Chas,
I've got the same two bikes yet to be readied, both 71's and both ~58cm. I paid $275 for both, on separate occasions.
A quick look with the digital angle finder shows something like 71.5X72.5 degrees head and seat angles. Both still wearing HF hubs and sewups.
I also look foreward to an on-the-road evaluation. I'd thought they both migh be a bit too long for my 5'10", but the shallow seat angles suggest otherwise.
I've already built ond ridden the 53/54cm versions of these bikes. The Gitane is strangely almost two pounds more than I expected?? but rides well enough in original trim (but with clinchers).
I'm looking foreward to your impressions, and readying a similar test!
David Snyder Auburn, CA usa
Chad Colerich wrote:
> Back in the 70s we sold Gitanes Andre Bertins and other French marques but
> never Peugeots. I never liked the way the early 70s PX-10s rode.
>
> Just about 2 years ago I walked into my favorite bike "junk yard". Low and
> behold but what did I see sitting in a pile of other old bikes but an old
> PX-10! The Brooks Pro had dried out and was a beautiful matte russet color
> (unfortunately as soon as I touched it the leather turned dark brown).
>
> I ask, "How much?" and they said they were saving it for someone just like
> me. "$200 and oh, there's a second set of wheels that go with it too"!
>
> There was an ATM around the corner and the PX-10 was in the back of my car
> before there were any changes of heart! :-)
>
> Turns out it was a true "barn bike". It was an all original 1967 PX-10
> that had been sitting in someone's shed since the late 70s. It came with
> the original Mavic sewups rims and Normandy Luxe Competition hubs plus a
> set of 27" clinchers with 1987 vintage Normandy HF hubs.
>
> The bike was covered with almost an 1/8" of dust and crud, everything but
> chicken feathers! When I got it home, a quick vacuuming, a few seconds
> with some 409 cleaner on a spot on the paint and some 3x fine steel wool
> on the seat stay chrome and I could see that I got a bargain!
>
> Two weeks later I had a similar stroke of luck. I walked into my favorite
> LBS and they said "Do we have a bike for you!". It was an almost identical
> white 1969 Gitane Tour de France in the same condition and for $200 too!
>
> The PX-10 was ridable with some heavy duty cleaning and minimal work. I
> tore the Gitane TdF down to the bare frame and I'm just getting around to
> finishing it.
>
> So now I have a pair of rivals from the 60s and soon I'll be able to
> compare the rides and handling.
>
> The paint on both frames had seen better days but I didn't want to do a
> complete restoration, just have a couple more riders. I got a "tube" of
> white touch up paint from an auto parts store and went to town.
>
> After letting the lacquer set for a month or so it was hard enough to
> polish out with some rubbing compound. Both bikes pass the 5' test.
>
> Getting back to the "Buying on the cheap" issue, I had no qualms about
> paying $200 for either bike because they were both "donations" that cost
> the sellers nothing.