Out On Bail – Harv’s Gitane 10-Speed

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Today’s OTS is a Gitane sent in by Harv in L.A.  A little hair of the dog for those of you with a French bike hangover from Friday‘s fun.

Gitane 10-Speed

This 47 cm Gitane came in with a batch of impounded derelict bikes from the L.A. County Sheriff’s department. It had been stripped of various parts including its brakes, derailleurs, shifters, and pedals. The 24 inch steel Rigida wheels were rusted out and unusable. I decided to fit 26 inch alloy wheels with 1.25 inch wide tyres. I upgraded the missing derailleurs to Shimano and located the shifters onto the stem instead of the downtube. For brakes, I used NOS (new old stock) Shimano Tourney center-pulls which had enough adjustment for the larger wheels. Because the rear brake bridge had the mounting hole in the vertical position, I had to fabricate a bracket to hold the center pull brake. This bracket turned out to be more rigid than the original mounting for this kind of setup. Some new cables and the little Gitane is ready to hit the mean streets of Los Angeles once again. This time, hopefully, it won’t get into the hands of the Sheriff again.

Thanks again Harv

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  • Pfaff

    Way to get those shifters up on the stem where they belong!

    Down tube shifters have no place on a 10 speed.

    The shifting mechanisms should be no more than 6 inches away from suicide brake levers.

    It’s a law in some states.

  • http://oldtenspeedgallery.com The Ten-Speed Dreamer

    Pfaff,

    I believe one of those states is New Jersey.

  • http://www.wrn.com Bob H.

    Another really nice original paint job on this one!

  • Sprocket-Axel

    want to sell?

    • Jim M

      I have a ’71 Gitane Grand Sport De Luxe in excellent condition. Original paint (copper color)and decals in excellent shape. Very few scratches and NO rust anywhere. All breaks and gears and shifters are original and in excellent shape. Any idea what it might be worth?
      Thanks, jim