on keeping it as close to original as possible then I would say use whatever front derailleur you choose until you find a suitable replacement. They show up on eBay fairly often. ( simplex derailleurs) On the matter of paint, the purist's will all say leave it original. I'm partial to having my rebuild's powder coated. Once again it's a matter of opinion and what would make you happy with the bike. As to monetary worth, I really couldn't say. If you ever plan on selling it you'll never get out of what you put into it. To me the bike's I rebuild are priceless and I doubt that anyone would care to pay the sum it would take for me to part with one. The Brooks saddle is an excellent choice. Bar tape is purely a matter of preference and hand comfort. It's also good if you like the way it looks. Hope this helps you out.
gman309905

vanhelmont

Nice bike!

1. Replacing the derailleur (or derailleurs) with Shimano, or even more commonly Suntour, was a common thing back in the day, so if you want to use one or the other until you find a Simplex, or just leave the Shimano derailleur on it, I don't see anything wrong with it.

2. I'd touch up the paint rather than repainting.

3. The Brooks b17, like the Shimano or Suntour derailleur, was a common replacement in the 70s, more comfortable than most original equipment. Go for it!

TQ

Thanks guys for the advice. i decided to go as is on the paint job for now. I started early this morning, and I finished putting everything back together with new cables, BB & clean parts. It's fairly well tuned without having rode it. I'm holding off to ride it until I get my new saddle Thursday! Wish me luck! Here's a picture of the current status.

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TQ

One more picture, better quality shot.

holga100

I like the bar tape.....where did you find it?

Ben

TQ

I got the tape at my local store;

http://www.gocyclecity.com/

Here's the box,

Frenchbuilt

Whats good about the orange color is that its nonmetallic so its easy to do retouchs by just mixing up hobby store paint. Then wax the hell out of it and you will never know.

TQ

It's finished. Needs some minor tuning, but rides like new! Here the final picture.

Thanks for the advice on the touch up, I'll try it.

bikernyc

Great looking bike, love the color scheme and the orange is great looking on the TDF.

Schecky

Boy the paint is nice! Orange bikes are the fastest! Very Happy

I wish I could see the final pic better.

Here's mine:

[/img]

TQ

I like blue!

Well, I made a few adjustments, and I took my first long ride. Here is a link to a cool app that tracks speed, elevation and distance.

My stats on the ride. Max speed 30mph - not bad for a 40 year old bike.

Sport: Cycling
Distance: 13.94 mi
Duration: 1 hour 14 minutes
At: 7/10/13, 6:26 PM

View my session at http://www.runtastic.com/sport-sessions/93562789.
To see what I've worked out in the past go to http://www.runtastic.com/users/15336873.

Here is a better shot of the bike finished, as requested.

trois tubes

Wow - you did a fantastic job, that's a gem of a bike - congratulations!

I agree with doing whatever pleases. It's a personal process which will always produce a favorable result if done your way.

I like to keep a bike as original as possible, for me that is where the "value" is. All the bikes in my collection are french, complete, and original which is not an easy combination to find/achieve.