Mafac Racer Brake Date Codes?

[JanJ]

Gitane Mixte circa 1970 or so.. Trying to find date-codes..

Did they have any?

[JanJ]

I found nothing on Simplex,
Hubs are Normandy but labeled w/o codes: "Normandy"
Crank is chromed cast steel, w/o name or code.

Any other place to check for date codes?

[cny-man]

There was no pressing reason for manufacturers to use date codes on components back then. Even now many will at most have a model number. Also, the traffic on this site is minimal, perhaps a 1/2 dozen of us being fairly regular. Your best chance of satisfying your obsession with identifying the year of an older bike is to post pics and specs on a well-populated forum dedicated to vintage bikes, especially French bikes, and hope that someone has an identical bike and knows the year of manufacture or purchase (odds are pretty low). Google should yield some possibilities, but this one is on one of the most active bike forums on the Internet: http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/.

[JanJ]

I have not found 1 date code on anything -- on mom's/wife's Gitane Mixte Grand Sport...

[cny-man]

"There was no pressing reason for manufacturers to use date codes on components back then. Even now many will at most have a model number."

[JanJ]

Given up looking for date codes on the Gitane....
Tonight cleaned, lubed pivots, replaced brake pads on them.... Front & Rear.
These pads match the Mafac Racer's 'strange' mount, are longer, and follow rim angle.
Being longer & fresh pad material, grip/stop better than stock pads, which are not very worn, but ~50 years old and literally hard as a rock. (I'm learning the Mafac mounting and adjustment strange-ness)
(Come to think of it, I said the same thing about Weinmann brakes on Peugeot last month!)