A big thank you everyone

[woodbutcher]

I agree that the brakes might benefit from upgrades, but gears haven't improved tat much and stuff like handlebars might always need changing. The comments about "the serious stuff" are bizarre: Eroica and retro rides not serious?

"TOUCHE' " mon amie !

 

[midlife]

May I ask what sort of cycling you are planning to do?

The examples you keep coming up with are fine retro machines and if you are only intending to do a few casual rides, then these would be fine.
But being retro, they have missed out on 30+ years of technical improvements. You may realise as soon as you start the serious stuff, that you want to upgrade the brakes and gears. The tyres on the Gitane look like 20mm, which are serious lightweight ones, but for comfort, you might want to up to 25 or 28mm. The bars look deep drop and might be too much compared to the "compact" bars you can get now. Pedals are the old clip style. Are the tyres tubs or clinchers? Replacement tubs could be pricey.

Don't want to put you off, but it might be false economy starting with one from this age.

I solved that problem by getting one of these ....

Shaun

 

[Sharky]

I understand what you are saying and l don't want to give the impression that l will be engaged in serious cycling activities. For me its more like going out on a nice day for a ride down memory lane if that doesn't sound too corny !

Sounds like a good plan.
Good luck with finding a bike,
Cheers Keith

 

[woodbutcher]

I solved that problem by getting one of these ....

View attachment 337266

Shaun

Oh come on Shaun, l have enough problems making up my mind already .....

 

[woodbutcher]

The pink Mercier looks great but I'm pretty sure the 531 framed Gitane will be lighter. I have a frame in Columbus Aelle (if that's what it is, there are various grades) and it's surprisingly weighty. Won't make a lot of difference on the road but thought I'd just point it out. The French being very nationalistic always liked to put all home grown components on their bikes but some things like the Simplex gears weren't up to much, the Shimano group set is way superior as @Spiderweb points out.

This may be a silly question but if l have to do the work altering all sorts of stuff on the Simplex gears why don't l look out for a Shimano group set and do an upgrade ?

 

[midlife]

This may be a silly question but if l have to do the work altering all sorts of stuff on the Simplex gears why don't l look out for a Shimano group set and do an upgrade ?

I managed a few time trials BITD using Simplex mechs...

Shaun

 

[woodbutcher]

Point more than well made......I will have a go at the Gitane !

 

[Sharky]

I managed a few time trials BITD using Simplex mechs...

View attachment 337272

Shaun

I used to ride with Simplex as well. As did a Tommy Simpson!

As the Gitane has friction levers, probably any replacement rear mech would work ok.

 

[GuyBoden]

This looks like an interesting historical French bike, it's in Paris. Look at those old Huret gears. Nice saddle. 180 EUR achat immédiat.
http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Demi-course-Hurricane-/152400042244?hash=item237bc01904:g:Ba8AAOSwLEtYfjnN

 

[TheDoctor]

I used to ride with Simplex as well. As did a Tommy Simpson!

As the Gitane has friction levers, probably any replacement rear mech would work ok.

It certainly will. Friction shift on 11 speed could be a bit of a safecracker job, but 5.6.or 7 is easily doable.

That Huret rear mech just up that way ^^^ How does that work? I can't see a parallelogram going on.
Does the jockey cage slide in and out or something?

 

[Cycleops]

This is a very interesting read if you want to check up on all the various derailleur gears going back in time: http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/Home.html

 

[midlife]

Yep, the arm itself is fixed and the cage slides in and out on a rod with the return force being provided by a coiled flat spring "thingy"..

Shaun

 

[Sharky]

I had a Benelux gear which seems similar. The spring made the default return to the big sprocket, rather than the small cog as with modern gears.

 

[palinurus]

It certainly will. Friction shift on 11 speed could be a bit of a safecracker job, but 5.6.or 7 is easily doable.

8's no problem either, did that for a number of years. Took a couple of days getting the feel of it.

I reckon I could do 9.

 

[biggs682]

Yep, the arm itself is fixed and the cage slides in and out on a rod with the return force being provided by a coiled flat spring "thingy"..

Shaun

same as on my 50's Raleigh Roadster