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I almost lost my breath when I saw this..
I have a recycling station near my house, where people dump shit they don't need and that gets thrown away after a while.
Well, I browse it for bike parts sometimes 'cause a lot of old MTBs and such get thrown out, and today I found a goldmine.

Gitane frame (501 tubing) with all campy parts (almost)!
The wheels are unknown rims, with Campagnolo Record hubs, Campagnolo gearing-handles and both front and rear deraleurs, same for cranks and pedals with cristophe toeclips and strapsm but the stem and bars are chinelli.
The headset, brakes and brake levers are Campy as well.
Not sure about the seat post, haven't checked it out, and the seat is worn so no label.
There is no serial nr under the BB, so I'm not sure when it's from though.

I don't have a decent camera at the moment, so no close-ups for now.
I know Campy is good and expensive, but I'm not an expert. If I clean it up and keep it all-original, can I get some decent cash for it?

Putting straight forks on it would just make the frame geometry even stranger, and the bike would look quite weird. Plus you would probably get a fair deal of toe overlap if you shortened the rake of the forks.

Better off getting a frame, which has even tight clearances if thats what yo ur going for, otherwise i would go for what ed has done for a relaxed cruising bike.

Damn..=\ But it looks like there's quite a lot of space inbetween the crankarms and the wheel..? I have 170mm crankarms though so you're probably right about the toe overlap.

I've got almost no parts you see, besides a pair of tubular wheels, so I'd have to buy a bunch of parts to make it into a beater, and then suddenly I've spent a lot..!
Maybe I'll pick up the frame for a later project, but atm I need to get my main ride sorted properly.
Ed, your "cruiser" does look really comfy though!

I see..! I just thought it looked weird compared to the more "upright" frame I used to have..
I'm going to use it as my "main" bike, and probably strip it of paint and put some work into it altogether, so I might reconsider and wait for something nicer to pop up.
Good thing it'll be comfy though, but I'll need to put some nice straight chrome forks on it though, the front fork is hideous.

I got a pm on a norwegian forum from a guy selling this steel frame.
It's a Gitane, which I've heard are alright, but does the geometry look weird?

It seems to "leaned back", especially in the front, how does that affect handling I wonder?
I don't know if I should go for it, or wait for another frame to pop up. It's 30£ which isn't all that bad, especially with the prices here in Norway, but still..

I did something similar.
I have a tool-shed kind of thing in the basement of the appartment building, it's more of a cage really.
So I just stuck my old drop bars from the outside in, and hung the old frame up. Worked like a charm!

You probably mean on the wall though, so it's totally different, I think you have to drill through the bars in order for it to stick hard enough to the wall..

Yeah I don't know why I thought that when I posted the second time round lol? Anyhow the rest of my points still stand, you should listen to my advice.......even if I am crazy.

I appreciate that, and I'll take your advice. I can't ride until Tuesday anyhow, my rear wheel is at the workshop, but I'll strip this frame over the weekend and bin it..=) Thanks, mate!

Why did your chain slip off ? Too slack ? Worn sprocket ?

You really could do with finding out why......

I think it was too slack..I noticed it at the velodrome but didn't have the tools with me to loosen the wheel and tighten it.
My chainline isn't all peaches either, but I rode the new frame for two weeks straight with no complications..it's not THAT bad, but not completely straight.

I locked my brand new bike up outside Dalston Kingsland Station for five minutes while I popped inside to take a dump in the photo booth... when I came out it looked like this!

Is it still cool to ride? Jus I got a care in the community meeting tonight.

It was me, I got pissed off about my frame so I fucked up the first bike I saw.. but I reckon it's cool to ride though, you should give it a try later on!

With all due respect if you knew how to skid properly and control your bike effectively you wouldn't have gone head on into whatever it was you hit

I didn't hit anything, read my first post. The chain slipped off, and because of my own stupidity/inexperience I tried braking with my foot on the front wheel..it worked to slow me down quite a lot, until the wheel locked and I flew off..

Nothing was hit, just the fact that it stopped suddenly put so much pressure on the frame it bent..

I am Crazy mate, but i'm not Crazy enough to ride a semi-broken frame!
For the love of God, please do not ride this frame, if it breaks you are going to have a really nasty crash, and probably lose half your face to the tarmac, it is just not worth the risk!
Also sticking a brake on would be a sensible idea, at least until you can control the bike properly.

The guy at the shop I was at today to sort out my rear hub told me that it most probably wasn't too dangerous to ride, at least for a short period of time..but I'm still sceptical, I might just take your advice and bin it at once..

I already have a brake at home, so as soon as I get the new frame I'll mount it. But now that I know how to skid properly it's not a big problem to ride brakeless (yeah, until this happens that is)..
I was lucky enough to not get ANY marks on myself though, but I think it's once in a lifetime kind of luck..=P

Haha, James, you crazy! :P

Anyway, I'm not that dumb that I'm gonna fit a brake on this frame, a front brake will only increase the pressure on that front part.
yeah, braking with the front tire might have been a bad idea but it was downhill and I've never ridden brakeless and fixed-less before so I got caught slightly off guard.

Anyway, I'm getting a Gitane steel frame in a week or so (hopefully), so i'll be riding this one carefully until then and hope it won't snap on me. I rode it to the shop today and at the velodrome yesterday, so the steering isn't a problem as long as I'm aware of the toe overlap.
So much hostility, I love this place!

Same happened to me, but the frame snapped without on a perfectly straight bit of road, and about a month after a crash.
Thats the only picture I can find...

That looks scary as fuck!
I ride at a velodrome here in Oslo every week, and it would SUCK it this happened in the middle of a turn..

Yeah that bike should be fine, for polo.

Sorry to be harsh but there is a surfeit of people on here too concerned with style with no-skills, be it bike, balance or basic maintenance.

Did you read the London Lite by chance?

I was working on my skills when this happened, was practicing skids ;)

No, never read it.. Know it's a free newspaper, but was it anything in particular there?

I had a head on collision once, but I was fine, picked my self up and got back on my bike. I gave my cranks, and wheels a quick look over, but since they were fine, I assumed my frame must be as well. After ten minutes of riding I needed to brake sharply, as I put on the front brake, the damage to my frame, which must have been similar to yours, caused the down tube to bend even more, my front wheel hit the down tube, and stopped dead, and I was thrown over the top of the handlebars.
So in conclusion, don't ride the frame.

That's what I'm basically afraid of.. I don't have brakes yet, since I just learned to skid properly, but I don't think I'll mount them on this frame, I'll try to get another one instead..doubt I'll get such a nice one though..

Another question, does the fork look bent near the lower cup of the headset? If it isn't then I'll use it on another frame, though if it is then I guess it has to go as well..

this sounds like a good way to lose toes...

I had on some leather sneakers, and my toes were alright..

This incident must have looked fucking hilarious

Well, my other foot was in the toeclip still, so the bike followed me in a more or less perfect circle (or so it seemed)..no people to see it though, luckily..

why not affix a front brake to the bike though that nice hole on the forks to facilitate stopping the next time?

Was at the shop on Tuesday to mount a brake, but it had to be there until today (thursday).. Since I had to meet some people for rides tuesday and wednesday, I decided to wait with the shop until today..and this happened tuesday night..I'm a moron, yes!

I know, front brake is the first thing I'll get! Going to the shop today actually to sort it out..

Yeah, the toe overlap is pretty massive.. maybe it's too dangerous just because of the overlap, 'cause I can't really turn too fast..

Forgot to start the poll:
1: yes
2: no
3: get a fucking front brake

This is what happened to my 2 weeks old (for me at least) Motobecane frame (888 vitus tubing) after the chain slipped and I tried to brake with my foot on the front wheel. The foot followed the tyre and got stuck near the frame, locking the wheel up and sending me flying..

Do you think this is way too dangerous to ride on the street?
Both tubes are bent, as you see, but the lower one is the worst..

I'll try flipping the wheel, didn't think of that!

I've tried undoing it, recentering and then tightening back on, still off.. it helper a bit though, but not entirely..
I'm going to a repair shop tomorrow anyways, the cup "protecting" the bearing on my rear hub is loose so I have to get it back in. I guess I can ask the guy to look at the wheel as well!

Gonna ride at a velodrome tonight though, hope the wheel won't make any problems..

Hey guys!

I have a slight problem with my front wheel. I crashed yesterday, and it seems that the front wheel it slightly off center now, maybe only some mm. I'l mounting a front brake later this week, so it's pretty important for the wheel to be dead on..=)

What can be the problem?
When I spin the wheel, it doesn't look bent in any way. Can the fork be slightly bent on one side?
I crashed when I tried to brake with my foot on the tyre after my chain slipped, and I managed to lock my foot between the wheel and frame, so it just stopped. Maybe I damaged the wheel/frame somehow?

I picked this bike up yesterday! =)
It looks very nice, almost no chipping paint. The headbadge is there, and it's a Motobecane Grand Sprint. I read it's a semi-good road model, so I reckon it isn't all so great but that doesn't matter..!

It's got Vitus 888 tubing (apparently aluminium, have no idea if it's good or not), Stronglight cranks which I'll probably use, Shimano Altus-LT gears. The drop bars are also Motobecane, and look pretty good, so I'll keep them as well if I'll manage to un-anodize them and make them bling again. The pedals are "look", know nothing about them and probably won't use them either! The forks are chrome (ish, very dull-looking, so I'll have to find a way to make them sparkle again..), and the clearence is a lot tighter than on my old Pug which looks much nicer!

Don't remember what the hubs are, but I think I'll use the front one for a first time wheel-building project..!

So, I'm pretty pleased with it and looking forward to trying it out!

Eyebrows, PM'ed about the fishies! :)

If I didn't live in Norway and the bike wasn't tiny for me, I'd be writing this while ringing your doorbell and kicking the door at the same time..

I'm glad people prefer my break down of NOS and NJS i genuinely thought that's what it meant!

It's the best explanation as well though! Easy to remember as well!
But like Fox said, wouldn't want to google "nice japanese shit"..