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Help Me Feel Better About My Motobecane GT Project.

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Help Me Feel Better About My Motobecane GT Project.

Old 04-16-16, 05:08 PM
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Help Me Feel Better About My Motobecane GT Project.


I sold my daughter's wonderful pink Takara with perfect and complete Alpha-5000 components after she told me she didn't like pink (Since when?) and wanted to sit upright. This 1984 Motobecane Grand Touring Mixte will replace it. I found it on CL and picked it up this morning. I paid the asking price and didn't ride it or test anything. It looks great. I'm bothered by a couple things:
1. These shifters feel terrible and loose even after tightening that plastic disk thing. I thought they were alloy but they are just poorly chromed _____. I think I'll replace them with some Campy levers I have on hand.


2. The FD low limit screw is "screwed" and not repairable (IME) and the small chainring is out of reach. This FD needs replacing. The RD feels nice and tight and I think will be great with decent shifters.


3. My pan was to order some Nitto B302 North Roads, Tektro FL750s, and some cork grips but i don't know if the bars are compatible with this stem.

4. The brakes are a lower level than what came on my 1979 GT.


I'm just experiencing a little buyer's remorse I guess. What FD should I get? And what can I do to make Nitto B302s fit?

Last edited by Classtime; 07-30-16 at 01:25 PM.
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Old 04-16-16, 05:51 PM
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Same color scheme and graphics as my non-mixte 1983 Grand Touring. The bikes were very similar 82-83-84. If you have a helicomatic rear hub, it's an 84; if standard threads, it's probably 82-83.

Mine came from the original owner with a replacement rear derailleur, Shimano LX, and Shimano downtube shift levers to take advantage of indexing. It had the original Huret front derailleur, but since it was a little rough looking, I replaced it with a used Shimano LX to match the rear. I also put bar end shifters on.

I can't tell if it's complete from your pictures, but that Stronglight crank originally was a triple ring crank. if you still have 3 rings, you'll need a FD that can handle it.

One mistake I made with the LX was forgetting I needed a cable stop, because of the bike's cable set-up. The LX didn't have an integrated stop, so I had to add a clamp stop under it on the seat tube.

That stem is a French one inch quill, so it's 22.0mm, instead of 22.2mm. If the clamp size on the Nitto bars won't fit that stem, you'll need another stem or different bars. However, people here on the forum have reported success in sanding down the circumference of a standard one inch stem to make it fit a French fork. You need to remove 1mm from the circumference to get the stem to a 22.0 diameter. That would enable you to get a stem that fits the bars you want. I have never done this myself, but you can search the forum about it.

I kept the original stem and bars on mine, and just replaced the rubber sleeve with regular bar tape.

I kept the original Weinmann brakes, but put Kool Stop Continental pads on them and they work fine.

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Old 04-16-16, 05:52 PM
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looks like a great bike with good paint. no need for remorse.

save the campy shifters for another project or sell them. get some suntour dt or stem shifters instead. there are other options too.

i'd probably look for a suntour fd, either blue line, v-series or cyclone. a sachs/huret would match the rear.

not sure about the bars issue. if it's a japanese stem (like an sr), you shouldn't worry much about clamp area.
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Old 04-16-16, 06:08 PM
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Velo orange might save you a few bucks and has the cork grips too. VO saddles are nice too.

Handlebars - Components

Nice score, it will be a lovely bike for your daughter.

Below is my GT, with the priceless BBC decal.

Last edited by oddjob2; 04-16-16 at 06:15 PM.
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Old 04-16-16, 06:30 PM
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Might the SR stem sized 22.0 be also sized for 25.4 bars.
Yes that is a triple crank.
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Old 04-16-16, 06:32 PM
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Originally Posted by oddjob2
Velo orange might save you a few bucks and has the cork grips too. VO saddles are nice too.

Handlebars - Components

Nice score, it will be a lovely bike for your daughter.

Below is my GT, with the priceless BBC decal.
Budget Bicycle Center? British Broadcasting Company?
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Old 04-16-16, 06:33 PM
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I like the bike, Huret shifters have served me well.
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Old 04-16-16, 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by CuttersRidge
Budget Bicycle Center? British Broadcasting Company?
The first guess is the right guess.
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