Early '70s Gitane Country CX (tentative build thread)

[KondratievsBike]

Oh poor thing... it was in such a sorry state... and what fun taking it apart!

Couldn’t find my Stronglight crank puller but thankfully it had mismatched cranks and the left was Nervar so we could take off the left, take out the cups, take off the chain rings and then undo the drive side cup! The left had been mangled so we had to use a mallet on the wrench to screw the extractor in. May have hit my foot a couple of times... long story...

Bottom bracket and headset were super stiff but it was pretty much all dried up and excessive grease. The bearings themselves are pretty decent so that saves dishing out fifty quid on a Velo Orange one!

Now I really do need to decide on a colour.

 

[allenh]

I bet that was fun.

Have had to do similar myself before now, I've used a balljoint splitter for a car and a big hammer but on that occasion I wasn't worried about keeping the BB cups or the crank arm, effective though

 

[KondratievsBike]

I bet that was fun.

Have had to do similar myself before now, I've used a balljoint splitter for a car and a big hammer but on that occasion I wasn't worried about keeping the BB cups or the crank arm, effective though

It’s gone in for it’s facelift today... candy green being quite close to Izoard green from way back when!

That gives me a week to start polishing parts! Oh and time for the Stronglight crank puller to arrive from Spa Cycles in Harrogate.

 

[KermitGKona88]

Re:

Will look stunning if the one I had done there is anything to go by

 

[KondratievsBike]

Re: Re:

Will look stunning if the one I had done there is anything to go by

They're really good aren't they? I've had about 7 or 8 done there and there's a guy in South Wales who sends all his there too so he must rate them!

Just need to persuade them that they'd really like to work on fades involving white (they do other colours) for an Orange Clockwork fade.

 

[KermitGKona88]

Re:

They are great but the last time I asked they said they are no longer accepting posted frames :?

 

[KondratievsBike]

Re: Re:

They are great but the last time I asked they said they are no longer accepting posted frames :?

They’re 20 minutes from me so if you need to post a frame you can always send it to me

 

[KermitGKona88]

Re: Re:

They are great but the last time I asked they said they are no longer accepting posted frames :?

They’re 20 minutes from me so if you need to post a frame you can always send it to me

That is excellent to hear thank you, I have really struggled to find a decent reasonable powder coater near me cheaper to post

 

[allenh]

I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together so comfy chair pulled up and bucket of popcorn on standby

 

[KondratievsBike]

I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together so comfy chair pulled up and bucket of popcorn on standby

Oh knickers! I’ve seen your bikes... this is a lot of pressure