Steven wrote: Can I start this off in another direction? Why would any builder make a 62cm frame with such a short 57.5 top tube. Is it me or should it be longer.
Many French bikes were built tall with short top tubes. I think this is because of what might be called the Rebour Rule (I made that up...), that is, what amounts to PBH-25cm which puts you on the tallest bike you can stand over. Granted, when a head tube comes up so do bars and and they come "back" as well. I ride usually a 60x58.5 but stand only 5'9.5" (with an 84.4pbh). Anyway, my point is simple enough: if you are sizing unlike the modern trends (since most bike shops will in fact put you on the smallest frame you can manage) the issues of fit have changed. As for why this Gios is built this way, I dunno.
Also regarding the OEM/original parts thread: some constructeur bikes, like my Singer or Herse, were built with very specific parts in mind. That odd braze-on for the Huret front derailleur comes to mind. These bikes were not frames built for just any parts to be hung upon but rather wholes, conceived and built as such. This doesn't mean you can't revise them or that it is apostasy to do so. Heck, it's your bike, do what you want and, frankly, I don't care who made it. I might not "like" the choices people make or what they do with an historical object as such but these are bikes, not Monet, again, no matter who made them. Just one guy's opinion.
Douglas Brooks
Bristol, New York