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A couple questions, 63 cm Gitane frame 
PostPosted: Sun May 04, 2008 11:03 am Reply with quote
samwell
Joined: 04 May 2008
Posts: 3
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Hey everybody-

I just got a 63 cm Gitane frame. It's steel and in decent condition- the paint (gold) is chipped in a lot of places, but the frame is sound in all ways.

My main question was about the seat post- it has an old-fashioned clamp and it doesn't seem able to fit my saddle. The bars on the underside of the saddle are too widely spaced. Do I need a different saddle or a different seatpost, or can I make this set up work?

Also, the frame has a couple "custom made" stickers on it. Is this common or did I stumble on a collector's item? I don't know how to locate the serial numbers; but I'd be willing to check it out. I can post pictures too.

Thanks for any help!

-Sam
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Pictures Please 
PostPosted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:31 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
Sam,

Post some pictures and some one here can probably help you with info on your frame.

Chas.
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PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2008 8:00 am Reply with quote
samwell
Joined: 04 May 2008
Posts: 3
Location: Philadelphia, PA
As you can see, I got the seat issue settled. Just had to find a new clamp. I put it all together yesterday and so far have only ridden the five blocks from the bike workshop to my apartment.

Anyhow, any other on the bike would be appreciated. Pretty much the only thing I know about it is that it's steel.

Thanks, and enjoy.










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1973 Paris-Roubaix? 
PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:45 pm Reply with quote
vanhelmont
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 242
Location: Florida
If I'm right the mylar transfers make it pre-1974, and the cable guides probably make it a 1973. Is that a vitus sticker on the fork? If so, it's a reasonably good tubing. It's got to be a mid- to lower bike with stamped rear dropouts, cottered cranks, and without chromed fork and stays. They put the "custom made" stickers on just about everything, I think.

The stickers and paint seem to be in good shape for its age.

I'm glad to see you haven't filed off the cable guides. You may want to restore it to a 10-speed someday. Also, there's no telling what Gilles de Rais might do if you tried such a thing. Never heard of him? See the "Gitane Trivia" forum post on Machecoul history.
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PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:30 pm Reply with quote
sandranian
Site Admin
Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
That is an early 1970's Gitane Grand Sport DeLuxe. You can check out the specifics of what that bike was originally outfitted with in the catalogues section of the website (1970 catalogue).

Welcome to the site, and thanks for sharing the pictures. By the way, the "Custom Made" sticker was standard on all Gitane bikes of the era.

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Stephan Andranian
Costa Mesa, CA
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Early 70s Gitane Grand Sport 
PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2008 10:13 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
As Stephan said, your bike is an early 70s Gran Sport or Gran Sport Deluxe model, probably a 1972 or 1973. Gold colored Gitanes were not very common. Before 1974 I only saw one gitane that color. There were a few more after the decals changed in 1974.

It's a 64cm (25") frame measured from the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. This size was pretty rare.

During the US Bike Boom era of the early 1970s Gitane Gran Sport frames were made of lighter weight (thinner wall thickness) carbon steel tubing than many other European bikes. I did "post mortems" on a number of Gitane Gran Sport frames that had been crashed. The frames were all well brazed, in fact I've never seen a frame failure on a Gitane.

Chas.
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Awesome 
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2008 5:47 am Reply with quote
samwell
Joined: 04 May 2008
Posts: 3
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Thanks for the info, guys. It's a pretty sweet ride.

One upgrade I'd like to make is to the cranks. I'm riding it fixed gear and the cranks are pretty old and cottered- the left one even makes cracking sounds if I try to brake on it. How difficult is it going to be for me to find a square-taper bottom bracket that fits this shell?
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:54 am Reply with quote
sandranian
Site Admin
Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 2701
Location: Southern California
Not that difficult...as long as you are willing to change out the entire BB.

The hard part will be finding the french threaded bottom bracket...and removal of the fixed cup. Remember, French threaded fixed cups are threaded in the STANDARD direction, not reverse thread. Therefore, they often used "locktight" or similar method to prevent the fixed cup from threading out during use. They are known for being a real pain in the arse...and I can personally testify to that!

My advice is to soak the fixed cup in some sort of cleaner/solvent that won't damage the paint (i.e. WD40). Then, use a vice and use the frame as the leverage to break it free.

Hopefully, you won't have this problem, but I have had my share of struggles, and do not recommend attempting removal with standard tools!

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Stephan Andranian
Costa Mesa, CA
www.gitaneusa.com
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Cranks 
PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2008 12:43 pm Reply with quote
vanhelmont
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 242
Location: Florida
When I taught in China, I had a Chinese-built roadster with cottered cranks, and I deformed the crank pins if I pedaled hard. When I was home, I went to my lbs and bought crank pins, and had no more crank problems after I put them in. Probably a stronger steel than the Chinese pins. If you can find an experienced enough mechanic, maybe he would be able to make your cottered cranks work.

One of the fringe benefits of a rear derailer is that it keeps tension on the chain so that it stays on even if the chain ring and rear sprocket aren't quite lined up. Chain line is important with a fixed gear, so that might make changing cranks more tricky, since you don't just go order any size French bb you want. I haven't tried it but Sheldon Brown wrote that you could change the spindle without changing the cups. Not just any spindle will work. Some French cups will work with iso spindles, and other, thinner cups work with Italian spindles. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html
He also talks in this page about chain line. You would probably have a trial and error process to find a spindle that fits your cups and gives you the right chain line.
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Hardened Cotters 
PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2008 9:45 am Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
There were 3 or 4 different size standards for cotters used in the early 1970s. They were made to French, English and Italian specs. Most standard cotters were made of pretty soft steel and easily worked their way loose.

We used to get hardened steel cotters that stayed tight when installed with a cotter pin pressing tool. It looked like a bolt cutter and could be used to install or remove cotters.

French dimensioned hardened cotters may be difficult if not impossible to find these days. Good luck.

Here's what Sheldon had to say:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cotters.html

Chas.
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A couple questions, 63 cm Gitane frame 
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