Classic & Vintage - Difference between '84 Moto Grand Jubilee and Jubilee Sport?

I'm looking at the 1984 Motobecane catalog at Velobase comparing the Grand Jubilee and Jubilee Sport and I can't see much difference. The Grand Jubilee has Camapgnolo 980 derailleurs and shifters in the conventional location in the downtube while the Jubilee Sport has SunTour ARX derailleurs with the shifters mounted on the top of the downtube. That and the available colors seem to be about it. Does anyone have either of these and know anything about them?

Looks like they are right next to each other in the lineup. Only derailleurs & water bottle bosses different between them. I've not seen either of these in the wild.

[I have an '83 Super Mirage, FWIW].

Ok, well here it is - a Jubilee Sport. But it's earlier than an '84. I'll have to do some research on that. My coworker gave it to me. He was going to throw it out. For some reason he thought the derailleur hanger was stripped but it doesn't seem to be. He gave me the rear derailleur in a plastic baggy but I seem to have left it at his house so I'll have to pick it up later. It needs a chain but otherwise it's in nice shape. Unfortunately it's too big for me so I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/Kommisar89/001-6.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/Kommisar89/002-10.jpg

That's nice looking. I have seen a few earlier Jubilee Sports in local classifieds, but not one like that. Based on the size/style of the 'Motobecane' on the downtube, and the internal cable routing, it may be as late as and '85 or '86. I mean this in a good way: that could be a great ss/fg - no goofy paint or handlebars, just ss/fg drivetrain.

Looks far too nice to throw away. And it's my size. *sigh*

This is my '83 Super Mirage:

http://trancelab.com/bike/IMG_0596.jpg

The difference between Grand Jubile and Jubile Sport should be what you observed-- a difference in the level of components used, with the Grand Jubile spec'd at a higher level than the Jubile Sport. Otherwise, they should be more or less the same bike.

Nice save!

If the der hanger is stripped, try re-tapping it.

The date codes on the Shimano hubs indicate March of 1981 which seems reasonable. The Jubilee Sport model didn't exist as of the 1979 catalog and it's considerably different in the 1984 catalog. Lacking any documentation in between I'd go with the date code and call it an '81.

Anyway, it's a nice bike with (I assume as there are no stickers and no catalogs online from 1981) Vitus 888 tubing with Inexternal (internally lugged) construction, Nervar crank, Atax stem and seat post, Phillipe bars, an unidentified suede Italian saddle wearing Motobecane logos (looks a lot like those Mundialita suede saddles on eBay right now), Moto branded headset, Weinmann brakes, Rigida rims, Shimano hubs, and Suntour Blue Line derailluers and shifters.

It's a 25" frame so it's too big for me but my son who is 6' 1" said he would like it so I'll probably fix it up for him. That may mean learning some new skills as the rear hub is an old style Shimano free hub that takes Uniglide cogs and it's got something rediculous (for Colorado) like a 13-23 cassette on it right now and replacements are not readily available. I've been meaning to learn wheel building so this would be a great opportunity to swap that hub for a more modern Shimano freehub that will take standard hyperglide cassettes.

My personal preference is for bikes from the 50-70's period but one advantage of 80's bikes if you want a daily rider is that it's much easier to substitute modern (or relatively modern 90's stuff anyway) components to imporve the bike's usability without changing the bike's look and style.