Marrock

Ok, I have a '76 Motobecane Super Mirage that I'll, hopefully, this winter be putting alloy rims on laced up with the original Normandy hubs.

Now I know there's plenty of room up front for a 700cc wheel but I'm not entirely sure if it'll fit the rear.

Has anyone had any experience putting 700s on a bike like this and if so, did you have any problems getting them to fit?

If it matters I swapped out the Weinmann centerpulls for a set of Mafac Racers.

Poguemahone

You have two potential problems when doing this.

The first is brake reach; the 700 wheels actually have slightly smaller diameter. If memory serves me correctly, you will need to move the brake pads down about 4mm. The frame should take the 700s w/o problems.

The second problem can be the rear hub spacing, but sionce you're using the original normandy hubs, this is a non-issue for you.

Scooper

I'm pretty sure your original wheels are 27" (630 mm bead seat diameter). You can relace your Normandy hubs to new alloy 700C rims (622 mm bead seat diameter) without any problem if your Mafac Racers can be adjusted so that you've got 4 mm more reach (the radius of 700C rims will be 4 mm less than the radius of the 27" rims).

If you can't extend the reach of your Mafacs, you can either go to longer reach brakes or lace new 27" alloy rims to your hubs. If you go with new 27" rims, the brake reach shouldn't be an issue.

Marrock

I'd thought of that but I was under the impression that 27" tires were getting harder to find.