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What Did I Buy?

Old 07-24-20, 01:31 PM
  #1  
Rayeclarke 
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What Did I Buy?

Howdy! I bought a bicycle from a nice lady in Houston on OfferUp. It had the usual terrible pictures but I could see the fancy lugs on the head tube. I got it home and after washing it, found that there were no identifying marks, no serial numbers, no stamps, nothing except for the Motobecane "M" on the handlebars, Motobecane on the handlebar wraps and that the forks look like Motobecane forks. I've searched the interwebs and looked through Motobecane catalogs but haven't found anything like this. It may be something else with a Motobecane fork and handlebar. It has quite a collection of different components. Dia Compe brake levers with the Universal Super 68 brakes, an A Duprat chain ring with Simplex clamp on down tube shifters with cables running through a Shimano bottom bracket cable guide; a SunTour Spirt front derailleur and a Shimano SIS rear derailleur. Quite the meeting of the component manufacturers on this bike.


Does this lug work look familiar to anyone?





Front with Universal Super 68 that got the drillium treatment



Side view. Looks like Motobecane forks and the handlebars and wraps say Motobecane



A Duprat Universel
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Old 07-24-20, 02:14 PM
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What did I buy?
"What have I done?"



Can we see a full bike pic? Pic of the drive side rear dropout? What do the stem's quill and seatpost measure in diameter using a $3 digital caliper from ebay?
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Old 07-24-20, 02:25 PM
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The stem is inserted way too high. Just saying.
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Old 07-24-20, 02:33 PM
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The quill is 21.7mm and yes it's too high but its probably also frozen in there, haven't checked yet.
The seat tube is 25.5 mm
The rear spacing is 120mm


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Old 07-24-20, 02:47 PM
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I cannot identify it but based on stamped dropouts, claw hanger, and the unrefined lug finishing it looks to be lower end. The shifters (simplex) and motobecane may mean french. What threading is the headset and bottom bracket? An english frame will have the fixed cup reverse threaded (unscrews clockwise) whereas a french threaded frame would unscrew counter clockwise.

I had a motobecane mirage with that same bar wrap once upon a time.
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Old 07-24-20, 02:51 PM
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I was thinking French also. I'll check on that threading later. Thank you for the pointer!
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Old 07-24-20, 03:54 PM
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I have no idea what it is but I would think that it is a good possibility that the crank set is original equipment.
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Old 07-24-20, 03:58 PM
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Maybe I'll get lucky and find a note in the bottom bracket saying what who made it. I don't think it's a high end model. It's heavy and no chrome anywhere.
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Old 07-24-20, 06:38 PM
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I took the adjustable side of the bottom bracket out because the fixed side is actually fixed at the moment. 11 ball bearings per side and a very clean shaft that has a TD over CB inside a circle in either side of TD No4 with Made in England underneath.


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Old 07-24-20, 06:52 PM
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A headache?
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Old 07-24-20, 07:13 PM
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Just a mystery. It will be a good bike with some good components. I forgot to mention that the 5 speed is a Maillard with Normandy written on the inside. It was attached to a Sunshine hub on an Araya steel 27" wheel. So no high speed components here.
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Old 07-24-20, 07:27 PM
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TDC was an English company that made bike parts notably headsets. Might have made BB too. Looks like a SS candidate for riding.
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Old 07-24-20, 07:51 PM
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Japanese hubs, wheels, front and rear derailleur, brake levers and quill, english crank shaft, french chain rings, forks and cranks; a regular UN meeting. Still no idea about the frame though. It doesn't seem likely that someone would put a french crank on a japanese frame, but maybe this was just some kind of franken-bike?
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Old 08-28-20, 02:17 PM
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I figured it out at last. Its a Jeunet. I found a Jeunet mixte on Craigslist in Houston. Same lugs, same crankset. Google lead me to more pictures of Jeunets with the same lugs so, I think that's what it is.


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Old 08-28-20, 02:44 PM
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Even the humble Jeunets are alleged to have a nice ride quality. I'm a sucker for French gaspipe myself ... cool find and good sleuthing!
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Old 08-28-20, 02:50 PM
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Just got lucky. The Internet really does know all...
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Old 08-28-20, 02:50 PM
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It does look like a match for the Jeunet. However, those lugs look fairly common, probably used on lots of different bikes. Another data point is the placement and format of the serial number. A lot of Jeunets have a serial number on the rear non-drive-side dropout.
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Old 08-28-20, 02:59 PM
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Well, that's the thing about this bike; it doesn't have any numbers on it anywhere. The most writing I've seen on it has been the crankset: Universel and the bottom bracket, which said "RFG" which I believe is Roulement Francais Garanti with a TDC Spindle inside of it. Everything else looks like it belongs to an SF Soldier....Sterile...
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Old 08-28-20, 04:01 PM
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-----

Congratulations on your successful detection campaign!

frame -

head lug pattern is BOCAMA 110/I

seat lug is BOCAMA pattern P

shell looks to be Gargatte

fork crown BOCAMA welded, do not have stock number

---

the replacemeent bottom bracket spindle is by Thomas D. Cross & Sons Ltd. of Birmingham

original REWAX my have failed early as they seem to have only shallow hardening

likely began life as a 1973 model 610, it seems nearly all of the Jeunets in the U.S. are from this time due to an importation by Beacon who operated warehouses in Chicago. Illinois and Oakland, California.

---

now that you have everything well sorted what are your plans for the bicycle?

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Old 08-28-20, 05:15 PM
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Thank you so much for that information. I knew someone here would know exactly what this bicycle is. I took it apart and have gotten as far as painting the frame British Racing Green. Once I get it all back together I'm just going to ride it and be happy that the mystery French bike is back on the road. I wonder if Jeunet ever made an actual head badge or they were just those foil decals. I'm sure Ebay has the answer to that...
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Old 08-28-20, 08:58 PM
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-----

Here is an example dated by its owner as a 1966.

Note that the frame's lugs, crown, dropouts & seat stay treatment are all identical to those of your machine. It even wears the same headset.






The firm also had a second marque called Captivante. There were cycles produced called Captivante and also Jeunet-Captivante. So if you have occasion to search for examples online you can check these two other names as well...

-----
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Old 08-28-20, 09:05 PM
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That bike must have an amazing ride history with all of those component origins!
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Old 08-28-20, 09:07 PM
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Ouch, that chainstay kickstand crush is killing me!
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Old 08-28-20, 09:21 PM
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That is amazing! Can you make out the name on the down tube?
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Old 08-29-20, 10:26 AM
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You want another set of brakes.

Drillium is ok if when it breaks all that happens is you slow down or stop.

It's not ok if when it breaks you cannot slow down or stop.
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