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$5 Split Tube Moto-Mixte

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$5 Split Tube Moto-Mixte

Old 12-07-19, 11:26 AM
  #1  
OutnBack
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Split Tube Moto-Mixte

Found this one today... a mid-70s Motobecane Grand Touring w/ Vitus Double Butted 172 Tubing, Rigida Wheels, Suntour VGT Luxe RD, & Suntour Power Ratchet Down Tube Shifters. Covered w/ 40+ years of grime, but looks like it will clean up well.






Last edited by OutnBack; 12-11-19 at 08:41 PM.
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Old 12-07-19, 11:33 AM
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Looks to be a great find. I'd bet it will clean up nice. Congratulations !
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Old 12-07-19, 11:35 AM
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Nice find.
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Old 12-07-19, 11:44 AM
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Quite the score! That is a real good bike, especially for 5 clams. That looks to be in real good shape and will clean up very nicely.
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Old 12-07-19, 11:47 AM
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Nice! Vitus had a very respectable line, I kept a early-80s Vitus-tubed Grand Record that passed thru my stable a couple years back because it rode so nice. Use it occasionally for short jaunts.

Maybe some inspiration, as I had a similar level of muck on a $25 find a while back, rebuilt it for a buddy of mine: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...eaner-job.html

Compare reply number 31 with 32 right after. A lot is possible. Just a caveat though: Don't get the green-color Simple Green on alloy. Their purple-color Simple Green HD is alloy-safe (Simple Green "HD"). Green-color isn't.

PS - that tapered top tube is wild looking!
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Old 12-07-19, 12:47 PM
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That looks to be real dirty. Would you like to double your money? Seriously though, that is quite a $5 find.
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Old 12-07-19, 01:13 PM
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Nicely done for $5! Looks like about a 78 I have the mens version

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Old 12-07-19, 01:27 PM
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Nice find. Likely Vitus 172 main tubes like the diamond frame GT's of this vintage (76ish).
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Old 12-07-19, 03:38 PM
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I saw a Motobecane with that same top tube/stay transition this past summer. Very cool!

My Vitus-tubed Motos are very nice riders. Love 'em.
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Old 12-07-19, 05:08 PM
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Coincidentally, I was preparing this one for sale today when I took a break to check my email, call a potential buyer back and check C&V!

The shift levers are the rare Huret variant of the Retrofriction design, wherein the friction resistance is only in exact proportion to the cable tension.
The cable end pulls directly on one end of the spring-wrap clutch spring, and the lever itself pushes on the same other end of the spring to unwrap it. This is the most sophisticated retrofriction lever design of them all, so I am hoping a buyer will ask me to put more-common shift levers up on the bars!




I believe it's an '82, all the componments are French.

Last edited by dddd; 12-08-19 at 10:34 AM.
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Old 12-07-19, 05:36 PM
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Here's a 78 I got for my Ms M, paid waaaay more than that for it and love it, turned out stellar to me, wasn't bad at all to begin with.

It was a home run for Christmas a few years ago.

Its been refitted with stem shifters for her.

Still waiting in the queue for upright bars.





Last edited by merziac; 12-07-19 at 05:40 PM.
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Old 12-07-19, 08:51 PM
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Those were rare back in the day.
very interesting design.
5$, speechless
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Old 12-07-19, 10:18 PM
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That's $5 well spent. Those '78 Grand Tourings were about the best deal in the Motobecane line up. DB Vitus tube frame mixte. High performance mixtes are sort of a rare breed. 78 was a good year. Braze ons made a return that year. My first good bike was a 78 Super Mirage. My neighbor had a Grand Touring. It was better.

Should also be pointed out that tall mixte frames were always relatively rare.
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Old 12-08-19, 03:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Salamandrine
That's $5 well spent. Those '78 Grand Tourings were about the best deal in the Motobecane line up. DB Vitus tube frame mixte. High performance mixtes are sort of a rare breed. 78 was a good year. Braze ons made a return that year. My first good bike was a 78 Super Mirage. My neighbor had a Grand Touring. It was better.

Should also be pointed out that tall mixte frames were always relatively rare.
The leap from Super Mirage to Grand Touring was from 2040 hi-ten to Vitus 172 DB, a huge leap imo and a very good one as these ride like a dream.

Last edited by merziac; 12-08-19 at 12:49 PM.
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Old 12-08-19, 04:49 AM
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The 1978 Moto GT definitely is a fantastic bike! I have 2 of them. One in Champagne Gold and the other in Gun Metal Gray, which are the two colors the GT came in that year. Both have the same size frame (my frame size), and were manufactured the same month. Great riding bikes, and extremely dependable. In addition, the paint jobs on these bikes are truly beautiful. Mine came with concave Weinmann rims that are "bomb proof", and the lugs and wrap-around seat stays are another plus! Great bike! Amazed to see the Vitus label on the bike posted survived the decades intact. That mixte is in great shape, and will clean up nicely.

Last edited by cycleheimer; 12-08-19 at 04:56 AM.
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Old 12-08-19, 12:06 PM
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Pic Update

A quick wash has revealed the Moto is in fine condition w/ very few paint blemishes. Will need a complete refurb, of course. Something I haven't seen before are brake hoods w/ the Moto logo. You've gotta love the 70's!


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Old 12-08-19, 12:35 PM
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Originally Posted by merziac
The leap from Super Mirage to Grand Touring was from 2040 hi-ten to Vitus 888 which interestingly weighed 2010 grams, not much lighter if the 2040 hi-ten was that but ime 888 has a better ride quality by far.and may be stronger although it also seems to be straight gauge.
Frame tubes on this one are Double Butted Vitus 172
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Old 12-08-19, 12:43 PM
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Originally Posted by OutnBack
Frame tubes on this one are Double Butted Vitus 172
That's way mo betta.
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Old 12-08-19, 12:45 PM
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Nice. Those hoods are actually integrated into the bar covering. It's sort of a one piece fake stitched on leather all in one thing. Introduced in '78. I think it lasted at least until the first bankruptcy a couple years later.

I'm trying to ignore the wonky bar angle....
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Old 12-08-19, 12:51 PM
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Originally Posted by merziac
The leap from Super Mirage to Grand Touring was from 2040 hi-ten to Vitus 888 which interestingly weighed 2010 grams, not much lighter if the 2040 hi-ten was that but ime 888 has a better ride quality by far.and may be stronger although it also seems to be straight gauge.
2040 high ten was good stuff. Hi ten can be underrated. Specs were not too far off from cromo. These frames were probably better overall than many competitors that had cromo main tubes and heavy everything else, but soon after this time you couldn't sell a bike that didn't have a cromo sticker on it. Became a marketing thing.
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Old 12-08-19, 01:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Salamandrine
2040 high ten was good stuff. Hi ten can be underrated. Specs were not too far off from cromo. These frames were probably better overall than many competitors that had cromo main tubes and heavy everything else, but soon after this time you couldn't sell a bike that didn't have a cromo sticker on it. Became a marketing thing.
Agreed, all true, turns out Vitus 172 is seamed and still steel, low alloy, stronger and lighter, probably not by much. The marketing guys definitely got the spin going, tubing stickers on everything, good, bad and ugly, labeled so when good, vaguely when not.
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Old 12-09-19, 09:08 AM
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Moto mixties are great bikes. Finding one as nice as yours is a rare feat indeed. Motobecane paint jobs and graphics were some of the best of the time period (IMHO) and were protected by clear coating (which sometimes turned yellow-ish, particularly noticeable on silver frames). The next model mixte up from this was the Grand Jubile, which in 74 and 75 had Reynolds 531 tubing, Nervex (rare on a mixte) lugs, and Huret Jubilee long cage derailleurs. Those are the holy grail mixte (as least from a production frame standpoint).

Red w/black panel Grand Jubilee '75

Another of my Moto Grand Jubiles, also a '75

Last edited by motogeek; 12-09-19 at 09:35 PM.
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Old 12-09-19, 09:20 AM
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That is a TREMENDOUS score for $5. Those Suntour V-GT Luxe derailleurs are worth that and more. I've got a men's 1976 Grand Touring, but mine was free (I restored the bike my father purchased new in 1976). The Vitus 172 tubes make for a wonderful ride.

Congratulations!
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Old 12-09-19, 09:34 PM
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There's one just like the OP on the Atlanta CL today for $200.
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Old 12-10-19, 08:28 AM
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Big Brother in gun metal gray....
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