I ran into a 70's/80's Gitane tourer that I'm seriously considering (it is in my size after all). The owner says the bike was converted to a tourer by some outfit in Europe that does this sort of thing on a regular basis to vintage bikes. Conversion consists of adding a triple, cantilevers, rack eyelets incl fork panniers, HD (Mod 58) 700c wheels, bar-end shifters, etc. The bike is then repainted and new decals applied. As you can imagine, the bike looks great, has Reynolds 531DB (decal), and nice mix of euro components with Sugino crank and SunTour derail...but I'm leery! Has anyone else heard of these euro conversions and are they generally ok or are they something to stay away from unless you personally know the history? Obviously I wouldn't spend thousands for a potential Frankenstein but a few hundred, maybe.
Jack Romans
Sacramento, CA