Restoring my old Gitane racer from 1982

[torqueless]

One thing my little one cannot reach the brakes they are too far for her to reach was thinking about reverse mounted top bar levers any good?

Is it the vertical levers or the horizontal levers that they cannot reach, or both? Your certainly not going to appreciate my saying this after you having wrapped the bars, but the drops look very far from horizontal? I guess you may have set it up like that to bring the brake levers closer to the rider? Getting the drops close to horizontal will make the drops more accessible by maybe three inches, and the brake levers could be mounted further up the bars. Alternatively, the levers could be mounted further down the bars so they are operable from the drops, but that will probably make the horizontal lever-extensions unusable. That's the trouble with those double-levers- you get the vertical levers where they work best and the horizontal levers are all wrong, and vice-versa. How about half-loosening the stem-bolts and brake lever bands, get the rider on the supported bike and have a fitting session? Find out from them what suits them best, then tighten the bolts again and re-wrap the bars?

 

[GITANE80]

She rides very well on the Gitane, but she can't stop!
I did over adjust the levers so she could use the dual levers, and as she rode she said she prefers the drop bars bellow.
I'm going back to basics to see how to position the brake levers, but I fear that I might end up buying some newer levers so I can mount them on the drop bar ends?
I'm not too bothered about bar tape as its got to come off anyways.
Its a case of tweaking the bike so she can feel more comfortable!
I got quite emotional when she first rode my old bike as its never been ridden in over 30 years
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPggK68rEBo&feature=share&list=UUPC0uctwCVY5t3-JNGggdoQ[/youtube]

 

[torqueless]

Is it a 'hand size' problem of reaching the levers from the bars? There must be some ideal point for the levers further down the bars at which they become reachable for her, but not so far down the bars that the levers 'bottom out' against the drops before having pulled enough cable to apply the pads to the wheel-rim. That position will likely throw the extension-levers out of any usable position though, along with 'hands on hoods' braking.
Can she apply the brakes from 'hands on hoods' position, as it is set up presently? That's sort of the default position to apply them from, although it would never occur to a novice.
Also, looks like the saddle could be raised a bit, once she's confident enough with the new bike that it's no longer necessary for her to be able to plant both feet on the ground while sitting on it. Doing that might mean re-optimising the bars/stem/levers (again!) too.

 

[GITANE80]

I did lower the brake further down before and she has issues with finger reach. Hence I thought the suicide levers would be a better choice? She has to wear boots for her to tippy toe already with the seat at lowest position!
I recon another six months she will be fine.
I've consulted a friend who is a professional bike builder and he currently has the bike in hand. He said he will position the brake levers at the optimal drop down point before the suicide bars become dangerous whatever that means?
Re do the tape LOL
He said one side looks better than some pro people who have done it before, but the other side was completely wrong in his eyes.
Also the right to left brake cables are wrongly positioned, he said I've done it European style which might confuse my daughter as she has a new BMX with the opposite configuration. Plus the outer brake cables have been cut wrongly so there is a lot of friction on the brake cable itself, causing inefficient braking! :facepalm:
Gear cable was wrong aswell too much slack on the cable tension making the gear lever having to go all the way down before it changes gears!
So all in all he said he was going to reposition everything for my daughter and for me to bring her down for a resetting just for her.
TBF he did say these brake levers might be correct for the period, but completely useless for my daughter!
The discussion went towards getting a modern road bike for her later on, if she really likes road biking. But she does loves bike riding allot! Not sure what type of road bikes are available for smaller kids which is why I thought my old bike was worth the current restore now?

Thanks for the pointers it helps when I try and explain to others whats wrong I'am a novice at this and I think the hood braking system doesn't work due to small palms aswell as small fingers

Thanks
Jay

 

[Diamant_Don]

Small tweaks aside, it looks like you've done an amazing job!

 

[GITANE80]

Small tweaks aside, it looks like you've done an amazing job!

Thanks buddy I've tried my best and taken it as far as I could with the limited knowledge I've got

 

[Diamant_Don]

It's just slight set-up issues - I've been all over You Tube trying to learn the arts of headset maintenance, tape wrappage, brake set-up etc, using an old crappy Peugeot Premiere as a guinea pig... it's tough for us with limited knowledge to get everything right first time - but that doesn't mean we have to countenance the purchase of * draws breath * modern road bikes.

 

[torqueless]

Gitane80, when I used the word 'novice' I was thinking of youngsters as novice bike-riders rather than their Dads as novice bike-assemblers..

I obviously totally misread the saddle-to-pedals situation. Putting the saddle-clamp at the front of the seat post rather than behind might shorten the reach from saddle to pedals slightly, with the 'side-effect' of moving the saddle closer to the handlebars, for better or worse!

Those 'suicide levers' are problematic. IMO, better to have one secure effective hand position for braking, rather than a multitude of 'almost but not quite' options, especially for youngsters.

 

[GITANE80]

It's just slight set-up issues - I've been all over You Tube trying to learn the arts of headset maintenance, tape wrappage, brake set-up etc, using an old crappy Peugeot Premiere as a guinea pig... it's tough for us with limited knowledge to get everything right first time - but that doesn't mean we have to countenance the purchase of * draws breath * modern road bikes.

I think there is a compromise with modern and old I recently rode my kids BMX built for him its around 2003 Hoffman and the crank and wheels are so smooth compared to my 1984 BMX fully restored. But I do love classic lines from my point of view I love classic looks of retro bikes, but I love the technical advances modern bikes have given us especially as I can't ride as fast and long as I used too

I took no offense Torqueless any advice taken is good in my book!
Sadly the saddle post clamp is apart of the bike frame.
Yes safety is more is more important to me than aesthetics.

 

[Midlife]

I remember trying to set up suicide levers back in the 1970's for small hands and a lot of the time we gave in and fitted normal levers, then at least they worked properly on the drops. Solid alloy levers often and a better curve for small hands than adult levers

Looking good though

Shaun