Phantom CR list member Marty Walsh brought his newly acquired 1970(?) Gitane over to my house last week, so I shot a few pics. Don't really know too much about it yet. Marty claims to remember lusting after one of these "back then" in Mel Pinto's shop in Georgetown, so he may have more knowledge about other models as well. Claims this one is completely original. Take a look at:
http://albums.photopoint.com/
Might add to the collective Gitane wisdom, since that marque has surfaced recently in a couple posts.
Wayne Bingham Washington DC - the new "windy city" (Why did I have to ride into a headwind on the way out AND the way home yesterday?)
-----Original Message----- From: KCTOMMY [mailto:KCTOMMY@email.msn.com] Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2001 4:04 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Mystery Gitane
Say, it's a pretty nice frame on eBay that I know nothing about! Time to put the CR Suerte on the job. Anyone with info on the Gitane Service Course? The only thing I deduce from the picture are all Reynolds 531 db, smooth point lugs, probably had centerpulls originally.
Questions I'd like to answer would be: probable year of manufacture (seller says 70's), was the frame used by pros, and if so who (assuming Masi didn't build the pro team bikes:>), likely original componentry, probable BB threading, and any riding impressions of these frames. The only thing I can tell is that it doesn't look like Greg Lemond's Gitane. Thanks for the help, Inspector.
The URL is one of those stupendous tutorial ones that doesn't fit in emails, but item number is Item #1127131624.
Tom Adams in chilly Kansas City