My 1971 Gitane TDF was also a poor rider,especially on fast,steep descents because of the steep fork angle and small fork trail. This is the bike I had a spectacular downhill crash on while descending "Big Hill" south of Alpine ,Texas on Highway 118 which resulted in major road rash, coughing up blood from my lungs, and a detached retina and ultimate blindness in the left eye(just missed going off the cliff). Should have gone slower or had a less twitchy bike with more fork trail, or been a better rider. My next bike was a Crescent and that yielded to an all Campy Follis(which I still enjoy). Some bike geometries should be kept from the general public, even if they look cool in the Peleton. Art-monocular- Link,San Antonio,TX,USA
Amir Avitzur <avitzur@013.net> wrote: Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:46:24 +0200 From: Amir Avitzur <avitzur@013.net> To: Classicrendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: [CR]TdF with 531 DB gas-pipe
My TDF was not a good rider. It got much worse when loaded wih touring kit.
Some bikes used 531 DB well, others didn't. The TdF might as well have been gas pipe.
Amir Avitzur R"G, IL
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