Joining the fray: mid-70s Motobecane Grand Jubilé
 

Howdy y'all!

I just did a little [iron]horse trading which moved a '96 Fisher Hoo Koo e Koo out of the stable and brought in a mid-70s vintage Motobecane Grand Jubilé.

It's complete and in pretty nice condition, ready-to-ride. Rear derailleur works, but the front is seized on the big ring. I'll give it a good once over this weekend, clean and lube to start. I don't have any intention to a resto on this, but I'd like it looking somewhere between Very Nice Condition and Very Good Condition. :)

The build has flat bars, Suntour Cyclone derailleurs, interesting MTB Dia-Compe brake levers, and Ideale 90 saddle, and an SR Apex crank. Frame sticker is beat up, but clearly indicates Reynolds, probably 531. Nothing fancy, and perfect for my intended "coffee shop cruiser" use.

The ride is casual and comfy-- it's shod with 32c cyclocross mid-knobbies-- and bearings seem to be running smoothly. Still, I'll probably pull this apart to clean and refurbish, so I'll be leaning on the forum for guidance, as I haven't had a real C&V bike (no, I don't count my '74 Schwinn Collegiate 5spd!) I've wanted to work on before, so I don't know much beyond nothing!

Any insights, tips, or info that anyone can share with me would be appreciated.

I gave it a cursory cleaning and adjustment, and grabbed a couple of pics just before the light faded:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/...72892e71_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3845/...03391398_b.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5553/...5c589a1d_b.jpg

it might be the most comfortable c&v road bike i've ever ridden. with its frame two inches longer in wheelbase as compared to my g.record, it's made to tour, not shop.

i have suntour cyclone too and matched it with a shiny, new sunrace 6-speed freewheel off ebay. works fluidly and flawlessly.

wish my black frame was silver like yours. but i'll keep the vitus 172 over the 531. i'll go out on a limb and say it's better suited to my 160 lb frame.

enjoy.

Very nice snag.
Love that color combination, next best to the black/red.
Should be a great rider.

I've never seen a seized FD. Maybe it's just so poorly adjusted, that it won't operate.

I must have been a sleep when that hit A2 CL. :D

However, I have more French bikes than I know what to with.

Get rid of the wheel reflectors pleeeez.

Nice bike. Paint looks in great shape. I've got either a '74-'75 in red. Unfortunately someone along the lines "upgraded" it & left not much in the way of original parts. The quill stem will be 22.0, not standard 22.2 so don't lose that quill. Seatpost will likely be a special size & cup/cone bottom bracket either French or Swiss threaded. Mine is French. Should be a fun ride.

^ my '76 moto has a standard diameter steerer (accepting a standard stem), so you never know.

weird fork: standard diameter with french threads and french sized crown. the bike also has a swiss bb.

i'll guess the op's moto is a '76 as well. by '77, moto used vitus. and i wouldn't guess moto used suntour cyclone before '76.

bulgier.net - /pics/bike/Catalogs/Motobecane/

My 1977 was the all Japanese one year Model,where everything was Suntour ( including dropouts ), Weinmann or SR & the frame was Reynolds 531. The OP bike looks like it could be a 1977 like mine also.

Glenn

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd37aa883.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps48312749.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps254aa3d7.jpg
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http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps18aed722.jpg
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Thanks, guys!

There's so much to know and be aware of, to work on these. I didn't know about the quill diameter and stuff like that, so I'll dive in slowly, and rehab as much as possible.

This one seems to have some original parts on it, as the seatpost and pedals, for example, are stamped as made in France. I didn't have the ambition to restore it, but I'm thinking about it now!

Anyway, thanks again to all for the info and tips, and hopefully I'll have some prettied up pics of it soon.

Ride well, guys!

+1 on dating the OP's bike as 1976. Chaadster, please beware that a '76 GJ (silver & red, cyclone) can be a powerful gateway drug into C&V. It happened to me. In addition to the C&V forum, check out the Sheldon Brown site and mytenspeeds.com. And, those old Motobecane catalogs give a fair amount of info on original parts, if that's what interests you.

@Glennfordx4, nice bike.

the reason i said '76 is that the catalog says moto used vitus for the model in '77.

even given this, yes, it could still be a '77, i suppose.

what's strange about these moto builds in the u.s. is that they didn't always follow the letter of the catalog here. for example, my '76 g.record came with suntour cyclone, not nuovo record. i had to quickly change that. fortunately the cyclone on my g.jubilé fits perfectly (though i did have to shim the fd clamp).

the exact name of this model between years seems to be slightly different in spelling, either with accents or an additional 'e' at the end of the name. mine is an '80 model and reads 'grand jubilé' on the top tube, with an accent on the 'e.' is yours any different?

Those are some very odd brake levers on the OP's bike. I've never seen anything like them. The cables point up and to the rear, requiring some equally odd routing.

The front brake yoke is backwards. Look at the yoke on the red bike.

I've seen 'em both ways- I prefer with the logo facing out, but it's probably easier working on with the yoke facing out.

Ian Hibell's bike had the yoke facing outwards:

http://www.bikebrothers.co.uk/ianhib...2_files/13.jpg

I can always count on you to contradict me. I haven't found that turning the yoke around the right way makes it harder to work on. Have you?


Means nothing to me. Whoever Ian is, he obviously doesn't care about the appearance of his bike.

I would say the same thing to anyone pointing out some minor stuff on someone's bike for no apparent reason other than to piss in their canteen.

As far as turning the yoke around and working on it- it depends on who's working on it, doesn't it?

As far as Hibell... Just a dude who rode accross a few continents and wrote some books about it. In any case, more of a "professional" than you or I.

Man, don't you hate when you try to make some snotty remark, and then it makes you come out more like "ignorant," or "I don't know how to use the Googles" than "superior?"

I know how to use "the Googles".

I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.

That post makes no sense at all to me, but maybe it's because I'm ignorant.

I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.

My 531 '73 GJ has Campagnolo dropouts with Jubilee derailleurs. Looks like Nervex cutout lugs..very nice. I added a LA Suntour rear D for touring to handle a 34 rear cog. 40+ years and still the sweet redhead I fell in love with. I'm the the guy on the left and the GJ in road gear is front left.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=392493

Do I see cantilever brakes?

Winner winner chicken dinner! Yes sir, MaFac. After several wet winters in Oly commuting to college, I decided I needed more brake so I had canti bosses brazed on (and added bottle cage bosses too!). I get some strange looks. Still has all the decals on it from a cross continent trip. Plus Suntour barcons, Avocet hubs laced to Super Champion rims, 6 speed freewheel, TTT stem, original Stronglight BB, crank & comp headset, Time pedals, Pivo bars, the Idealle Record Saddle is long in the tooth but good for short rides. A bit of chrome peel, paint dings, but rolls sweet and lots of memories. Wrecked bad twice but bike never damaged other than potato chipped wheel. Could use a full respray but then...wouldn't really be the same.

I can't think of anything on a bike that matters less than yoke (i.e. straddle cable hangar) facing. Even tire label orientation, which matters next to nothing, means more, which means to means to me the straddle cable hangar orientation means nothing.

Very odd is relative, based on one's vintage MTB experience, because the Diacompe 290s, aka "bat wings" are not that rare from a certain period.

Does anyone else think the OP's head angle looks strangely steep? I hope it's just the photo.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/...72892e71_b.jpg
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