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Is this a Champion du Monde? 
PostPosted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 1:25 pm Reply with quote
stevevw
Joined: 20 Jul 2015
Posts: 2
Location: England
Hi I am new here and to Gitane's

I found this bike in France and managed to get it sent to me in England. Here are all the pictures I have at the moment.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wfgewuvhgh2imbo/AADdOBJL-d6h7qbt6bhbbdQya?dl=0

Those that know what can you tell me about it? Seems a bit strange being fitted with 1st Generation Dura-Ace throughout. even the top tube cable clips are Dura-Ace. Could you buy just the frame set from Gitane and do your own build? or have I missed a Shimano equipped bike in the catalogues? Or did the original owner junk all the supplied components and change to the top end Shimano?

I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Thanks Steve from England

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Re: Is this a Champion du Monde? 
PostPosted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:58 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
stevevw wrote:
I found this bike in France and managed to get it sent to me in England. Here are all the pictures I have at the moment.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wfgewuvhgh2imbo/AADdOBJL-d6h7qbt6bhbbdQya?dl=0

Those that know what can you tell me about it? Seems a bit strange being fitted with 1st Generation Dura-Ace throughout. even the top tube cable clips are Dura-Ace. Could you buy just the frame set from Gitane and do your own build? or have I missed a Shimano equipped bike in the catalogues? Or did the original owner junk all the supplied components and change to the top end Shimano?

Thanks Steve from England


Steve,

Welcome to the Forum. Nice find! Wink

The frame is almost certainly a 1974 or 75 Olympic which was a step up from the Champion du Monde.

The difference was the Champion du Monde had a shorter steerer for use with a 33mm high Stronglight P3 headset. The Olympic had a longer steerer made to fit a 41mm high Campagnolo headset.

The Olympic model was probably available as a bare frame.

The headset is a Stronglight S5 Super Competition model with a 41mm stack height, the same as Campagnolo.

Who ever assembled the bike probably used the Stronglight S5 headset because the early Shimano DuraAce headsets had a short stack height... or weren't available in French thread at the time.

The 1974 Champion du Monde that I had was made of light gage (thinner wall thickness) Reynolds 531 tubing than was used on most production bikes at that time.

This gives a lighter weight frame that will be smoother riding. One way of telling, it should take a 26.6mm seatpost rather than the standard 26.4mm.

1974-74 head tube sticker:



1976 head tube sticker.



The Olympic frames frequently had the willow leaf shaped braze-on caps on the seat stay tops. This one is from a 1976 Olympic with the Gitane logo stamped into it. Earlier versions didn't have the logo.



Swagged seat stay caps used on most top end Gitanes between 1971 and 1974-75?




A side note, Cycles Andre Bertin was the French importer for Shimano. They made a full range of Shimano equipped bikes.

I've never seen any Gitanes, Peugeots or Motobecanes from the 70's that were equipped with Shimano components from the factory.

Enjoy your bike... Very Happy

_________________
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
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:20 am Reply with quote
stevevw
Joined: 20 Jul 2015
Posts: 2
Location: England
Found the date code on the brakes which is November 1976. Has the leaf and logo seat stay cap of the Olympic in the above picture but the 74/75 head tube logo.

So I an now thinking 1976

Looking forward to giving it a good blast at the weekend then will decide whether to keep as is or fully restored ready for next year's Eroica.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:08 pm Reply with quote
guidogad
Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Posts: 12
Just to complement the time line info.
I've got a 1975 Olympic (French market).
- No willow leaf
- 1974-75 head tube sticker
- older 531 decal
- cranks 1974, rear derailleur 1975.

One thing I noticed (which seems odd) is that my bike has a British bottom bracket. Other than that it's metric tubing.
I thought in 1975 they were all French BB, maybe the odd ITA on high end bikes. But BSA? Really?
Any experience here?

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Guido
Western Australia

1975 Olympic (sold in France)
1994 Replica III (sold in France)
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:06 am Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
guidogad wrote:
Just to complement the time line info.
I've got a 1975 Olympic (French market).
- No willow leaf
- 1974-75 head tube sticker
- older 531 decal
- cranks 1974, rear derailleur 1975.

One thing I noticed (which seems odd) is that my bike has a British bottom bracket. Other than that it's metric tubing.
I thought in 1975 they were all French BB, maybe the odd ITA on high end bikes. But BSA? Really?
Any experience here?


Guido,

Post some pictures...

I have a 1974 Tour de France that came from OZ. It has metric tubing with British threads in the BB and headset. It could have come from the UK???

Only the 3 main tubes are Reynolds 531.


I bought the bare frame from list master Stephan Andranian who got it from Paul Wiseman in Brisbane and was very active in this Forum.

Here's the original message about the frame from back in 2006:

http://www.gitaneusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=83


Stephan had it equipped with all Campagnolo components.




I put it together with mostly French components.


_________________
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
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some pictures 
PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:33 am Reply with quote
guidogad
Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Posts: 12
Chas,
here are some pictures









I have bought the bike in Germany where it lived most of its life in storage.
I have bought it from the original owner who said he had purchased it in France in the mid 70s but didn't remember the very year.

Wheels, saddle and brake callipers are not original.
The callipers are first generation Weinmann Carrera, which were introduced in 1975 apparently. But they didn't come on the bike and the owner said he "upgraded" to them soon after the purchase. The bike still has the original Mafac brake levers and also the cable stop for the centre pull brakes in the head set. Of course I'll get some Mafac Racers on the bike when I get a chance.

Cheers,
Guido

[/img]

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Guido
Western Australia

1975 Olympic (sold in France)
1994 Replica III (sold in France)
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bigger pictures 
PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:41 am Reply with quote
guidogad
Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Posts: 12
sorry, I realise those pics came up a bit small.
Here are same in larger







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Guido
Western Australia

1975 Olympic (sold in France)
1994 Replica III (sold in France)
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Is this a Champion du Monde? 
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