thejohnpratt

Looking for a vintage road bike / beater for campus riding, and came across this guy. Thoughts?

1981 Motobecane Super Mirage Racing Bike 54cm France Pro Refurbished Nice | eBay

Maelochs

Good deal? if it is what it says it is. Good for campus commuting? The guy who steals it with thank you.

cyclist2000

Nice looking bike, I don't know if I would use it as a campus beater, it might get stolen. On my kid's campus everyone rides 35 lb. beach cruisers, this would stick out.

thejohnpratt

I see people on my campus with Trek, Giant, GMC, Janis, Schwinn Le Tour, Specialized, etc. There's a guy with an old Bianchi that has a brooks saddle and dropbar tape and he leaves it locked up outside all day. I also won't be leaving it out overnight. I would leave it in my apartment when I'm home and only lock it up while at class or in the store if I needed to pick something up

thumpism 

I had a Trek hybrid stolen while in class. It happens. If you like the bike and the price, get it and enjoy it for as long as you can. It appears to be in good original condition.

thejohnpratt

All of the parts are quality? I don't know that much about the vintage side of things - I don't wanna deal with crappy brakes or a gearset that isn't versatile because I live in a very hilly area and don't want to kill myself getting up hills or not being able to stop on the way down haha

Dirt Farmer

Decent parts. The 2040 tubing is not the best.

Craigslist has many similar or better bikes for around $100

rmfnla

Nice enough for the price but as the others have said it's too nice for college.

FWIW, I bought a full Campy Crescent Pro for my first year of college (1972) and took it into all my classes with me. Only a few professors objected (yay Mechanical Engineering types!) but once I told them how much it cost (the princely sum of $600!) they were cool with it.

Times have changed...

dedhed

Don't know your market but I wouldn't pay that much for it in my market. That said you can figure the "overhaul" "lubed up" if it includes new bearings in the BB, headset, hubs, along with tires and cables and if truly "ready to ride" brings it from way overpriced to probably fair priced without the shipping for someone who doesn't work on bikes. Also be aware that a 1981 is likely french threading and sizes on things making it more work & $$ to make any upgrades or changes.

thejohnpratt

I'm not a seasoned rider by any means. This will be my first bike since I was in middle school. I don't have a crazy triathalon bike or a full carbon anything sitting at home - this will be it. I want something that looks good, rides well, is reliable, and won't break the bank. I don't need "top of the line" anything, nor do I necessarily want a piece of history. Just a good bike. I guess I could've / should've clarified that in the beginning haha. I picked this one because I liked the way it looked, it was in my price range, and it appeared to be in pretty great shape, especially after just being serviced. I'm no mechanic so I didn't want to have to drop the cost of the bike in repairs right off the bat to get it running. So, with that in mind, what are your thoughts?

VegasTriker

When I bought my Motobecane Le Champion (top of the Motobecane production line) in 1974 the Mirage (not super Mirage) was at the bottom of the model line. I actually bought a used Mirage in the early 90s as a beater bike for taking to work to get from building to building. Eventually it got stolen but I wasn't really heartbroken as I think I paid around $30 for it. I don't remember the components being anything to write home about but it was the regular Mirage. I'd guess the Super Mirage was one step above bottom for Motobecane.

Try this for more information https://www.google.com/search?q=moto...utf-8&oe=utf-8 As I suspected, the Super Mirage was second from the bottom in the Moto line.

one4smoke

He has a "Best Offer" option available, so make him an offer of $125 or so and see what he counteroffers.

jefnvk

Unless you are doing long distances, look for an older fixed suspension mountain bike. Tough, probably pre scratched, and less prone to theft. Ditch the knobby tires, toss on some smooth thinner commuter tires and a rack, and enjoy.

Flat bar on the MTB keeps your head up on crowded sidewalks, wheels more suited for jumping up and down curbs, gear levers that don't force you to bend over, and with chances being you'll come out of class to someone else who was late to class having tossed their bike on top of yours, with that nice paint destroyed and possibly necessitating removing their handlebars from your spokes, far less likely to make you fret and lose sleep over cosmetics.

thejohnpratt

Also found this... not sure on the condition of the parts or anything though as the description is brief and there aren't too many pictures. Says local pickup only but hopefully I could sway him out of that

jefnvk

Hey, that is my exact bike!

And even as the loving owner of one, which gets ridden more than any of my other bikes, pass for that price. Partly still for all the reasons above, and partly because for $160 you can very likely find even a newer hybrid on CL that would suit your needs much better. If not local, that bike probably isn't going to be cheap to ship. Also if it still has the original steel rims, it will suck at braking in the rain, while I deal with it on my long stretches of not needing brakes riding, it would be rather dangerous on a crowded campus.

thejohnpratt

I'm going to try and get the guy with the Motebocane to meet me around $200, I think. I don't need an amazing vintage bike. It might not have the top of the line components, but I've not read anything about them, and it's a good looking bike for a good price.

a1penguin

I have one of those in my garage, but it's not quite as new looking and I am sure the 30 year old tires are not rideable. Anyone in the SF Bay area interested?

https://goo.gl/photos/A2FCgiSwF1wso8pu5

VegasTriker

One more thing to think about. French bikes were odd when it came to thread sizes. My Motobecane Le Champion had French threaded components throughout with the exception of the pedals. That meant that any threaded replacement parts also had to have matching French threads. The Japanese adopted the English threads so you can't substitute Japanese parts for French threaded parts. Just a thought.

The Schwinn Le Tour III is probably 30 years old. Here's a link to the Schwinn catalog. https://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1978...LL/1978_14.jpg Note the "Schwinn Approved" all over the ad which is a dead giveaway that the bike was made by Panasonic in Japan. They were decent bikes and a lot lighter than the majority of bikes made in the Chicago factory. It's probably a tad better than the Super Mirage. It's almost as expensive as it was when it was first sold.

thejohnpratt

So should I NOT go with the Super Mirage? I just can't get over how good of shape it's in for the price. I like the idea of not really having any work to do with it

canklecat

Good bike. The Mirage or Super Mirage was my first serious bike, bought new in 1976 when I was fresh out of Navy boot camp. Rode that thing for six years. I never felt that I'd outgrown it, despite the unsexy hi-ten steel frame. It was as good as I could ride, and I even rode a few crits and time trials (never won but had fun), and lots of long distance rides of 50-150 miles. It was not a racing bike, closer to a weekend touring type bike. Probably weighed 27-30 lbs. And gumwalls weren't standard or correct for that period, but they look darned good.

Did all my own maintenance and a few modifications. Unfortunately I sold all my tools about 15 years ago so I probably wouldn't buy another Motobecane of that era. Nowadays I'd get something with more current components and tool compatibility.

But if this one is as good as the seller claims, and is willing to negotiate a bit, you'll enjoy it. I'm partial to the Motobecane out of nostalgia.

BTW, the Mirage wasn't the bottom of the line back then. There was one other model just below it. I bought that model for my wife but she rarely rode it. The components were inferior and fiddly to keep adjusted. The basic Suntour components on the 1976 Mirage or Super Mirage were reliable and easy to maintain. Only significant changes I made were quill pedals with toe clips, moved the shifters from the stem to the downtube (the ebay model has those stock), and I may have replaced the original rims, I don't recall.

PPS: Check the rims to see whether they're steel or aluminum. IIRC, the bottom of the line Motobecane (just below the Mirage) during the '70s had steel rims. Not great for braking, especially in wet weather.

thejohnpratt

Welp. It sold before he could reply to my message. Not very cool of him, but whatever. Does anyone have any suggestions of other good vintage road bikes? Preferably under 400

Dirt Farmer

I'm new to the scene myself.

What I do is if I see a nice looking (to me) vintage bike, I search all about it here on the forums. This place is a fount of useful information. I usually then get clued on on what bikes are "good" or "bad", same with components. Yes, take this with a grain of salt, but these people are more "expert" than I am.

Can I think for myself? Surely. But the advice here really helps.

Maelochs

Not sure I would buy a good vintage bike for a campus commute, but that's an option ....

Getting a good Anything off Criagslist is a matter of patience, luck, and quick action.

thejohnpratt

Alright, so this popped up locally. I would ask for under $200 on it, but it seems promising? There's a really good shop here that can work on the restoration and tune-up. This saves me shipping costs though. Does anyone know anything else about it, seeing as the post doesn't say much?

Vintage Motobecane Racing Bike $250 OBO or Trade

MRT2

You should actually ride a vintage road bike to decide if friction shifting is for you. IMO, an old hardtail mountain bike or hybrid from the mid 90s to early 2000s might represent a better value, and be more useful as a campus commuter as most of those bikes can be fitted with a rack and these bikes are geared better for commuting than are classic road bikes.