Whit51 

Beautiful build! If you haven’t converted to single speed yet I suggest leaving it geared for a while, you may decide you like it.

52telecaster

Portuer bars and dirt drop stem. Lousy pic.
Love your bike! I know you've gotten over the mustache bars but i will just say i need them close and inverted for rise. Curreny i enjoy portuer bars a lot. Being an old man i want them with plenty of rise which is why i use dirt drop or technomic tall stems. Your bike takes a smaller diameter stem i think but there are many ways to get there.

Ride on. Welcome to the fold!

ryansu

@Demet like those latest bars and I am a fan of Motobecane's, their 23 inch frames fit me very well as I too have a long torso for my frame. As for wheels I will throw out that Swift (Panaracer) makes a very nice 27 X1 3/8 tire that I use on my Nisihiki cresta GT, it's roughly 35 mm width and gives a nice plush ride, that would allow you to keep your wheels and brakes as is. Its called the Sand Canyon and someone on BF recommended it to me. Panaracer also makes a 27 x 1 1/4 pasela (roughtly 32 mm) that is nice and supple. Good luck with the build and enjoy the ride.

My 78 Moto_GT with Panaracer Pasela's in 27 X1 1/4

microcord

I imagine that with this as your primary transportation you'll encounter hills, headwinds and tailwinds. What's the problem with the gears as they are?

The brake levers look extraordinarily uncomfortable to me. Most people with handlebars like this would prefer to position brake levers so that they could be used from the handlebar grips. That means a different shape of brake lever, positioned not in front of and sideways from the grip but instead below the grip.

But are you sure that you wouldn't get used to, and come to appreciate, the drop bars that came with the bike?

Demet

Thanks for this info. I'm definitely thinking about a different stem, and these look like they could work for me. There are just so many variables I'm having trouble deciding what to try first. I'd love to see a nicer picture of your bike it looks nice. But no worries if it's a hassle.
DG

Demet

Thank you, I like your tires, and could see going that route, but what I'm hoping and need to confirm, is that 700c wheels will buy me a little more space for a little bit bigger tire, and fenders. The limiting dimension seems to be at the chain stays, close to bottom bracket (not sure about nomenclature). There's a sort of indentation on both chain stays there, and it looks like slightly smaller wheels would help maximize the possible tire size there. Any advice on how to confirm this? I guess I need to figure out how much smaller a 700c wheel is, and the actual width of a tire I might want is.... Yikes, it seems iffy haha.

Demet

The shifting is not easy, and sometimes problematic. The friction shifters sometimes work fine but sometimes don't shift correctly, and a couple times seemed OK only to fall out of gear when I stood up to go up hill, not fun. I'm used to the clicky shifters, where you click and your in the gear you want. Might thought was to try the single/fixed egar and if it wasn't working upgrade to a more modern system...? Or I guess I could either pay for this system to be professionally tuned, or learn how to do it myself. Part of my issue is that I know nothing about the way these systems work and it looks really like a can of worms haha! The idea of a simple single gear with no shifters is appealing.

I have really big hands and long fingers and the position of the brake levers is not bad for me, I can reach them fine with a couple fingers. The bigger issue is they are not what should be used on upright bars I know, I have ordered some more appropriate ones. I was just using the ones that came off the drop bars for now. I want an upright riding position, for relaxed around town riding. If I get more serious maybe I'll want drop bars.

52telecaster

The stem im using here is an uno. Its a cheap knockoff of a nitto dirtdrop. The bars are portuer from v.o., the brake levers are cross bike interrupt levers.

Demet

Check out my bike stand lol. Pretty solid I have to say ;-)

beicster 

I suffer from this same affliction. My wife does not even listen anymore when I tell her that "THIS is the way I am going to keep this bike!"

Demet

Thank you, looks great, I'm definitely going to get a stem like that!

Demet

Here's the current state of my bike. I have new brake levers waiting to install. Also have a wheelset recommended and ordered by a LBS, I was going to have them install them, but the guy wouldn't use the parts I had already ordered, brake levers and cables. So I need to do it myself, will be starting today, and feeling challenged by not knowing how all of it works, but here goes nothing ;-)

ryansu

Take it slow @Demet, be prepared to walk away if it gets to be too much and you feel like reaching for a hammer (ask me how I know) lots good info on the web - Check out RJ the Bike Guy on You Tube, Sheldon Brown's site is great and some above already pointed you to Randy Jawa's Mytenspeeds site. Park tool also has some great videos. I also have found vintage 70s and 80s bike manuals for dirt cheap an Amazon if you want a more analog reference. I really like Zinn and the art of road bike maintenance and Richard's Bicycle book gets good reviews. And of course ask here or search the forum. The nice thing about doing your own maintenance is that not only does it save you $$ in the long run you get to amortize that lovely new Park work stand you bought ....

Demet

Thanks for the encouragement ryansu! Yeah I have almost punted to a LBS but then I remember the bike stand lol. I'll look into those books, thank you.

OK I think my first task is figuring out what brake calipers I need, so I have them before I start the conversion: I'm aware that this old Motobecane doesn,t have the recessed spot for most calipers, and I need long reach. Anyone have suggestions on how to deal with this? Obviously I'd like the best braking I can get... Already have tektro brake levers and Shimano brake cables.

Ah, thanks for the RJ the Bike Guy referral, he actually had a video on this exact subject and now I have a plan! Ordering some Tektro Dual Pivot Caliper Brakes ;-)

niliraga 

for modern dual pivot calipers, I am 95% sure that a pair of Tektro 539 (nutted, not recessed) will be right for that frame with either 27 & 700s, though that Weinman 650 at the back looks like it's using max reach already so you may want to measure from axis bolt to pad face centerline & check that against the Tektro specs.

SeaOtter

Started out riding Motobecane. Quite enjoyed mine.

Demet

Thank you, I went with the Tektro R559. I measured from center of bolt to center of pad and got aprox. 65mm. The range on the 559 is 53-73mm, so... fingers crossed!

Demet

Any thoughts on what size tire I can use, want the biggest I can fit? Here's a picture of the 700c wheel in place. Chain stay gap measures 50mm at wheel edge and tapers to around 43mm where the notch ends, about 35mm (1 3/8") from wheel edge.
Was thinking of a 32mm tire, but wondering if I can go bigger. Any way to reliably know dimensions of tires?
EDIT: I'm looking at 'Schwalbe Marathon HS Wire Bead Tire' on Amazon in 700x38... Possible?

Tulok

I think it will fit, no issue.

camjr

I love the feel of my '76 Grand Touring. The frame and forks just soak up road chatter. I tried to keep mine with as many of the original parts as possible apart from consumables. Happy riding on yours-a very nice find!

Demet

That's a beauty! I'm turning into a Motobecane fan, keep wanting to buy another one lol.

Demet

OK I've realized that the wheels my LBS recommended have a rim width (ID) of 14mm and that I probably can't use a 38mm wide tire on those? Bummer, I really want bigger tires as I'm a big guy and like the cushion. So I guess I'll throw these wheels on CL and look for the right size.

While I'm at it I have decided to go with a single gear for the time being, so will that affect wheel selection? I don't want to get locked into single gear as if I may very well want to go back to multiple gears at some point.

I'm trying to figure all this out, slowly understanding wheel construction and the many many too many options lol.

Tulok

Comprehensive Step by step conversion to fixed gear.

Demet

Yes, thank you I have seen that video and it's very helpful. But I'm not reusing my old wheels, I'm trying to figure sizing for new 700c wheels and tires and how to do gears on the rear.
One question is do I do cassette or screw on? Old wheel was screw on, but the wheels I bought (which are too narrow for tires I want) was a cassette I think. SO searching for new wheels on Amazon, trying to figure out what to get.

Tulok

Once you know your frame spacing (the distance between the rear dropouts where the rear wheel goes), you can choose any wheel that has that same dimension and 700c, and “QR”.

Its probably 126mm. So you can likely order any wheelset that says “126mm 700c QR wheelset”

they're mostly going to be Freehub (cassette) hubs these days. If you have indexed shifters (clicky), you have to order a cassette with the same number of cogs (speeds).

If you have friction shifters and a 126mm wheelset then you can order an 8 speed cassette and chain.

It is possible to use a 130mm QR 700c wheelset on a 126mm frame (with a little bending) This will allow you to use a 10 speed cassette (with matching chain).