Gitane

Marcel Bruneliere, a Frenchman, founded Gitane in 1925. He started a business in mechanics and spare parts. His business quickly took a serious step, a complete focus on the business of bicycles. In 1930 in Machecoul, a French city with a strong history of kingdom, Marcel created the brand Gitane.

Gitane means “gipsy” in English and the name Gitane originates from Bruneliere’s nickname. Marcel was constantly traveling all over France to make his business grow, and therefore his wife started to call him “Gipsy”. Marcel thought this was funny and chose to call his bicycles the same name.

In the years around World War II there were a lot of different small local bicycle brands in France. After the war a nationwide recognized brand was born, and that was Gitane, the first bicycle to ever reach nationwide recognition.

Gitane was associated with sports and after continuous victories in all possible bicycle races, Gitane had gained an outstanding reputation. The brand reached new grounds and became the major bicycle brand in the USA in the 1960s.

Today Gitane is synonomous with victory in all the important bicycle races. This association to sport and victories will continue.