Originally Posted by
ericjd
Hi folks,
Thanks for all of the responses and, yes, I am still following this thread and appreciate the different perspectives.
I decided to go for the 1973 Motobecane Grand Jubilee because there were things that seemed very usable about this bike in addition to the frame (which is in excellent condition inside and out). This Grand Jubilee was very well maintained and comes with the Huret Jubilee derailleur and friction shifters. I grew up with friction shifters so that didn't worry me one bit. It shifts very well so I don't anticipate any changes there. The freewheel is (as you probably guessed) 5 speed in a 14-17-20-24-28 configuration. I am going to pair this with a new 46-30 crankset from Velo Orange ($200), which I think will handle hills and flats pretty nicely.
I am in the process of cleaning and repacking the 100/126mm M Maillard high flange hubs (again, these are in excellent shape with very clean cups and cones) and will use these for building the wheels with new Pacenti Brevet 650b rims (~$200 for the pair). The stem and handlebars will also be replaced with a Nitto quill stem and VO rando bars (about $120 for the lot). The brakes will be replaced with some Weinmann 750s that I have.
So for about an extra $500 bucks and some labor I think I will have a very nice, comfortable bike for randonneuring. I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished bike.
Thanks again!
--Eric
Not sure if the Huret Jubilee has enough cage to take up the slack with that big of a range on the crankset (46/30). I mentioned above that with my Campy Neuvo Record derailleur and a modern triple that I could only use the three largest sprockets on my six speed freewheel when I was using the granny gear because my derailleur would not take up all the slack. You might run into a similar situation. But I have that problem with a triple so I still have a lot of functional gears remaining after I lost a few gears.
You might find a chain catcher is an advantage to avoid dropped chains. The jump from 46 to 30 on the downshift is a big jump.
Finding the cables that have the odd shaped end to fit in the Huret shifters might take a bit of work, I instead used a file on the cable end with a Shimano cable so that I could fit it into the shifter on my bike with a Huret friction shifter.
A five speed freewheel (or a six if you change it later) on a crank with a 46/30 double won't give you very many gears in the range you likely will spend most of your time. Most of your time will be on the 46T and I would not be surprised if you spend 70 percent of your time in only your top two gears. If you have not ordered the crank yet, you might consider a triple with a half step plus granny setup. I use that on two of my touring bikes. That would give you a granny gear for steep hills plus two chainrings for everywhere else. Perhaps a 44 and a 48 for middle and big rings, plus the 30T granny on a triple. That combination would only require 2 more chain links for chain wrap, so it would not be much different for dérailleur chain wrap capacity.
Good luck with your project.