Just about every Raleigh International or Pro I've seen from the early 1970's 22-1/2 inches and up came with 172.5 cranks. I'm not sure about the smaller models. I have no idea why except it was Raleigh.
George Allen Lexington, Ky USA
On 1/6/2010 4:00 AM, verktyg wrote:
> Lane,
>
> To answer your 1st question, I've seen metric quill (22.0mm) Cinelli
> 1a, 3TTT Record and later 3TT Record Mod. 1 stems in at least 120mm
> length.
>
> We sold Gitanes in the 70s and had one of Lucien van Impe's Gitane
> Team bikes that he rode in the 1976 Tour de France on display at our
> shop.
>
> I was disappointed when the bike arrived because it looked like a beat
> up, off the shelf all Campy bike!
>
> There's a website devoted to Gitanes: <GitaneUSA.com>
>
> I'm not familiar with a Gitane "Professional" model from 1975.
>
> What kind of dropouts does it have? Are both the forks and rear
> triangle 1/2 chrome plated? What kind of tubing?
>
> Most of the mid range to better quality Gitanes from mid 1974 until
> about 1977 used Huret "honeycomb" rear dropouts.
>
> Gitane Pacific took over US distribution in mid 1974. They focused on
> the fast fading entry level Bike Boom market, consequently there
> weren't many better quality Gitanes imported after 1974.
>
> In the mid 70s there were several top model Gitanes that were only
> offered in their French catalog. A few of these probably made it to
> the US.
>
> They were the all Campy Super Olympic model, the Campy equipped
> Olympic model with Mafac brakes and the Champion Du Monde model with
> mostly French components including Stronglight cranks. All 3 models
> had Cinelli bars and stems.
>
> These frames were all Reynolds 531 with 1/2 chrome plated forks and
> stays. Most had the Huret honeycomb rear dropouts but I've seen a few
> from those years with Campy dropouts too.
>
> From mid 1974 until 1976 the Gitane Tour de France frames had only the
> 3 main tubes made of Reynolds 531 tubing and the rear stays were
> painted. They had mostly French components with Campy Nuovo Tipo high
> flange hubs and 27" clinchers (Michelin Elan tires om Mavic Module-E
> rims).
>
> There's a picture of Jay Dubiel's 1976 Tour de France with Stronglight
> 93 cranks and Huret Success derailleurs in the CR Gitane section:
>
> *http://www.classicrendezvous.com/France/bicycles/Gitane/Gitane_tdf_JD.htm*
>
>
>
> Almost all production bikes that I saw in the 70s used 170mm cranks
> (except for Sugino 171mm crank arms).
>
> Stronglight 93 cranks were made in lengths from 165m to 180mm. From
> time to time 175mm model 93 crank arms show up on eBay. The more
> recent model 105 crank arms were more readily available in longer
> lengths. I had a set of 180s but traded them for 170s.
>
> I just finished assembling a 1974 Gitane Tour de France. I used Huret
> Challenger derailleurs instead of the more common Simplex Criterium
> derailleurs most of those bikes came with.
>
> Chas. Colerich
> Oakland, CA USA
>
>
> Lane Wilkinson wrote:
>> I am in the process of restoring a '75 Gitane Professional and
>> looking for among other things a crank set in 175 cm and a stem in a
>> 120 or 130. My first question is who made a French sized stem in a
>> 120 or 130? I have never seen lengths longer than 105 from Pivo,
>> Atax, of Philippe. Did Cinelli make stems in a 22.0 French size in
>> longer lengths?
>> Second, almost every vintage crank I see is a 170 length. Even my
>> 63cm Motobecane Grand Record, 63cm Bottechia Professional, and 63cm
>> Peugeot PKN were specced with 170 cranks. Having worked in the
>> cycling industry I know it is easier to spec the same parts on all
>> sizes of a bike model. Was this the case with most on topic bikes or
>> was there less emphasis on sizing crank and stem length? I know
>> different manufacturers and even different countries had different
>> notions of how bikes should fit and these notions have changed over
>> time, but how much effort was put into choosing specific components
>> based on the frame size?
>> So anyone have a Stronglight 93 in a 175cm or a long reach French
>> stem (110-130)? Also looking for Front and Rear Huret Success
>> deraileurs.
>>
>> The colective knowledge and experiences of this list never cease to
>> amazes me, thanks for great reading!
>> Lane Wilkinson
>> Seattle, WA
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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