Last Saturday at T-town I'd been hunting Mafac levers since the body of one I'd just mounted had a chunk break off. Sitting in the corral with Larry Osborne, Walt Skrzypek, Charlie Young & Steve Maasland, I spied the levers ... connected to an old green Gitane frame w/ bars, crank and nothing else. Would you just sell me the levers? Nope! Yah gotta take the frame with it, 30 bucks! Turned out to be a Professional, all 531, though with pretty ordinary dropouts. By then Larry, Charlie and Walt were there egging me on. Rats! (like I need another project frame ... Now, if it were a Peugeot?) I bought it. Walking it back to Larry's cube, Steven asks about it and after telling him I'd gotten it just for the levers, he told me about the pile of NOS levers he had at home. Grrrrhh! Now I've got levers coming from Steven. And, even though this bike really is a nice rider, the last thing I need is another project, even though I don't have anything nice French at home, just an old gritty UO-8 frame hanging in the rafters. If I couldn't get rid of this, it would be a donation to the local bike co-op. People were packing up, we did a loop to see what goodies were available for I ain't takin' it home prices and I left the frame in the corral. Larry found a nice GB map of Britain bar & stem from Mattie Bowne and the lonely bike was still sitting there when we returned. At Walt's suggestion on the way out, we had the announcer push it for the crowd. Price? From Walt 'Forty bucks!' I agreed. ... Dave Abrahams soon walked up and while he was hemming & hawing over the price, I offered it for $30. Dave bought it. I was happy not to have to pack it home. And this was after Mike Schmidt e-mailed a photo home to the wife of me with Steven's all panto'd something Italian copper & chrome coffee getter telling her it was mine. The weather was great. Had a good time. Happy trails,
Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland USA
Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/
A post mother's day special ...
For Sale: Gitane Professionnal Tour De France - Service Course, 49cm seat tube and 52cm top tube, both taken center to center, dark green, made with Reynolds 531 tubing. Takes 700c wheels. This is the version with Simplex gears and unmarked but perhaps Simplex forged dropouts. An unnamed CR member, Gitane fan, and information documentation specialist, noted that this bike could be from the very late 1960s or very early 1970s (early in the Gitane TdF era), because of some features that I have now forgotten the specificity of! One I remember is the brake calipers with the older Dural Forge markings? Ask me to ask him again, if you want to know what those features are! I did note however, a stamp on the inboard side of the Simplex rear derailleur pulley cage: S 72. Does this mean 1972?
The bike came to me with Campy wheels and cranks that were obviously not correct, so they have been plundered ... hence, NO cranks or wheels included.
Frameset does include: Stronglight French threaded headset and bottom bracket (118.5mm spindle), Mafac Dural Forge center pull brakes and levers with white half-hoods, Nitor 26.2mm seatpost with red glider pieces in the clamp assembly, Pivo faux lugged aluminum 90mm stem with unmarked but likely Pivo aluminum 37mm bars (o-o), Simplex derailleurs, shifters and clamp-on guides, Huret top tube brake cable clips, and an unmarked but Simplex looking binder bolt. I suspect the cables, casings and bar wrap are all original, and in restorable condition.
The decals on this bike are in outstanding condition, compared to what you might expect of a bike that saw little use, but some exposure. There is rust on some of the more poorly chromed Simplex bits, while some other chromed bits still look excellent. The jockey wheels on the rear changer are shot ... broken from age or exposure, I think. The paint has a few marks, but it isn't horrible, and I'd image that the solid color scheme would make a touch-up less complicated. I've wiped it down, but not cleaned it with water or any cleaner, in any way. I expect deep cleaning will make it look even better than its already impressive condition. No pictures yet, but will gladly take some quick shots if asked (even if you are not looking to buy the bike). Again, let me note ... there is rust visible on the Simplex fixtures.
Asking $150, plus actual FedEx delivery, which should likely fall somewhere between $25 and $45 for different destinations in the continental US. International or overseas shipping will also be, the exact USPS cost only.
I can find a set of Campagnolo Gran Sport wheels that need servicing, to throw in for an additional $50, should the buyer be interested. Thanks for reading...
Ciao,
Mark Agree
Southfield MI USA