Gashepherd

I have someone looking to trade a bike towards one that I have, I'm not sure what kind of bike it is, trying to identify it. It appears from the fork crown to be a motobecane of some sort





any help or information will be greatly appreciated, unfortunately I have not seen the bike in person and these are the photos she sent, obviously it has huret allvit rear derailleur and possibly a huret 600 front. Thanks, you people are awesome

Insidious C. 

On the seat tube is, I think, what remains of an Astra decal.

Insidious C. 

Here is an example of an Astra with a similar fork crown.

rch427

Astras were what is commonly referred to as "gas-pipe bikes" (i.e., made with non-butted, fairly heavy tubing). They were made right around 1970 by Motobecane and are equivalent in quality to a low-end Motobecane, Gitane or Peugeot. Having said that, I have seen two of them that I seriously wanted to buy, just because they looked so cool -- one that's royal blue, and the other was red. The graphics (when they're in good shape) are very evocative -- at least to me. The blue example I saw (in Berkeley) was set-up as a minimalistic single-speed, and it looked great with its abbreviated drop-bars and white Brooks saddle. So, they don't have a high monetary value, but they might make a good platform for a city knockabout bike with a bit of space-age Gallic style.

Oh -- and something you might want to bear in mind is that Astras, like most French bikes, require French-specific components, so unless you are happy with those that are on it, or you have a stock of French bike bits to install, you will have to source French-specific parts. That means bottom-brackets, cranks, pedals, headsets, seattubes, etc., are all going to be harder to source since Italian, British, American, etc., bits won't work. Speaking as a guy with a few French bikes, I can say that it has been a challenge at times to find the right components to fit. Not impossible (and Velobase.com is invaluable for identifying stuff), but certainly not as easy as if it were say, a Raleigh, a Trek or a Bianchi.

juvela

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these were also badged as Orly and as Dynamax (for Canada)

they exhibit a combination frame construction of lugged head paired with lugless seat and shell

bottom bracket threading is CH

MB employed this frame construction pattern for several years in the later 1960's and early 1970's

roughly parallel to a MB Nomade model

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Gashepherd

I believe that you have hit the nail right on the head, although all the astras I've seen online have stem/barend shifters, pretty sure the barends aren't original. I was interested by the wing nuts on the wheels. Thanks

juvela

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there was also a quality Astra model with 531DB frame, forged ends, NERVAR Star chainset, etc. at this era

we have had a couple of those here on the forum


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Gashepherd

would they have used the allvit derailleurs on the higher end frame

T-Mar

This is not a higher end frame. If you look at the 2nd picture, immediately behind the shift levers you will see brazed-on cable stops. This indicates that the shift levers are a later addition and that the frame was designed for stem or bar mount shift levers, typical of entry level models. The rear dropouts appear to be stamped, rather the forged dropouts typically seen on high grade frames.

Gashepherd

She says she found tour de france decals last night after we talked, and a 1961 date stamp? Were they around in 1961, the derailleurs obviously don't match that time frame

juvela

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the housing stops you mention are integral with the stop plates on these Huret model 1828 shift levers. the shift levers are OEM.

mfr catalogue page of 1969 -



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Phil_gretz

Don't do the trade. What would interest you about this bike? There would have to be an unusual or emotional component to it.

Current trade value? $20, and only because it's less common. Otherwise, stay away.

Gashepherd

I was actually more interested in the other bike she brought up in the conversation but I wanted to check this one out and see if it was worth anything, it seems about perfect for yard art, the other bike is a 78 schwinn le tour III, very tall.


problem is that trading for this bike will put me on the lower side of the transaction, her husband wants the bike along with money, and rightly so, it is probably worth more than the 85 panasonic sport 1000 that I have.

cb400bill

As this thread has evolved from ID to value, we have moved it to our Appraisals forum.

Gashepherd

Sorry, I was just attempting to assess the quality level of the original bike and if the "date stamp" has any validity

GrainBrain

Does the Le Tour fit? The Panasonic sport 1000 isn't a terrible bike. Stamped drops but also three tubes of Tange chromo. I thought mine was fine.

zukahn1 

Also note that it has bent rusted steel wheels and bad tires. so for value I would say about $20 as presented

Gashepherd

Neither one really fits, I have the panasonic listed locally and she was just wanting to bring the price down with a trade, I would turn around and sell the Le Tour.

juvela

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you ask about the high quality model Astra.

members francophile & verktyg report that the Astra brand belonged to the U.S. bicycle distributor Beacon Sales Co.

the model is termed the Grand Luxe.

here is the head of one of these models. you can seen the proprietary NERVEX - MB lug pattern (similar to but not the same as NERVEX Professional) and the forged NERVEX crown -



as you can see the cycle wears the same Huret shift levers as your example so yes to Huret gears.

the forum has had these come up twice that I know of; here are the links -

Mystery Astra

​​​​​​Show your French bikes!

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Gashepherd

well, that looks absolutely nothing like the one I'm looking at, thanks for sending this

juvela

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of course not!

back in post nr. 5 wrote that subject cycle parallel to MB Nomade -

5

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Gashepherd

Not that I expected it to be anything exciting
so, it's pretty much a schwinn varsity with no following

francophile 

It's true, that one looks nothing like it. Mostly because that one is one of the top of the line.

What you're picturing is one much, much lower in the line, but it's absolutely an Astra. Low value. Maybe $60-100 if complete and not damaged.

Kjas64

I noticed the M logo on the fork.

francophile 

I see this picture pop up once every other year and the adjustment of the headset never fails to make me shudder.

(EDIT - but the craquelure never fails to make me smile again)