The making of a parts bike

Over the years I’ve been slowly accumulating bicycle parts. Not through a conscious effort but more as the by-product of working on older bikes as a hobby. You might buy a bike as a project and not use all of the components that came with it, trading some parts out for others and throwing the rest in a bin. I never imagined that some of these leftover bits and pieces would actually get used on a bike again! These extra items might be an off brand, lower quality or simply a component that was not well regarded. The question of what to do with some of these orphaned parts was answered for me recently when a solution of sorts presented itself.

On a recent bicycle ride on some local rural roads I came upon kind of a junky looking farm-stand that had fruit, vegetables, eggs and other items. I was not really in a position to purchase anything but I did notice an old bike frame sitting among the offerings. Well, that got my attention so I stopped for a quick look. There sat a old rusty Gitane road frame with no wheels but it did have some other parts attached. Handlebars and stem along with the seat, post and derailleurs were there but were of junk quality. It did have some Mafac Racer brakes and levers along with an off brand crank-set. I wasn’t really sure what I could do with it but it was offered for $10. I thought that brakes alone were worth that much so I decided to finish my ride and come pick it up later, if it was still there.

The Gran Sport was the lowest tier model offered by Gitane in 1971 and retailed for $130 new. It came with an unimpressive group of components and in most regards is not a desirable model or brand. I’m pretty certain that the next step for this bike would have been the junkyard, unless I did something with it. I knew that it would never be worth much but I thought that I could at least make it a ride-able bicycle again, without putting too much money into it, and maybe reduce my stock of weird parts in the process.

The obvious first step is to take it completely apart and get it cleaned up, then if no serious defects are found I might just have a project. This frame had obviously sat outside for an extended period and was starting to display some rust. Not the malignant kind of deep rust but more of a patina of a pre-cancerous light rust. Otherwise the frame seemed sound and straight. I chose to treat it with a product which neutralizes the rust and allows it to become a paint-able surface. After scrubbing and treating the frame I clear coated it with a satin finish clear coat, preserving both the patina and the remaining paint.

At some previous point the crank-set and bottom bracket had been replaced, from a cottered steel unit to a 80’s Suntour model. The Edge model has Bio-pace chain rings with a 130 mm BCD which only allows for a 42 tooth small chain ring. I generally like a smaller choice up front and had this oddball SR set that I thought would do the trick. The SR has a BCD of 118 but allows for a 36 tooth small ring which would do fine. It seems that they only ever made 52 tooth big rings for this set so that was that!

The hubs I had are a Sturmey Archer freewheel hub, a hybrid steel body and aluminum flange mix which I find unusual. They were rust free and seem to roll well and I didn’t think I would ever use them but hey, you never know! I paired these up with some Araya 27 inch rims that were pretty beat up but cleaned up okay with a little effort. Add in some salvaged spokes from another wheel-set that I previously robbed for the hubs and my wheels were ready to build. The spokes only needed to be cut to the correct length and re-threaded for this assembly.

The mid 1970’s Huret Svelto rear derailleur is minimalist in design but is made of steel, as are the Huret Club front derailleur and shift levers. Though a bit heavy they seem to function nicely and are items that I would likely never use on a quality bike. They seem to match up well with what this bicycle is becoming.

Although I did have most of the parts needed to complete this build I did need to purchase a couple of items. Some handlebar tape, an inexpensive pair of Kenda 27 inch tires from Amazon should be fine and a KMC chain to get them going. Everything else including cable and housings were out of the parts bins.

My orphaned parts list

  • Sturmey Archer high flange hubs
  • Araya 27 inch rims
  • Huret Svelto rear derailleur
  • Huret Club front derailleur
  • Huret Sport shift levers
  • SR crankset 52/36
  • Suntour 5 speed freewheel 12/26
  • Lyotard pedals
  • Weinmann 750 center-pull brakes
  • Pivo stem
  • No name handlebars
  • No name seat post, 25.2
  • Avocet touring saddle

The final result is a mixed French/English 26.8 pound bicycle that looks good at a glance and rides nicely too. It is a pound lighter than when it sold as new, mainly due to the more modern crank-set and aluminum bars. Test rides show it to be a nice cruiser but not a racer by any stretch of the imagination. Shifting is surprisingly good and brakes are just average, as you would expect. I probably put more time and energy into rescuing this Gitane than it was worth but fortunately was able to keep out of pocket costs under $50. I did however save a bicycle and was able to re-use some unloved parts in the process, and that seems enough for me!