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Kinda weird Motobecane Grand Jubilé

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Kinda weird Motobecane Grand Jubilé

Old 06-10-21, 08:12 PM
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smontanaro 
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Kinda weird Motobecane Grand Jubilé

I recently acquired a Motobecane Grand Jubilé. It was repainted but never received new decals. It mostly seems right, but my previous GJ had Huret dropouts:



This one has Campagnolo dropouts and what looks to be the remnants of a serial number on the NDS dropout (apologies for the crappy pix - end of the day in a not very well lit basement, trying to zoom in too far):




It has a short cage Huret Jubilee rear derailleur. It didn't appear to have an adapter for Campy dropouts at first glance, so perhaps it's original.

The bike has a Cinelli 1A stem which was cut down to 22mm, and a Giro d'Italia bar. The tubing diameters seem right for a French frame (28mm down tube and seat tube, 26mm top tube, 26.8mm Simplex seat post). The lug profiles match my previous Grand Jubilé. The bike has 27-inch wheels with Weinmann 610 calipers front and rear (610s in back weren't common practice, were they?). The front hub was replaced with a Suzue at some point, but the rear is still Normandy.

So, what have I got, some sort of Franco-Italian shotgun marriage? Did Grand Jubilés come with Campy dropouts at some point?
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Old 06-10-21, 08:20 PM
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My Grand Jubilé has Campagnolo rear dropouts. I've heard it suggested that the GJ's that have Campy dropouts were Grand Record frames that got repurposed. There's not really much other practical difference between then at that point, except that by the mid 70's the Grand Record have 531 stays and the GJ was only advertised as having 531 main tubes.

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Old 06-10-21, 08:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
My Grand Jubilé has Campagnolo rear dropouts.
Thanks. Is your frame's serial number under the slot on the NDS dropout? If so, then mine is probably there as well, just unreadable.
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Old 06-10-21, 09:43 PM
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26.8 is a big post.
my Grand Jubilee is a 26.6- and I was expecting 26.4
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Old 06-10-21, 11:03 PM
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Originally Posted by smontanaro
Thanks. Is your frame's serial number under the slot on the NDS dropout? If so, then mine is probably there as well, just unreadable.
That's a good question, but I don't know the answer anymore with certainty. I can give you a pretty good guess from memory and other clues. I've got three different numbers written down. The one that seems to be the normal Motobecane sequential serial number was probably on the outside of the NDS dropout, like the Grand Record. The second number I have recorded is "A 64216". I think this is a factory code or something similar. My 1972 Grand Record has "64216" stamped on the inside of the drive side dropout, so I'd bet that's where this was on the GJ. Finally, I've got "374CS" which I think came from one of the front dropouts, based on someone else reporting a similarly formatted number there on a Grand Jubilé in this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-database.html

I went to look at the bike, but I can't see anything without taking it apart, and since it's been powder coated, I might not be able to see the numbers on the rear dropouts anyway.
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Old 06-10-21, 11:05 PM
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BTW, my GJ takes a 26.4 seatpost, as does my GR.
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Old 06-11-21, 04:15 AM
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Originally Posted by repechage
26.8 is a big post.
my Grand Jubilee is a 26.6- and I was expecting 26.4
I'll remeasure today (actually taking it out). I originally measured the Cinelli stem at 22.2, but that was while it was inserted in the frame. Last night I pulled it at discovered lower down it had been turned down to 22. It's highly unlikely that's the case for the seatpost (steel, right?), but I'll pull it and make a more careful measurement today.
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Old 06-11-21, 04:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
Finally, I've got "374CS" which I think came from one of the front dropouts ...
Yeah, I haven't looked there yet, but my previous GJ had a similar number on its right front fork end.

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Old 06-11-21, 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted by repechage
26.8 is a big post.
my Grand Jubilee is a 26.6- and I was expecting 26.4
my 73 le champion takes a 26.8 post.
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Old 06-11-21, 07:31 AM
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Stopped briefly on my morning ride, but I will say the post measures wider side-to-side than front-to-back. Only measured side-to-side last night. Will get more precise numbers later.
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Old 06-11-21, 10:10 AM
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My early GJ also has Campy dropouts
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Old 06-11-21, 10:34 AM
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In the 1976 catalog on the Bulgier site, it says the GJ derailleurs could be either Cyclone or Jubilee, so I would assume the Jubliee would be the one configured for Campy dropouts:

Catalog list: https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Motobecane/
1976 specs: https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalo.../15_specs2.jpg
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Old 06-12-21, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
In the 1976 catalog on the Bulgier site, it says the GJ derailleurs could be either Cyclone or Jubilee, so I would assume the Jubliee would be the one configured for Campy dropouts:

Catalog list: https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Motobecane/
1976 specs: https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalo.../15_specs2.jpg
I'm a little skeptical. My previous GJ had Huret dropouts and Jubilee front and rear derailleurs. When I replaced the derailleur with a SunTour, I had to fashion a stop for it.

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Old 06-12-21, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by smontanaro
Stopped briefly on my morning ride, but I will say the post measures wider side-to-side than front-to-back. Only measured side-to-side last night. Will get more precise numbers later.
I marked the post in three places with a Sharpie, low, middle, high. At each place I measured both side-to-side and front-to-back diameters with my calipers:
  • high - 26.6 side-to-side, 26.5 front-to-back
  • middle - 26.8 s2s, 26.4 f2b
  • low - 26.7 s2s, 26.6 f2b
Maybe it led a rough life? It goes in and comes out fine, perhaps not as easily as if the seat tube was meant for a 26.8, but when inserted the slot seems to have parallel sides. I wondered if Simplex stamped the size somewhere. Checking Velobase, I saw a size stamp in one of their pix. Tear off the saddle and there it is, 26.6.
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Old 06-12-21, 01:01 PM
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Originally Posted by smontanaro
I marked the post in three places with a Sharpie, low, middle, high. At each place I measured both side-to-side and front-to-back diameters with my calipers:
  • high - 26.6 side-to-side, 26.5 front-to-back
  • middle - 26.8 s2s, 26.4 f2b
  • low - 26.7 s2s, 26.6 f2b
Maybe it led a rough life?
Steel posts are often oval.
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Old 06-12-21, 01:44 PM
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Motobécane apparently messed around with the Grand Jubilé(e) frame component sources from year to year. We have a 1977 model frame, with Vitus 172 tubeset and SunTour dropouts. It's a really nice frame, very light (my spouse's ride).
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Old 06-12-21, 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by oneclick
Steel posts are often oval.
Manufacturing tolerances or just the vagaries of life?
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Old 06-12-21, 06:45 PM
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Tear off the saddle and there it is, 26.6.
Obviously. You did 6 measurements and got 5 different 'diameters'. The only repeat was 26.6.
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Old 06-14-21, 10:30 AM
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This Grand Jubilé is the gift that keeps on giving. Things I've discovered so far:
  • Simplex seatpost is missing the cradle bits on one side, was cobbled together with nut, bolt and fender washer.
  • Chainstay bridge and chainstays lost a boxing match with a kickstand on points (not bad, but not great either).
  • One of the crank arms has a helicoil insert for the (French threaded) pedal.
  • I separated the chain at the master link. I thought it odd that it was a wildly different color than the chain itself. It turns out the chain is an old Sedis while the master link is a generic (I think) 8sp link.
  • After removing the chain while looking for a containiner to stuff it in, it separated into two halves. I'm thinking that chain is destined for the metal scrap box.
  • I've so far been unable to remove the front derailleur. I think I'll just include it with the frame and let the next custodian deal with it.
  • The handlebar wrap looks great, but I can't use the Cinelli 1A stem (manually turned down to 22mm ø) and Giro d'Italia bars are extremely common. I think I'll just sell the cockpit in one piece.
  • Edit: The front hub (a Suzue replacement) only measures 95mm OLD and doesn't appear to have enough threads showing on the axle to space it out to 100mm.
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Old 06-14-21, 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
My 1972 Grand Record has "64216" stamped on the inside of the drive side dropout, so I'd bet that's where this was on the GJ. Finally, I've got "374CS" which I think came from one of the front dropouts...
Right you are Andy. "708161" is stamped on the inside of the drive side dropout, and "358CI" is stamped on the outside of the right front fork end.
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