 |  | | | |  | |  |  | Mysterious Gitane Track bike |  | |  |  | |
 Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:15 pm |
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| brotopher |
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| Joined: 19 Nov 2007 |
| Posts: 18 |
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Just wondering if anyone can help me distinguish what year track model this bike might be and wether the fork is an authentic Gitane track fork. I'm thinking about purchasing and wondering if it's worth refurbishing. The owner mentioned that it is 531 Reynold tubes, but not sure about the drop outs. Any info or speculation would be awesome and appreciated! Chris
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:36 pm |
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| verktyg |
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| Joined: 14 Jan 2007 |
| Posts: 2814 |
| Location: SF Bay Area |
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I've seen quite a few Gitane track bikes over the years but I've never seen any Gitanes with those style crimps in the seat stays at the seat lug.
The lugs look like the French Bocama lugs that Gitane used on their low end models. Also, most of the Gitane track bikes that I've seen had 22mm round fork blades. That style Wagner flat top fork crown wasn't used much after the mid 1970s. The fork has a short rake and close tire clearance so it was probably made for a track bike.
If it is a Gitane frame it's probably a pre 1970s model. There was a Pista or Super Pista model with Reynolds 531 tubing but most Gitane track frames were made of lower quality tubing. They used lighter gage carbon steel tubing, Durifort tubing or Vitus 888 tubing. Some had only the 3 main tubes 531. They were cheap that's why they were popular.
The low end models used steel cottered cranks up through the mid 1970s.
The give away is the seatpost diameter. The tubes should be metric and the seat tube should be ~28mm outside diameter rather than 1 1/8". If the seat post is under 26mm then it's highly unlikely that the frame is made of 531.
Chas. |
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| Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:45 am |
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| verktyg |
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| Joined: 14 Jan 2007 |
| Posts: 2814 |
| Location: SF Bay Area |
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I think that I may have figured out what make your bike is. Judging from the swagging treatment at top of the seats stays, I'd say that yours may be a mid 70s Motobecane track frame.
The picture below shows a 1975 Grand Touring model converted to a fixie. The lugs match too.
Chas. |
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