Gitane 2 speed...?
bandsawman
Posts: 39
Not really sure what I've bought here...
Earlier today I bought a bike off ebay - just one photo and a poor description - but I'm looking forward to collecting it tonight and seeing what my 60 quid has bought me.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330606491219?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I spoke to the seller after I'd bought it and he said that it's got 2 chainrings on the front and 2 sprockets on the back - and they have to be changed over manually....?!
Has anybody seen anything like this before?
I'll report back (with pics) when I've got it :-)
Earlier today I bought a bike off ebay - just one photo and a poor description - but I'm looking forward to collecting it tonight and seeing what my 60 quid has bought me.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330606491219?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I spoke to the seller after I'd bought it and he said that it's got 2 chainrings on the front and 2 sprockets on the back - and they have to be changed over manually....?!
Has anybody seen anything like this before?
I'll report back (with pics) when I've got it :-)
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Looking forward to seeing the pics -e-bay would not hold the photo for me. Sounds like a 10sp from the 80's with a bodged rear wheel and no mechs - but I could well be wrong!
Some interesting bikes on sale - there is a Dawes s/s that is just like one I used to tt on (at the time best £3 I ever spent!). Fortunate that I am in the wrong country, the missus would kill me if I suggested adding to the bike fleet.0 -
if it's what I think it is.... you have a smaller ring and larger sprocket on the inside but they match the effective chain length, to change gear you release the chain tension and hook onto the other set
bit of a faff IMO but can be useful if you have a long climb followed by a long descent"I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
--Jens Voight0 -
mz__jo wrote:Looking forward to seeing the pics -e-bay would not hold the photo for me. Sounds like a 10sp from the 80's with a bodged rear wheel and no mechs - but I could well be wrong!
That's more or less it - mechs and shifters are missing, and rear freehub has been changed for a 2 speed one.
Other than that it's a delight! As it is, with pedals & toe clips/straps and mudguards fitted, it weighs 10.7kg. Very respectable.
Tyres are perishing on the walls, so I'll need to change them.
Definitely worth the £60 though!
Going out to play with it now - I'll get some pics on later
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Tidy, there are some parts on it that would probably get yo a profit if you stripped them off, polished them up and resold them on e-bay. Saddle, bars and stem, brake levers and toeclips etc... but that stem looks to be some way above the minimum insertion mark - drop it down a few cm to make it safe...0
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The wheels are post 1987, the lugless construction looks to be typical Bike Europe from the 90's. The freewheel is a Maillard or Sachs-Maillard. Look to see if there are 3 grooves for the cog location or 4 (3 is Maillard, 4 is Sachs ARIS which is just a slightly modernised Maillard). The top gear cog is screwed on to hold the other in place, that's why there are 2! I have a stack of cogs for these, courtesy of a clubmate although you might quite easily find them on looking around. They are interchangeable between ARIS and Maillard (just file off the fourth pip on an ARIS one to fit the earlier type of freewheel body).
Take care with the stem, Cinelli bars of that vintage are a slightly odd size, there is no guarantee that a non-Cinelli stem will be the right diameter (it might just have been opened up to get the bars in).
Well worth what you paid; easy to put it back to gears if you want to, just needs a couple of mechs and the missing sprockets. FWIW these freewheels work with Shimano 6,7,8sp indexing.0 -
The blue is the typical ( some would say "proper") Gitane blue that they used for the race bikes. It was probably made at Machecoul in the Vendée which also made (still makes) Peugeot and Micmo (and probably cheap Bianchi models). It was one of the big Cycle Europe group factories, which had the big names. This frame would probably be the same as a Peugeot of the same period.0
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I stand corrected; the stem is real Cinelli, i thought it was something lesser. Bars, stem and brake levers are not original, I am fairly certain of that.0
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ynyswen24 wrote:Tidy, there are some parts on it that would probably get yo a profit if you stripped them off, polished them up and resold them on e-bay. Saddle, bars and stem, brake levers and toeclips etc... but that stem looks to be some way above the minimum insertion mark - drop it down a few cm to make it safe...
Yeah, I'm not riding with it at that height, I just took that picture to make it easier for me to identify it
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mz__jo wrote:The blue is the typical ( some would say "proper") Gitane blue that they used for the race bikes. It was probably made at Machecoul in the Vendée which also made (still makes) Peugeot and Micmo (and probably cheap Bianchi models). It was one of the big Cycle Europe group factories, which had the big names. This frame would probably be the same as a Peugeot of the same period.
Is there any way of finding out what tubing the frame's made from?0 -
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I've been riding to work on this and I'm really pleased with it!
I never thought I'd take to riding single speed - but I love it!0 -
Can anyone shed any light on the cranks?
I'm not finding anything on the net...0 -
bandsawman wrote:
"Lugless construction"? Can you explain please?mz__jo wrote:The wheels are post 1987, the lugless construction looks to be typical Bike Europe from the 90's.
If you look at the frame you will see that the tubes are joined without using lugs. I've a mate who had a couple of Peugeots that were made like this one. The mystery is that there is no apparent fillet from either brazing or welding. (No pronounced TIG welding like on a Chinese or Taiwanese modern frame). I would love to know by what process they were made. The tubing could be anything cro-mo - Vitus, Columbus, Tange, Phoenix, Falk or something completely anonymous. I imagine that Cycle Europe bought in whatever was competitive in the marketplace at the time. If there is a number to date it by you could look to see if there is a contact address for the factory at Machecoul (it might be listed under Micmo since that is the name on the gate these days) and write to ask. I would be surprised if it was Vitus or Columbus because that would have merited a sticker. The reason I say it is post 1987 (or at least the wheels) is because the hubs are labelled Sachs and so date to after the purchase of Maillard and Huret by Sachs which is 1987. I bought a Rigida rim like that in 1995.
I am surprised that there is nothing on Solida cranks somewhere on the net. They were an average good bottom to middle range product, probably disappeared. I don't know now if they were french or italian; I always thought italian but could have been either. Worth looking to see if they were one of the makes bought up by Sachs (Mannesmann-Sachs, to be correct) and later killed in the sale to SRAM.0 -
Thanks for your help. I've just emailed the Gitane website to see if they can give me any info from the frame number. Fingers crossed.mz__jo wrote:bandsawman wrote:
"Lugless construction"? Can you explain please?mz__jo wrote:The wheels are post 1987, the lugless construction looks to be typical Bike Europe from the 90's.
If you look at the frame you will see that the tubes are joined without using lugs. I've a mate who had a couple of Peugeots that were made like this one. The mystery is that there is no apparent fillet from either brazing or welding. (No pronounced TIG welding like on a Chinese or Taiwanese modern frame). I would love to know by what process they were made. The tubing could be anything cro-mo - Vitus, Columbus, Tange, Phoenix, Falk or something completely anonymous. I imagine that Cycle Europe bought in whatever was competitive in the marketplace at the time. If there is a number to date it by you could look to see if there is a contact address for the factory at Machecoul (it might be listed under Micmo since that is the name on the gate these days) and write to ask. I would be surprised if it was Vitus or Columbus because that would have merited a sticker. The reason I say it is post 1987 (or at least the wheels) is because the hubs are labelled Sachs and so date to after the purchase of Maillard and Huret by Sachs which is 1987. I bought a Rigida rim like that in 1995.
I am surprised that there is nothing on Solida cranks somewhere on the net. They were an average good bottom to middle range product, probably disappeared. I don't know now if they were french or italian; I always thought italian but could have been either. Worth looking to see if they were one of the makes bought up by Sachs (Mannesmann-Sachs, to be correct) and later killed in the sale to SRAM.
I know what you mean about the frame joints, I noticed that straight away - very neat indeed! I think I might start seperate threads in the road or workshop forums for some of these questions, as they're not really "Special Interest".0 -
hi
try gitane usa .com loads of info and catalougues and helpful forum members
they love these in the states. ive re built my team pro off i9nfo on here
cheers
bowser
ps deffo eighties.0
