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Gitane Profile Aero 1980 
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:51 pm Reply with quote
ridenice
Joined: 27 Jan 2014
Posts: 4
Location: Sweden
I am a bicycle enthusiast who lives in Sweden and has
focused on bike racing between the years 1970-99. I also
collect some bikes from those years.
If you want to see my collection, you will find it on:
www.ridenice.se
I've now got hold of a Gitane Profile Aero from 1980.
It has unfortunately been in a barn for many years and have
rusted a bit, but otherwise in good original condition. The
dating is a bit interesting, I think they began series
production on a small scale in 1980 (previously only for the
team's behalf) and on this it is stamped 31 01 80 and a
clear 1.
Stefan on www.speedbicycles.ch has a similar bike for pro
Stephen Hodges, and it is stamped. 10 07 80 and a 6.
How to interpret this? At best, this could be the first
production bike and Stephen's either the 6th overall or the
6th in July. The bike must surely have been rather difficult
to produce, given to the extreme design and probably rather
expensive, so no big production. In a catalog of 1980 states
that it was possible to order the bike with either Campa or
Shimano. Both on my and Stefan's sitting there Shimano. What
is rather strange is that it sits Dura Ace AX components,
these did not come into production until 1981-82 and in the
catalog of 1980, the image and the text says EX equipment.

Would be great to hear som opinion on the bike

Regards
Claes


































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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 6:40 am Reply with quote
lofter
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 1162
welcome to the site . very nice collection . its hard to tell on the dates . we havent been able to decipher them with much luck. the first catalog we see the profile in is 80 . we are missing 1981 but it appears in the 1982 catalog also . so my guess is at least three years of production . nicolas a forum member here, found this pic while researching .
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/486/bh790007.jpg thats at least at the latest a 79 decal scheme. i have yet to see a campy equipped profile except one that hinault is leaning against in a photo. all the ones i have seen are shimano equipped. mine is ex equipped except for the cranks , which are ax. the hubs are mavic with the 80mm front hub . my rims are assos. these bikes were the precursor to the delta tt and track bikes. they were developed with a partner ship with renault and mavic in the later 70's. if you could find a set of belleri bars to go on it , it would be even more period correct. http://gitaneusa.com/images/racing/Hinault-with-the-Renault-te.jpg
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:07 am Reply with quote
ridenice
Joined: 27 Jan 2014
Posts: 4
Location: Sweden
Hi
Thanks for the reply.
I have had some contact with Emile Arbes who has the blog http://velosvintage.over-blog.com and is the brother of Hubert Arbes who rode with Hinault between 75-82. His Gitane Areo team bike found at this adress http://www.reneherse.com/gitanearbes. I do not know from which year though. Note the regular seat post bolt and "right" facing front brake. Completely with Campagnolo equipment.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:26 am Reply with quote
lofter
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 1162
someone offered that bike for sale a year or two back . im sure all the actual team bikes were campy as they were the sponser of the team . may have had the mavic hubs tho .
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:49 am Reply with quote
ridenice
Joined: 27 Jan 2014
Posts: 4
Location: Sweden
Looks like Campagnolo Record rear hub and Mavic front hub. The link in the last post does not seem to work, so you must get on the site www.reneherse.com and locate Gitane Profile. To see all the pictures.




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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:55 am Reply with quote
lofter
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 1162
yup , i can see that they probably would have used a campy rear as campy was supporting the team. to my knowledge mavic was the only one at the time to have a 80mm front hub. and that was because of the wind tunnel testing and development at renault and mavic helping gitane . my profile has both hubs that are mavic with bladed spokes. i have the track version of the profile and mavic made a special stem and hanger for the belleri bars . ive never been able to track one down or get a answer from mavic about it . it looks like a bmx stem. and the pic in the 80 catalog is not very good. also the team bikes have a clamp bolt for the seat post instead of the allen set screw on the rear of the tube . my delta has the clamp bolt. oh and in case your wondering the seat post is campy too.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:55 am Reply with quote
sandranian
Site Admin
Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
The front brake mounting seemed to be by the whim of the mechanic: I have seen pics of Hinault with them mounted behind and in front of the fork.

_________________
Stephan Andranian
Costa Mesa, CA
www.gitaneusa.com
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Video of Profile june 1979 
PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:04 am Reply with quote
Frenchbuilt
Joined: 18 Apr 2007
Posts: 443
French news from 1979. Get past first part and see Profile presented at Paris Show? Anyway date is june 1979.

http://boutique.ina.fr/video/CAA7901228201/le-nouveau-velo-d-hinault.fr.html
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:46 am Reply with quote
lofter
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 1162
sandranian wrote:
The front brake mounting seemed to be by the whim of the mechanic: I have seen pics of Hinault with them mounted behind and in front of the fork.

trust me, the brake mounted behind makes sharp turns left a nightmare. looks cool , but on a technical course I can see the front mount working way better.
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:57 am Reply with quote
ridenice
Joined: 27 Jan 2014
Posts: 4
Location: Sweden
True, I thought the brakes were assembled incorrectly when I mounted it behind the fork and tried to turn the handlebars to the left, and it hit the down tube. Maybe it works better with Campagnolo Record brakes instead.

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Gitane Profile Aero 1980 
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