> 1. Was 1969 the first year GC's were available?
Said to be made in later 1969
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> 2. Did they come with a head tube badge?
Very early examples were rumored to do so.
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> 3. What decal set is appropriate?
1970 and 1971 used the the same decal set. Very late '71's perhaps had the first type of the "typical" GC transfer set, with the noted difference of the "crosshair dividers" inside the downtube box. By 1972 they had changed. There were not model years per se, things evolved apparently as they were used up.
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Pull the fork and check the inside of the headtube and the steerer, look closely for filled holes from where a headbadge would go. The fork most likely will have a month & year stamp, but not all apparently did.
A fortunate find, a misfortunate respray, Joe Bell did what looks like a great job on Richard's, Brian Baylis did my 1970 example, he did a great job. I would recommend him highly.
John Jorgensen
Torrance Ca for a few more minutes