Well, bein a big guy who rides 61-63cm frames there's a few extra variables that make (for me) boom bikes easier to compare ... or harder, depending how you look at it.
The 70-71 Gitane TdF I have has MASSIVE seat stays, the 72 and 73 PX-10E's in comparison are very nearly dainty. All three ride comparably, but still different in their own ways. The TdF is a comfy rock, the Peugeots are comfy and not twitchy at all but much less solid - I think I'd choose the Gold TdF over either of them for regular all-day riding in the hills, I tend to be one of those guys who still cannot shake an aversion to "frame flex" even though its a non-issue for inefficient pedalers like myself.
Interestingly, I also have one of the pro Lemond-era Gitanes and an 82-83 TdF, the latter doesn't even have a chainstay brace by the bottom bracket!
No point in arguing which French of the stable I think is "better", heck most of the currently ride-able bikes I own are the bikes I drooled at in shops in the early 70's, "boomers" I suppose/....even though I was at Spence Wolf's garage on Randy Lane QUITE often between 71-75, I just didn't get the same fascination for Hetchins, Cinelli, Singer or Herse that I got for rows of shiny shop bikes...deprived I guess then....now perhaps realizing I missed some opportunities.
Oh well, let's ride tomorrow....rain or shine?
Dale Phelps, Montagna Lunga Colorado
Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Masi? Are you referring to Merckx's bike? I'd say the most famous Peugeot for English speakers was a 1967 PX-10 ridden half way up an extinct volcano on a hot July day in 1967. As far as I know that was a genuine PX-10, just like my 1967 model.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
Russ Fitzgerald wrote: Hoo-boy.
Okay, let's talk about PX-10s a moment. WHICH PX-10s do we extol? The slacker angled '64-72 ones, or the strangely steep '73-74 variety? Don't forget, the most famous one of the '60s for us English-speaking types was - ahem - a Masi dressed up in Peugeot livery.
Don't get me wrong - I like PX-10s. I helped David Goerndt put together the PX-10 database, fer cryin' out loud. But now that a few years have gone by, I can freely state this - I never rode a Peugeot of any stripe that rode as well as a couple of Gitane Tour de France models I had, or, for that matter, never rode any bike that felt as comfy and right as a brutally battered Professionnal Super Corsa that I foolishly let get away.
But what about non-proletarian French bikes? Well, for racing, howzabout a Helyett? Apart from having a name you can pronounce in a way that sounds like a drunken affirmation from my part of the world, weren't they classic race bikes? What about an Automoto - I mean, if it was good enough for the Pelissiers and Bottechia, you know? Dale had a STUNNING Urago a few years back at the Cirque, and I bet it's still gem in his collection - I'd put that up there in the list of ultimate Gallic cycles.
Herse and Singer? Sure, but there are all those other guys, too. I need to spend the money with Jan and get his book, just so I can drool. The '38 Reyhand in the 1st ed. of The Dancing Chain made my heart go thumpity-thump. The lines and the proportions were just so inexplicably correct on that one ...
Can there be ONE ultimate French bike?
Russ Fitzgerald Greenwood, SC considering the subject, Etats-Unis _______________________________________________
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Dale B. Phelps, 303 939 6967 303 208 8664 pager
"Never be afraid to try something new. The Ark was designed by amateurs. The Titanic was designed by professionals." - R. Buckminister Fuller
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