Those bikes were sold in the US by Trek from @ 1983 to 1986. They were built with BCM lugs and Vitus tubing and dropouts. LOTS of them broke, almost all chainstays or seat tubes. My framebuilding mentor, Tim Paterek, had a bike shop in rural Wisconsin at the time and fixed dozens of them for Trek dealers in his area. The two models above the Criterium had really interesting equipment spec. The Tour de France was an almost all-Ofmega group and the Professional Super Course used the Spidel high end group with cold-forged Stronglight cranks, Simplex SLJ 5500 derailleurs , Maillard hubs, Mavic tubular rims, Stronglight A9 headset. They also sold a bike called the Rally with a stronglight 99 triple and Mafac cantilevers. These were all assembled on identical frames except for chrome on the TdF and Super Course. David Feldman
> Dear Frank-o-phyles,
> I just picked up a 1983 Gitane Criterium in trade for my old rigid mtb.
> The Gitane has decent lugwork, lugs have triangular cutouts, and seat lug
> is "fastback" type. Anyone know the type of lugs these are? Bike has
> Weinmann 405 sidepulls, Simplex SX630 derailleurs,(rear is all alloy,
> front is combination steel and alloy). Embarrassed that the front shifts
> better than the top of the line all alloy (except for cage) that's on my
> old PXN10E. Both derailleurs have sticker on them that says Bernard
> Hinault, as the saddle is a Bernard Hinault Turbo. Crankset is
> Stronglight 104, pedals are Maillard with clips and straps. The graphics
> are the cheapest I've ever seen. They are stickers, not decals. Yuck! The
> dropouts are forged, but there is no name on them. They are pleasing to
> the eye and do not resemble the Simplex dropouts on my other French
> bikes. The rear brake cable is routed through the top tube. (Kind of a
> neat feature for rides at this time of year in Tucson which are VERY
> sweaty even at 5:30 AM, no cable guides to rust out from drops of sweat
> getting in them). The tubing sticker on the frame says Super Vitus 983
> Special Double Butted Chrome Molybdene Steel. The stem is an Atax that I
> have never seen before. It is kind of "aero" in that the clamp wraps
> completely around the bars with the binder bolt going through behind the
> bars. That might have been a poor description, but any of you who have
> seen one will know what I am talking about. The bars are Phillippe "Tour
> de France". It's a neat bike and it tracks straighter than any bike I
> have ever owned (with the exception of the Dave Bohm massaged PXN10E). It
> really feels lively and smooth. Can anybody tell me where this
> designation of Vitus tubing falls in rank of quality? The fork Vitus
> sticker has a different number on it. It is three digits, the last two
> being _80. There is a small scratch in the sticker that rubbed out the
> first number. Anybody know what it is? I would guess 980, but that's all
> it is-a guess. Where does this bike rank in order of Gitanes available in
> 1983. (I know it must be a good way from a Gitane TDF). Any interesting
> information and insight would be appreciated. Also, anybody want to trade
> me a stem? The Atax aero is too long. It is 105mm. An 80 or 90 at most
> would be ideal. It is 22.0 diameter with 25.4 bar clamp diameter. Stem is
> in excellent condition.
> I know Vitus has come up on the list before. Sorry I wasn't paying
> attention at the time. Hope I am not sentenced to the archives, as
> lengthy computer time strangely produces hard flying objects from spouses
> direction! Hah!
> All The Best,
> Don Walter
> Tucson, AZ
> PS- Anybody know of a source for NOS cones for front and rear Normandy
> red label (Luxe Competition) hubs? I am really enjoying riding this bike.
> My Peugeots are starting to snarl at me.