Lane,
To answer your 1st question, I've seen metric quill (22.0mm) Cinelli 1a, 3TTT Record and later 3TT Record Mod. 1 stems in at least 120mm length.
We sold Gitanes in the 70s and had one of Lucien van Impe's Gitane Team bikes that he rode in the 1976 Tour de France on display at our shop.
I was disappointed when the bike arrived because it looked like a beat up, off the shelf all Campy bike!
There's a website devoted to Gitanes: <GitaneUSA.com>
I'm not familiar with a Gitane "Professional" model from 1975.
What kind of dropouts does it have? Are both the forks and rear triangle 1/2 chrome plated? What kind of tubing?
Most of the mid range to better quality Gitanes from mid 1974 until about 1977 used Huret "honeycomb" rear dropouts.
Gitane Pacific took over US distribution in mid 1974. They focused on the fast fading entry level Bike Boom market, consequently there weren't many better quality Gitanes imported after 1974.
In the mid 70s there were several top model Gitanes that were only offered in their French catalog. A few of these probably made it to the US.
They were the all Campy Super Olympic model, the Campy equipped Olympic model with Mafac brakes and the Champion Du Monde model with mostly French components including Stronglight cranks. All 3 models had Cinelli bars and stems.
These frames were all Reynolds 531 with 1/2 chrome plated forks and stays. Most had the Huret honeycomb rear dropouts but I've seen a few from those years with Campy dropouts too.
From mid 1974 until 1976 the Gitane Tour de France frames had only the 3 main tubes made of Reynolds 531 tubing and the rear stays were painted. They had mostly French components with Campy Nuovo Tipo high flange hubs and 27" clinchers (Michelin Elan tires om Mavic Module-E rims).
There's a picture of Jay Dubiel's 1976 Tour de France with Stronglight 93 cranks and Huret Success derailleurs in the CR Gitane section:
*http://www.classicrendezvous.com/France/bicycles/Gitane/Gitane_tdf_JD.htm*
Almost all production bikes that I saw in the 70s used 170mm cranks (except for Sugino 171mm crank arms).
Stronglight 93 cranks were made in lengths from 165m to 180mm. From time to time 175mm model 93 crank arms show up on eBay. The more recent model 105 crank arms were more readily available in longer lengths. I had a set of 180s but traded them for 170s.
I just finished assembling a 1974 Gitane Tour de France. I used Huret Challenger derailleurs instead of the more common Simplex Criterium derailleurs most of those bikes came with.
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA
Lane Wilkinson wrote:
> I am in the process of restoring a '75 Gitane Professional and looking
> for among other things a crank set in 175 cm and a stem in a 120 or
> 130. My first question is who made a French sized stem in a 120 or
> 130? I have never seen lengths longer than 105 from Pivo, Atax, of
> Philippe. Did Cinelli make stems in a 22.0 French size in longer lengths?
> Second, almost every vintage crank I see is a 170 length. Even my 63cm
> Motobecane Grand Record, 63cm Bottechia Professional, and 63cm Peugeot
> PKN were specced with 170 cranks. Having worked in the cycling industry
> I know it is easier to spec the same parts on all sizes of a bike
> model. Was this the case with most on topic bikes or was there less
> emphasis on sizing crank and stem length? I know different
> manufacturers and even different countries had different notions of how
> bikes should fit and these notions have changed over time, but how much
> effort was put into choosing specific components based on the frame size?
> So anyone have a Stronglight 93 in a 175cm or a long reach French stem
> (110-130)? Also looking for Front and Rear Huret Success deraileurs.
>
> The colective knowledge and experiences of this list never cease to
> amazes me, thanks for great reading!
> Lane Wilkinson
> Seattle, WA