leicanthrope

If all goes well, I'll be landing this Motobecane Mirage as part of a trade. I haven't had a chance to examine it in person yet, and as such haven't had a chance to check for date codes on any of the components. Anyone have any guesses as to the age right off the bat?

oddjob2

T-Mar will be more precise, but around late 1970's. Note rear wheel is a replacement.

eschlwc

it's nearly impossible to get these motos down to one specific year unless the date codes of original components provide the right clue. there are three moto catalog scans on velo-pages.com which might help you narrow it down with paint scheme, frame material, lugs and component group.

i own two, and even after all the research, it's really just a best guess as to the year of each. i'm hoping the new serial number datatbase will help going forward.

mparker326

Definitely new than mid 70's as the Mirage was the last model to drop the cottered crank. Are you positive it is a Mirage and not a Super Mirage?

T-Mar

I was thinking it was a Super Mirage too. I can't tell if the rims are aluminum but the bars appear aluminum and it's got a rear quick release. If so, it should be 1976, as I believe they went to a forged dropout with integral hanger in 1977.

leicanthrope

Out of curiosity, what gives that away? (Non-standard pie plate?)

leicanthrope

Later last night, after I posted here, I found this link: https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Motobecane/

From that, it appears that a '76 Super Mirage does appear to be the only option. It's really the only model that came with that combination of decals in that particular color.

eschlwc

that bulgier link is really helpful. without serial number information, i still can't pin down the exact year of either of my bikes, but i can narrow down both to one of two years with roughly 80 percent probability.

leicanthrope

Update: It is a regular Mirage, not a Super Mirage. Appears to be a 1977, I just missed that they had a model with this configuration / color / decal set in the catalog for that year. One interesting tidbit: the pantographed crank appears first on this model in the 1978 catalog, but mine has one just the same (with a 1977 date code).

eschlwc

could be a '78 with a few leftover '77 parts.

T-Mar

Interesting that it's a Mirage but has the aluminum handlebars and rear QR of a Super Mirage.

leicanthrope

Looking at the catalogs again, it might well be. It doesn't have the stripes on the seat tube, but other than that.

leicanthrope

The rear QR is branded "Sunshine", the front one came off of a Schwinn, by the looks of it. The handlebars are Garry Burgess randonneurs, FWIW.

oldvern

French produced in France Motobecanes have the year of production stamped on the seat tube lug

leicanthrope

Weird. I'm not seeing anything up there.

rootboy 

Really? Neither of mine do.

I think if that were true there wouldn't be so many threads asking about the year of manufacture
of these bikes.

T-Mar

That's a common assumption but the stamping generally turms out to be the lug angle, used to facilitate identification and selection of the proper lug by the framebuilder (and lug manufacturer). Lug angles typically fall in the low 70s range, so it's it's easy to assume that an old bicycle brearing such a stamp is a boom model for that year.

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