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Early 80's Gitane and Reynolds SL decals 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:28 am Reply with quote
Dragon
Joined: 12 Dec 2015
Posts: 9
Location: Germany
On my Gitane, I found the a Reynolds SL sticker, which raises a number of questions, I could not find answers for.

-The decal is marked "TI" - Reynolds becomes TI-Reynolds in 1977 - but when were the first SL tubes produced and/or when was this sticker introduced and until when was it used?
-The decal says "Réémaillage" - this is to be understood as "repainted"(?). As it appears to be quite professional to change the decal to mark the repaint: did the Gitane factory do such jobs?





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Re: Early 80's Gitane and Reynolds SL decals 
PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 11:47 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
Dragon wrote:
On my Gitane, I found the a Reynolds SL sticker, which raises a number of questions, I could not find answers for.

-The decal is marked "TI" - Reynolds becomes TI-Reynolds in 1977 - but when were the first SL tubes produced and/or when was this sticker introduced and until when was it used?
-The decal says "Réémaillage" - this is to be understood as "repainted"(?). As it appears to be quite professional to change the decal to mark the repaint: did the Gitane factory do such jobs?



Welcome to the Forum.

Looks like a 1979 to 1981? Team bike.

During those years, French team bikes were frequently equipped with all French components - Peugeot and Motobecane Team bikes for example.


Here's a 1979 Gitane Team Bike with a Reynolds 531SL frame.






An all Campy ~1978-79 Gitane Team bike from the UK with a Reynolds 531SL frame.






Don't try to read too much into the meaning of the Reynolds 531SL sticker.

"Réémaillage" does indicate that the frame was repainted but... replacement Gitane decals from that era where very difficult to obtain.

Your bike looks almost new. I doubt that is was a repaint unless it was done by Gitane at their factory and then new components where put on the frame.

It could also be the the Réémaillage stickers were the only French language ones available???


Here's another Gitane with a Réémaillage sticker.



Regular 531SL sticker.




What does the decal on the top tube say? It's probably the model name.




To answer your question about Reynolds 531SL tubing, boxed sets became available in the US in 1975.







531SL was regular 531 with lighter - thinner wall thickness tubes than what was used in most production model bikes.


Boxed sets of Reynolds 531, 531SL and 753 tubing were designed for sales to smaller builders.




Large customers bought individual tubes in lots of 100 or more pieces and were able to mix and match different wall thicknesses plus different style forks and stays.


Around 1981 531SL was renamed 531P or 531 Professional.






You may never really find the exact pedigree for your bike but like I mentioned above, it's a very rare and special bike.

_________________
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: Tue Mar 29, 2016 1:20 am Reply with quote
Dragon
Joined: 12 Dec 2015
Posts: 9
Location: Germany
Thank you for this complete answer! When the frame was found one of the teambikes was the inspiration for the restauration of the bike. The frame was in an acceptable condition. We only cleaned it and added the missing decal on the downtube.

This is the bike that inspired the restauration: http://velosvintage.over-blog.com/article-velo-gitane-renault-1980-54645616.html and some details during rebuiding the bike:













After changing the bar tape again:
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Early 80's Gitane and Reynolds SL decals 
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