mid-1970's Gitane Olympic

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scozim
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Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:08 pm
Location: Ellensburg, WA

mid-1970's Gitane Olympic

Post by scozim »

Took the day off for my birthday today and decided I had to finish building up the Gitane Olympic. As with a lot of older bikes the best laid plans don't always come to fruition.

The build was going to be a mix of parts (again) with what I had on hand because I still have too many kids at home. In another couple of years I'll start accumulating parts to do it right - either Campagnolo or Suntour Superbe.

The Shimano 600 Arabesque brakes I had for the bike looked great until I realized sometime in the past year I have lost one of the anchor bolts and small bracket that goes with it. A perusal of the parts drawer saw a couple of Weinmann calipers but the were both for the front. Nothing for the rear. Then sitting in my chair and mulling it over I glanced at the beater Nishiki on the indoor trainer and the light bulb went off. That had Superbe brakes - so those were stripped off and put on the Gitane.

The rear derailleur is a Simplex SX610 and the shifters are Simplex from my dad's old '84 Peugeot PSV10. Front derailleur was going to be a Simplex SJA102 but the one on my other Gitane was stubborn and not going to work. For now there's a Suntour Cyclone on the bike.

Crankset is a Shimano 600 Arabesque (52-39) temporarily. I have a Stronlight 103 (anodizing was bad and is being stripped). I'll eventually have it set up with 52-38 gearing.

Rear freewheel was a 6 spd 13-24 Sachs Aris. Unfortunately, two of the cogs are worn out so I'll need to put a different freewheel on it. The 7 spd Aris I have is just too wide.

Pedals are Forte Look style with titanium spindles.

Wheels - front Mavic GEL280 with Suntour Superbe Pro hub. Rear is Mavic GP4 with a Mavic hub. I have a GP4 for the front - just needs to be cleaned up and a new tubular glued on.

Overall the bike rides fantastic! I had about an 8 mile shake down ride and it feels nimble and responsive. I look forward to getting it out for some longer trips next spring.


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Last edited by scozim on Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1984 Gitane Sprint (sold)
1984 Gitane Tour de France (can't get rid of)
mid-1970's Gitane Olympic (sold)
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sandranian
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Post by sandranian »

Good stuff!
Stephan Andranian
Costa Mesa, CA
www.gitaneusa.com
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