Ridiculous saga... Paramount, Egypt and a Motobecane
03-16-20, 03:33 PM
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Ridiculous saga... Paramount, Egypt and a Motobecane
I was planning on dropping my gf off at ohare wednesday and picking up the paramount i was buying in milwaukee. My gf couldnt go because of all the current turnoil. So i was going to go up earlier but the guy canceled the sale for some reason. Turns out right near there is an old motobecane grand touring in my size with the vitus 172 frameset. So i went up and picked it up for waaaay less money and figured anything i did with one i could do with the other. Plus it might be less likely stolen. Anyway, i got it home and got the crank off, the non drive side was very stubborn. Also someone had tightened the seatpost bolt into oblivion. I drilled it out and it looks like shell hold a post. Cant believe i can have fun with little stuff like this while the world spins crazy.
Frameset 1978 i think
Looks like somebody spun a bolt in there pretty good.
Straightened the slot a bit.
Frameset 1978 i think
Looks like somebody spun a bolt in there pretty good.
Straightened the slot a bit.
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03-16-20, 03:40 PM
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So the Schwinn paramount beater project has been shelved and you're moving on to a Motobecane Grand Touring beater project. I like it.
If you're running out of projects I have the perfect Fuji Finest project for you,
If you're running out of projects I have the perfect Fuji Finest project for you,
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03-16-20, 04:00 PM
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By the way, i stopped ar Waterford and they gave me a tour!
Last edited by 52telecaster; 03-16-20 at 04:04 PM.
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03-16-20, 08:13 PM
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If you don't have the drive side BB off, don't rule out Swiss threading. Same size as french, but left hand thread on the drive side.
I routinely pick up beater Motobecanes solely to pick up Japanese Swiss BB, Japanese forged french sized stems, and nice Suntour RDs. Different than the other french manufacturers, I have found Swiss BB on Motobecanes spanning many years, from the mid to late 1970s to 1982.
I routinely pick up beater Motobecanes solely to pick up Japanese Swiss BB, Japanese forged french sized stems, and nice Suntour RDs. Different than the other french manufacturers, I have found Swiss BB on Motobecanes spanning many years, from the mid to late 1970s to 1982.
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03-17-20, 05:01 AM
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If you don't have the drive side BB off, don't rule out Swiss threading. Same size as french, but left hand thread on the drive side.
I routinely pick up beater Motobecanes solely to pick up Japanese Swiss BB, Japanese forged french sized stems, and nice Suntour RDs. Different than the other french manufacturers, I have found Swiss BB on Motobecanes spanning many years, from the mid to late 1970s to 1982.
I routinely pick up beater Motobecanes solely to pick up Japanese Swiss BB, Japanese forged french sized stems, and nice Suntour RDs. Different than the other french manufacturers, I have found Swiss BB on Motobecanes spanning many years, from the mid to late 1970s to 1982.
03-17-20, 05:08 AM
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The "older" Motobecanes were French threaded (70s and earlier I believe) but the "later" ones (80s?) were Swiss. I'm not sure of the dates when the switch was made but there are some threads here on that topic.
Do you need to get the fixed cup out? You can clean it up and ride it as is. This is a stronglight BB, right? Stronglight spindles are easy to find and the BBs are very good quality. I wouldn't be in a hurry to run an expensive threadless BB. Plus French and Swiss BBs are available new. French is a heck of a lot easier to find than Swiss though.
What kind of gearing do you want? Didn't this bike some with a stronglight 99 crank? That is a very good and very versatile 86 bcd crank. It can go as low as 28 so it makes a very good vintage compact crank. Chainrings are readily available at reasonable prices since so many of these were sold.
Bottom line is I wouldn't spend money on parts for this bike before figuring out whether the existing parts can do the job you want.
Do you need to get the fixed cup out? You can clean it up and ride it as is. This is a stronglight BB, right? Stronglight spindles are easy to find and the BBs are very good quality. I wouldn't be in a hurry to run an expensive threadless BB. Plus French and Swiss BBs are available new. French is a heck of a lot easier to find than Swiss though.
What kind of gearing do you want? Didn't this bike some with a stronglight 99 crank? That is a very good and very versatile 86 bcd crank. It can go as low as 28 so it makes a very good vintage compact crank. Chainrings are readily available at reasonable prices since so many of these were sold.
Bottom line is I wouldn't spend money on parts for this bike before figuring out whether the existing parts can do the job you want.
03-17-20, 05:39 AM
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The "older" Motobecanes were French threaded (70s and earlier I believe) but the "later" ones (80s?) were Swiss. I'm not sure of the dates when the switch was made but there are some threads here on that topic.
Do you need to get the fixed cup out? You can clean it up and ride it as is. This is a stronglight BB, right? Stronglight spindles are easy to find and the BBs are very good quality. I wouldn't be in a hurry to run an expensive threadless BB. Plus French and Swiss BBs are available new. French is a heck of a lot easier to find than Swiss though.
What kind of gearing do you want? Didn't this bike some with a stronglight 99 crank? That is a very good and very versatile 86 bcd crank. It can go as low as 28 so it makes a very good vintage compact crank. Chainrings are readily available at reasonable prices since so many of these were sold.
Bottom line is I wouldn't spend money on parts for this bike before figuring out whether the existing parts can do the job you want.
Do you need to get the fixed cup out? You can clean it up and ride it as is. This is a stronglight BB, right? Stronglight spindles are easy to find and the BBs are very good quality. I wouldn't be in a hurry to run an expensive threadless BB. Plus French and Swiss BBs are available new. French is a heck of a lot easier to find than Swiss though.
What kind of gearing do you want? Didn't this bike some with a stronglight 99 crank? That is a very good and very versatile 86 bcd crank. It can go as low as 28 so it makes a very good vintage compact crank. Chainrings are readily available at reasonable prices since so many of these were sold.
Bottom line is I wouldn't spend money on parts for this bike before figuring out whether the existing parts can do the job you want.
03-17-20, 05:50 AM
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Is it a stronglight BB? It likely is. Measure the spindle. I'll bet you can mount a stronglight 99 and then you have good gearing choices. You need a special puller for those but the later ones used a standard puller. You can put up a WTB thread or keep your eyes peeled for a Peugeot UO 9 or 10. Those came with stronglight 99s. You can harvest the crank and flip the bike. I recently picked up a UO 9 for $49 so I could harvest the crank and flip the bike.
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03-17-20, 05:55 AM
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Is it a stronglight BB? It likely is. Measure the spindle. I'll bet you can mount a stronglight 99 and then you have good gearing choices. You need a special puller for those but the later ones used a standard puller. You can put up a WTB thread or keep your eyes peeled for a Peugeot UO 9 or 10. Those came with stronglight 99s. You can harvest the crank and flip the bike. I recently picked up a UO 9 for $49 so I could harvest the crank and flip the bike.
03-17-20, 06:02 AM
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After removing dirt, it is a tange bottom bracket and it looks like the chainline might be ok with my t.a. 50.4 crank. Ive got a few rings for it but if i decide to use it i will buy the removal tool. There is one at the coop but tools go missing there some times.
03-17-20, 06:25 AM
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In other French brands, yes, absolutely. In the case of Motobecane, not in my experience. I have had several 1977 Motobecanes, all had Swisss BB. And I have had later 1970s, all the way up to 1982 with Swiss BBs.
Just one guy's experience, having owned a couple of dozen Motobecanes.
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03-17-20, 06:30 AM
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Nice thing on the older TAs they used 23mm puller, which is more common (and more affordable) than the Stronglight version.
The "trick" is to get one of the older Park pullers. Some had two separate threaded sections. Those would be "normal" 22mm threads, and TA 23mm threads. All the CCP-1 model will have the dual head, and SOME of the CCP-2 will have dual head.
The "trick" is to get one of the older Park pullers. Some had two separate threaded sections. Those would be "normal" 22mm threads, and TA 23mm threads. All the CCP-1 model will have the dual head, and SOME of the CCP-2 will have dual head.
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03-17-20, 06:39 AM
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Nice thing on the older TAs they used 23mm puller, which is more common (and more affordable) than the Stronglight version.
The "trick" is to get one of the older Park pullers. Some had two separate threaded sections. Those would be "normal" 22mm threads, and TA 23mm threads. All the CCP-1 model will have the dual head, and SOME of the CCP-2 will have dual head.
The "trick" is to get one of the older Park pullers. Some had two separate threaded sections. Those would be "normal" 22mm threads, and TA 23mm threads. All the CCP-1 model will have the dual head, and SOME of the CCP-2 will have dual head.
03-17-20, 06:42 AM
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In other French brands, yes, absolutely. In the case of Motobecane, not in my experience. I have had several 1977 Motobecanes, all had Swisss BB. And I have had later 1970s, all the way up to 1982 with Swiss BBs.
Just one guy's experience, having owned a couple of dozen Motobecanes.
Just one guy's experience, having owned a couple of dozen Motobecanes.
"Unlike most French makers of the era, Motobecane used Swiss thread bottom brackets for most models."
I read somewhere on BF that the early Motos used French but that could have been a mistake. Certainly Motos used swiss more broadly than did other French manufacturers and it is in theory a better design.
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03-17-20, 06:46 AM
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What are the gear ratios on the TA? What are you looking for? TA chain rings are available (at least for cyclotourist via eBay) but they tend to be more expensive than Stronglight rings.
03-17-20, 06:54 AM
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ive got 26, 30, 40 and 46. I can certainly come up with something there. I'll make a compact or super compact double.
03-17-20, 06:58 AM
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I live like 18 miles from there and still haven’t visited.
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03-17-20, 07:03 AM
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03-17-20, 07:13 AM
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In other French brands, yes, absolutely. In the case of Motobecane, not in my experience. I have had several 1977 Motobecanes, all had Swisss BB. And I have had later 1970s, all the way up to 1982 with Swiss BBs.
Just one guy's experience, having owned a couple of dozen Motobecanes.
Just one guy's experience, having owned a couple of dozen Motobecanes.
It looks like I'm wrong on the dates but I believe that Motobecane did use French at one time but then broke with the other French companies to start using Swiss sometime in the 70s. This is from the Wiki entry:
"Unlike most French makers of the era, Motobecane used Swiss thread bottom brackets for most models."
I read somewhere on BF that the early Motos used French but that could have been a mistake. Certainly Motos used swiss more broadly than did other French manufacturers and it is in theory a better design.
"Unlike most French makers of the era, Motobecane used Swiss thread bottom brackets for most models."
I read somewhere on BF that the early Motos used French but that could have been a mistake. Certainly Motos used swiss more broadly than did other French manufacturers and it is in theory a better design.
My 76 Grand Jubile is right hand thread on both sides. I assume it's French since I've never heard of an Italian threaded Moto.
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03-17-20, 07:17 AM
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03-17-20, 07:33 AM
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03-17-20, 07:43 AM
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03-17-20, 08:18 AM
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03-17-20, 08:21 AM
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03-17-20, 09:00 AM
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Should i assume right hand threads based on the sakae cup marking?
