gitaneusa.com Forum Index Register FAQ Memberlist Search

gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane » Another 84 Team Pro
Post new topic  Reply to topic View previous topic :: View next topic 
Another 84 Team Pro 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 12:12 pm Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
I finally found a Team Pro in my size (52). These are the first pics, before clean-up and assembly. It's in nice shape with just enough patina to not have to worry much about riding it.

This is another frame that is stamped with the "75916" on the BB. I'm thinking this is a series number or maybe a purchase order number for a batch of frames destined for the USA distributor? The date on mine is 14.3.84, close to the others. The only unique number on these frames is the number below the date. Mine is 20. The others on the forum I've seen are 15 and 8. Maybe these are frame numbers?

Anybody else source their frame out of the Pasadena California area? I've got information that 5 of these frames were supplied by Gitane to a Pasadena-based race team in 1984.





View user's profile Send private message
Re: Another 84 Team Pro 
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 2:02 am Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
CurtEgerer wrote:
This is another frame that is stamped with the "75916" on the BB. I'm thinking this is a series number or maybe a purchase order number for a batch of frames destined for the USA distributor? The date on mine is 14.3.84, close to the others. The only unique number on these frames is the number below the date. Mine is 20. The others on the forum I've seen are 15 and 8. Maybe these are frame numbers?



Nice find. 52 is the frame size measured from center to top.

Here's my 1984 Team Pro with a date of 12 3 84 which would have been March 12. 1984. Also the number 15? Mine is a 55cm frame.



Here's another 1984 Team Pros with a date of 16 3 84 - March 16, 1984, with the number 8. This one is a 57cm. (not mine)



So it appears that these 3 frames were all made within a few days of each other. The were probably Team Pro "Replicas".


This 1984 Team Pro frame has the number 75406. It was used by a French team. It only has D 11 which may be the rider it was made for. It's also a 57cm. (not mine)




Team Pros from 1983 had different numbers on the BBs. In 1985 Gitane changed the model name for the top model from Team Pro. Those 1985-86 Professional numbers are similar to the numbers stamped on the 1983 Team Pro frames.

1983 Team Pro. (not mine)



This a 58cm 1985-86 Professional frame hat was used by an amateur team in the Midwest US. I traded this frame for my 55cm Team Pro.



I bought this 50cm 1985-86 Professional bike to use as a loaner for visitors.



Here's another 1985-86 Professional. (not mine)


_________________
Chas.
SF Bay Area, CA USA
==============
1984 Criterium
1969 TdF
1971 TdF
1974 TdF
1984 TdF x 2 Bikes
1970 SC
1971 SC
1972 SC
1984 SC
1984 Team Pro
1985 Professional
1990s Team Replica
View user's profile Send private message
 
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:03 am Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
Before I build this up, I'm going to take it to a framebuilder who built lots of Columbus tube bikes in the 80s and see if he can give me any insight into the "Columbus SL Competition" tubing on these Team Pros. Is it regular SL or something different? We'll see what he thinks.
View user's profile Send private message
Differences in Columbus Tubes 
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:26 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
CurtEgerer wrote:
Before I build this up, I'm going to take it to a framebuilder who built lots of Columbus tube bikes in the 80s and see if he can give me any insight into the "Columbus SL Competition" tubing on these Team Pros. Is it regular SL or something different? We'll see what he thinks.

I brought up this question in the Classic Rendezvous group a while back. The consensus was that Columbus "SL Competition" was either a misnomer or the result of some marketiod's over active imagination.

In 1984 Gitanes where imported by Cycles de France, Inc. which was part of Trek. They could say anything they wanted, who was to know?

Here's the 1984 Gitane/Trek Spec Sheet This is the only place I've ever seen "Columbus SL Competition" mentioned.




For many years Columbus offered 4 different tube sets: SL and SP for road frames plus PL and PS for track use.

SL stood for Strada Leggero and had a wall thickness of .9mm x .6mm on the 3 main tubes. The weight and riding characteristic were similar to the the lighter gage Reynolds 531 tube sets mostly used on bikes from the UK and the US. SL became popular with the influx of better quality Italian framesets into the US during the mid 1970s.

SP was the heavier version that was used on most production bikes made with Columbus tubing until the early 80s. The SP main tubes had a wall thickness of 1.0mm x .7mm and the forks and the stays were thicker than SL too. SP had the same wall thickness as the heavy gage Reynolds 531 tubing that was used on most Reynolds 531 production bikes during the 1970s.

The advantage (or disadvantage) of SP and heavy gage Reynolds 531 was they allowed the use of less skilled workers to braze the frames without the concern of overheating the thin wall tubes. SP frames were also more resistant to damage caused by rough handling prior to painting and later abuse by inexperienced riders.

SP was also used for larger sized frames and heavier riders. Frames with thicker tubes were used by many racing teams up until the 1980s. Back then, racers were issued one bike to use for the whole season and then they were sometimes passed down to lower ranking team members for use during the next season. Thick tubes withstood crashes and rough handling by the team support members between stages and races better than thin wall tubing.

Sl tubes by themselves weighed ~1930g while SP weighed ~2295g - a difference of ~360g or 13 oz (over 3/4 of a Lb.). The weight of the finished frame depended on the size.

A smaller frame like your 52cm benefits from thinner tubing because it provides a smoother ride.


PS was the same as SP tubing but with round forks for track racing (P = pista or track).

PL was Pista Leggero made for very light weight track frames. It had .6mm thick unbutted straight gage main tubes and round forks.


Columbus started advertising that those tubing sets were made of "Cylex" alloy steel. That was marketing BS! Rolling Eyes

Cylex was industry standard 4130 chrome-molybdenum alloy steel which has been the world standard for structural alloy steel since around the time of WW1.

Columbus also offered KL tubing in limited availability. It had thinner wall thicknesses than SL - .7mm x .5mm main tubes. KL weighed ~260g or ~9 oz. less than SL. It required highly skilled people to braze the frames to avoid overheating the thin wall tubing.

They also listed Record tubing which was intended for use in special frames for setting time/distance records. The 3 main tubes had a .5mm straight gage wall thickness. It was not commercially available.


In the early 80s Columbus started offering tube sets that were made with lower quality steel, Alle for example plus they offered tubing made with more modern steel alloys - MAX, EL, ELOS and so on. The new alloys were stronger than 4130 which allowed Columbus to make thinner wall thickness tubes which produced lighter bikes.


I suspect that my 1984 Team Pro was made with Columbus KL tubing. I never got around to weighing the frame but it was considerably lighter feeling the comparable SL frames that I have.

I stopped weighing my bikes because on hard climbs that was all that i thought about! Embarassed

_________________
Chas.
SF Bay Area, CA USA
==============
1984 Criterium
1969 TdF
1971 TdF
1974 TdF
1984 TdF x 2 Bikes
1970 SC
1971 SC
1972 SC
1984 SC
1984 Team Pro
1985 Professional
1990s Team Replica
View user's profile Send private message
 
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:38 pm Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
Great info Chas.

I had a frame built of KL in 1979. It was one of the 1st 5 sets of KL in the US at that time. That stuff is literally paper thin and needed silver solder. It had the same generic Columbus frame decal as all of their tubing back then (I remember because I paid a LOT of extra $$ for that tubing and got nothing to identify it! Well, other than my receipt which I still have to this day). I think the individual decals for SL, KL, SLX, etc. started in the late 80s.

Is your Team Pro that you believe has KL one of the 75916 frames?
View user's profile Send private message
My 1984 Team Pro 
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:36 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
CurtEgerer wrote:
Is your Team Pro that you believe has KL one of the 75916 frames?

Yes, with the date of 12-3-84 (March 2, 1984)



When I first got the frame I took it to a frame builder friend's shop and checked the alignment. It was dead nuts true (which I would expect out of a special built frame).

He' been building frames with special light weight tubing for over 30 years. He commented that he thought that it was very light too.

This is the frame after I installed the NOS Stronglight A9 headset.







Finished except for a new set of sewup wheels that I need to finish.



Replacement Columbus French decals from Cyclomondo in OZ.




_________________
Chas.
SF Bay Area, CA USA
==============
1984 Criterium
1969 TdF
1971 TdF
1974 TdF
1984 TdF x 2 Bikes
1970 SC
1971 SC
1972 SC
1984 SC
1984 Team Pro
1985 Professional
1990s Team Replica
View user's profile Send private message
Re: My 1984 Team Pro 
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:56 am Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
verktyg wrote:
CurtEgerer wrote:
Is your Team Pro that you believe has KL one of the 75916 frames?

Yes, with the date of 12-3-84 (March 2, 1984)


Well, that sort of throws my theory out the window that 75916 is some sort of series number for a batch of similar frames (unless my builder also thinks the tubes on my 75916 frame are something other than off-the-shelf SL).

Nice build BTW. My frame came with the rare A9 headset (although it looks like somebody tightened the locknut with ViseGrips! Crying or Very sad ), as well as a Stronglight Competition BB and 120mm Mavic stem, both in beautiful condition!! I'll be swapping all of that out for the Super Record gruppo on my 85 Pro. I'll probably sell the 85 frame eventually, although I'm kicking around the idea of building it back up with a Mavic gruppo.
View user's profile Send private message
 
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 12:22 pm Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
Finally finished the build. Transferred most of the components off of my 1985 Professionnel. The weather has been sketchy so I have yet to take it out for a ride Rolling Eyes

It's all Campagnolo Super Record with the exception of the pedals. Those are Galli Titanium. I may eventually find some Super Record Pista pedals - seems like a lot of the pros used track pedals back then. Mavic SSC rims. Maillard Super Plus 700 freewheel.

More pics here: https://plus.google.com/photos/117546310850919838361/albums/6092416540295555457





View user's profile Send private message
Best of Show 
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 7:01 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
Nice job, the best I've seen.

Gitane Renault water bottles show up on eBay along with hats and jerseys. There's currently an NOS sweat band listed under Gitane for a reasonable price.

_________________
Chas.
SF Bay Area, CA USA
==============
1984 Criterium
1969 TdF
1971 TdF
1974 TdF
1984 TdF x 2 Bikes
1970 SC
1971 SC
1972 SC
1984 SC
1984 Team Pro
1985 Professional
1990s Team Replica
View user's profile Send private message
 
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 2:38 pm Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
Thanks Chas!

One correction: I decided to use the Stronglight BB because it has alloy cups and is lighter than my Camp. Record. I had a titanium Super Record BB in the day, but it lasted only 1 season so I'm reluctant to spend the money.

I do also have a Renault-Elf bidon. The CocaCola is a recent find and is the genuine article. Coke became the official TdF bidon in 1985 (replacing Contrex) and the Team Pro was used in identical guise in 1984 and 1985. I'd like to some day find a 1984 Contrex bidon but those seem to be the rarest of the bunch.



On the wish list is the plain white (not the more-common, earlier light blue and white) Contrex bidon:
View user's profile Send private message
 
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 6:06 pm Reply with quote
CurtEgerer
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Posts: 39
Location: United States
Long story, but I finally took the Team Pro out on her maiden voyage last week. Fit is perfect. Rides beautifully. This one is a keeper!

View user's profile Send private message
Another 84 Team Pro 
  gitaneusa.com Forum Index » Vintage Gitane
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
All times are GMT - 8 Hours  
Page 1 of 1  

  
  
 Post new topic  Reply to topic  


Powered by phpBB © 2001-2004 phpBB Group
Designed for Trushkin.net | Themes Database.