Motobecane 72 Le Champion and 72 Grand Record
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Motobecane 72 Le Champion and 72 Grand Record
Le Champion first Grand Record to follow
l bought these off of Craigslist today in Minneapolis. I sent the seller an email late last night shortly after he listed them and received a reply this morning. When I got to his house he told me that I responded first but that he had a half dozen interested parties waiting if I decided to pass. Stop me if you heard this next line. “I don’t really need anymore bikes but”.....he had them priced accordingly.
Le Champion: $50
Grand Record: $100
Grand Record to follow.
Last edited by Pcampeau; 01-02-21 at 01:10 AM.
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The Grand Record
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The Grand record is likely to become a donor bike as the paint is in really sorry shape and the Campy bits will fill quite a few holes in some of the other projects I’m building from my never ending list. The frame will be a flip. The Le Champion, I’ll be refurbishing and keeping forever and ever.
Last edited by Pcampeau; 01-02-21 at 01:11 AM.
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Yeah, I'm always one of the other five guys.
Nice le champion score. And that's a helluva donor bike.
Nice le champion score. And that's a helluva donor bike.
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Thanks SurferRosa! I’m usually one of the other 5 people too. All of my other bikes I’ve either paid for or overpaid for, there was no other option. I agree it’s a helluva donor, maybe too much. I really hate parting out a bike like this Grand Record but I’ve got some of these same parts sitting in my eBay cart that’ll cost quite a bit more than I spent here.
Last edited by Pcampeau; 06-05-20 at 01:45 AM.
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I am wondering why the pricing was not the other way around... but either way if you get both I suppose! Lot of Motobecane action on the forum recently - beautiful bikes.
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I swear I see signs of a front-end collision on the Le Champion. I'd look at it closely.
Nice scores, if only for the parts. What kind of wheels are on the Le Champion? It occurred to me they alone may be worth the entire admission price.
DD
Nice scores, if only for the parts. What kind of wheels are on the Le Champion? It occurred to me they alone may be worth the entire admission price.
DD
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I asked the seller about that and he explained to me that he had to pay quite a bit to have the Campy Tipo hubs laced to clinchers so he wanted more because he thought nobody rides tubulars anymore. I thought, okay.....I’ll be riding tubulars on the Le Champion and I couldn’t be happier about that. The clincher wheels will come in handy though as I’ll rotate them on a few different Campy equipped bikes that can take 700c wheels where I normally ride tubulars.
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Could be slight damage on the top tube when looking at the pics but it just looks like somewhat shoddy brazing when standing in front of it. Either way $50.
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Here are the wheels. All of these photos are of the wheels on the Le Champion. I moved to the other side of the building for better lighting.
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DD
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craquelure
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There's a name for that, Dude. Craquelure. Or in French, craquele'. The French paint jobs were great at it, it seems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craquelure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craquelure
@Pcampeau, are there any tubing stickers on your GR? How did you date it as a '72?
Just curious as my early 70s Moto GR had Reynolds stickers for the forks but the frame tubing sticker was trashed before I picked up the bike and I could not read it. My bike, like yours, came with a TA double. I'm not entirely certain of the date on mine,
though.https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ld-thread.html
Last edited by bikemig; 08-28-19 at 07:38 AM.
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As a Motobecane Grand Touring rider, nice score! I can't wait to see the 'after' pics.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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Nice pair of 1253 Tipo hubs with oval holes. They were made solely for Moto Le Champs.
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This same sticker is on a wheel set that came with my Raleigh Pro...which was originally from Minneapolis. Very cool to see this on another bike! Wheels are very well-built so you probably have a very nice set of wheels there too.
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Also a Moto_GT rider and yes OP that was some score give those high end Moto's some love!
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Thanks for all the comments. I’m keeping most of the patina but something has to be done about the missing paint on the fork. It’s down to bare metal. I didn’t know that these hubs were exclusive to the Le Champion so that’s great that they are both still with the bike. It’s kinda cool, the seller took non-drive side photos for his ad at quite a distance so I couldn’t really see what I buying until I got there. His ad just said Motobecane bikes. I knew the Grand Record had Nervex lugs and the hubs looked like they could be Campy, so there was that to go on, but the other bike...? Motobecane has used that paint scheme on many bikes up and down the catalog but in this case I noticed down tube shifters, and those hubs. I wasn’t sure they were Campy until I was standing in front of the bike. Then I looked at the lug details and the top tube script. I couldn’t believe my eyes! There it was, a little scuffed but plenty clear, the words Le Champion. I might have given him $50 for it even if it were a Mirage, or a Super Mirage, but I was buying a Le Champion.
Last edited by Pcampeau; 03-01-20 at 01:53 AM.
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Nice pair of 1253 Tipo hubs with oval holes. They were made solely for Moto Le Champs.
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The dating thing is interesting, to me. Though hardly matters. Great deal on both of these bikes.
I'd be curious to hear how the OP dated these bikes too. Though not disputing his claim, at all.
Told so by the seller? Other clues?
Some of the parts on the bikes are an interesting mix. Weinmann brakes on both bikes. Neither came standard that wayif I remember correctly.
Cinelli 1A stem and Cinelli bars on the Le Champion. Also not standard. Is there a patent number stamped on the underside of that stem, Pcampeau?
Pat. date on the rear derailleur?
Also, the dates on the inside of the hub lock nuts would be interesting to know, if it has any.
I'd be curious to hear how the OP dated these bikes too. Though not disputing his claim, at all.
Told so by the seller? Other clues?
Some of the parts on the bikes are an interesting mix. Weinmann brakes on both bikes. Neither came standard that wayif I remember correctly.
Cinelli 1A stem and Cinelli bars on the Le Champion. Also not standard. Is there a patent number stamped on the underside of that stem, Pcampeau?
Pat. date on the rear derailleur?
Also, the dates on the inside of the hub lock nuts would be interesting to know, if it has any.
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The dating thing is interesting, to me. Though hardly matters. Great deal on both of these bikes.
I'd be curious to hear how the OP dated these bikes too. Though not disputing his claim, at all.
Told so by the seller? Other clues?
Some of the parts on the bikes are an interesting mix. Weinmann brakes on both bikes. Neither came standard that wayif I remember correctly.
Cinelli 1A stem and Cinelli bars on the Le Champion. Also not standard. Is there a patent number stamped on the underside of that stem, Pcampeau?
Pat. date on the rear derailleur?
Also, the dates on the inside of the hub lock nuts would be interesting to know, if it has any.
I'd be curious to hear how the OP dated these bikes too. Though not disputing his claim, at all.
Told so by the seller? Other clues?
Some of the parts on the bikes are an interesting mix. Weinmann brakes on both bikes. Neither came standard that wayif I remember correctly.
Cinelli 1A stem and Cinelli bars on the Le Champion. Also not standard. Is there a patent number stamped on the underside of that stem, Pcampeau?
Pat. date on the rear derailleur?
Also, the dates on the inside of the hub lock nuts would be interesting to know, if it has any.
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While I can’t be certain about the dates of production, both rear derailleurs are pat.72. The seller believes he bought them around this time and this color scheme on the Le Champion was available in 72/73. I haven’t researched the colors on the Grand Record. I know parts can be swapped and all but I just don’t care about the dates all that much. We’re in the ballpark here, but I’ll post pics of the serial numbers in case anyone else is interested in the production year. I’ve checked the catalog and it looks like the stem and handlebars should be 3ttt and the brakes Universal. These components are nice enough however and I don’t plan on making changes at this time.
Last edited by Pcampeau; 03-01-20 at 01:55 AM.
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