Classic & Vintage - Motobecane and Flandria

There are two Motobecanes for sale in a nearby city. One is a 62cm (my size) Mirage and the other is a 58cm Grand (?) Mirage. I don't remember the exact name. They are going for 100 bucks each. Both have been converted to fixed gears and I'm wondering if the asking price is too much. I'd rather have one set up with derailleurs etc. but would the additional cost of the parts + the frame even be worth it? I don't know what year they are and the advertisement doesn't specify if the original components come with the bike. I'm not familiar with Motobecanes so don't know what level bikes these are.


Here is an ad for a Flandria that is also going for 100 bucks:
FLANDRIA 10 speed bicycle. Swedish steel tubing, with new knobby tires and brakes. Upgraded Campagnolo gears, crank, sprockets, rims. Comfy seat. Can provide digital pictures and will deliver. Injury forces sale.

I found a little info on the web about Flandrias but not too much. Knobby tires? Could this be a mtn. bike? I've emailed the lister to get more info.

thanks

Joe C.

thoose are moto's mid to low level bikes. i got a totally perfect mirage for 15 bucks at a garage sale, and sold it for 80 bucks.

Here is an ad for a Flandria that is also going for 100 bucks:
FLANDRIA 10 speed bicycle. Swedish steel tubing, with new knobby tires and brakes. Upgraded Campagnolo gears, crank, sprockets, rims. Comfy seat. Can provide digital pictures and will deliver. Injury forces sale.From Classic Rendezvous: Flandria (http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Benelux/Flandria.htm)

It's a "Benelux" bike, so I'm taking a guess that it's Belgian (Flanders).

There are two Motobecanes for sale in a nearby city. One is a 62cm (my size) Mirage and the other is a 58cm Grand (?) Mirage. I don't remember the exact name. They are going for 100 bucks each. Both have been converted to fixed gears and I'm wondering if the asking price is too much. I'd rather have one set up with derailleurs etc. but would the additional cost of the parts + the frame even be worth it? I don't know what year they are and the advertisement doesn't specify if the original components come with the bike. I'm not familiar with Motobecanes so don't know what level bikes these are.$100 isn't bad for a Mirage. Not great, but not bad. Just about average. If you want derailleurs, it's probably better to wait for one to come up that hasn't been converted to fixed gears, because you'll have to shell out extra to convert them back to derailleurs, otherwise. Mirage's are pretty common, so it shouldn't be too hard to find another, EXCEPT I don't know how common 62cm is. If you have trouble finding bikes that size, then go for it. The Mirage variants are all made of gaspipe (I think they use what's called "2040", possibly "1020", which is just plain old heavy gaspipe steel), so it's not the greatest bike out there, but I've read accounts on here from people who love the ride, nevertheless. I love the ride of my Vitus framed (lighter cromoly steel) Moto. In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, if you can find one with the round brass headbadge from the mid-late seventies, those are the classiest looking. If you can find one in either Vitus or 531 in your size, better still.

That reminds me of something else for you to be aware of. Frame fit has changed over the years. The size frame you ride on a modern bike will be different from the size frame you ride on a vintage bike. Here's a Sheldon Brown article on the subject: Frame Sizing (http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-sizing.html).

I wouldn't even think about paying $100 for a Moto Mirage or any variant thereof unless it was absolutely complete, ready to ride, and a perfect fit to boot! I love the ride of these bikes, but fully equipped low-end Motos are just too common. By the time you scavenge a crankset (or at least chainrings), freewheel (ISO), shifters, derailleurs, and possibly brakes (at least a rear one) to replace components removed at conversion time, you'll be spending the price of a really nice mid-range or higher end bike. If you're gonna build up a bare frame, look for a Grand Record, a Le Champion, or at least a nice Grand Touring. These were all generally made of Cr-Mo of varying quality (don't buy a GT without a frame decal - they varied in material from Vitus 888 and 172 to plain old 1020 gaspipe). They were also furnished with much nicer components.

Flandria is a Belgian built bike; the brand name has been recently resurrected and an outfit in England is building c/f Flandrias!

I tend to agree that spending $100 on an old Moto is a large chunk of change unless it is in super condition. Now, Flandria. They were made in Belgium and were imported into the US for a very short time during the 1971-1973 "Bike Boom" years in which any brand bike could be sold very quickly. If it is a road bike, I would recommend staying away from it. I sold these bikes brand new during this time period and they had an inherent chain rub problem . When the chain was in the small front and rear sprockets, it would rub like crazy against the inside of the large chainring as it headed into the small chainring. Parts were of average, European quality. I would rather recommend the Moto or a 30 year old japanese made bike over this by a country mile. Was not aware that the brand name had been resurrected. However, in the back pages of Bicycling magazine I see "Motobecane" road bikes for sale for $1600. I assume these are made in China,like Masi's and other "lifted" European brands.

I tend to agree that spending $100 on an old Moto is a large chunk of change unless it is in super condition. Now, Flandria. They were made in Belgium and were imported into the US for a very short time during the 1971-1973 "Bike Boom" years in which any brand bike could be sold very quickly. If it is a road bike, I would recommend staying away from it. I sold these bikes brand new during this time period and they had an inherent chain rub problem . When the chain was in the small front and rear sprockets, it would rub like crazy against the inside of the large chainring as it headed into the small chainring. Parts were of average, European quality. I would rather recommend the Moto or a 30 year old japanese made bike over this by a country mile. Was not aware that the brand name had been resurrected. However, in the back pages of Bicycling magazine I see "Motobecane" road bikes for sale for $1600. I assume these are made in China,like Masi's and other "lifted" European brands.

As for the Flandria: Not all Flandria'a were Belgian. They had a factory in Portugal and France. The Belgian frames were of a higher quality, and what you had in your shop may very well have come out of the French or Portugese factories. As for the components, my 72 Flandria had Suntour on it, and it shifted flawlessly. These bikes were ridden to quite a few one day European championships in their heyday. Freddy Maertens rode for team Flandria in the mid 70's. A Flandria frame also took Shimano to it's first stage win in the Tour De France in 1973.

For what it's worth, I fished a Moto Mirage out of the dump a few months ago, about 58cm. I replaced the shot Huret RD with a Smplex I had laying around and gave it to a kid at the school I work at who had been talking about getting into road bikes. He's been riding ever since, or at least until the snow started.
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I would surmise that the Flandria's that I retailed were made in Portugal, if not in Belgium. They were definitely not French. I am aware that Flandria was a top name in the European racing scene, it's just that these exported models were very basic bikes.

I decided against the Motobecanes but I'm hoping to take a look at the Flandria in the next couple of weeks. It is a couple hundred of miles away but is where my parents live and we're heading over there anyway. The owner said he has had it for years and installed Campy components on it. It is my size and the price seems decent so I'll go have a look. I'll post and information on it after I have a look at it.

Joe C.