High Fist Shin

When I first saw this bike, all I could do was shake my head. This Motobecane built Astra was a fantastic bike in it's day, very similar to a PR10 of the same time period. Originally it had Huret derailleurs and shifters but someone decided to make a change and now it has lowly Suntour Honor mounted up to Suntour Barcons. Shame, shame. And look at the beautiful lugs and the Reynolds 531 frame. I almost want to cry.

But that's not the worst. This bike actually has algae growning on the frame. It must have been sitting outside, under a hedge for years. I'm betting that the seat post and stem are frozen solid and won't come out without a little gentle persuasion and a plasma cutter.

Here's some pictures for your viewing horror.















Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Shin.

Mos6502

Replacing the french derailleurs was a pretty popular thing to do even when these were new. Some folks even had them swapped out for suntour stuff when they picked the bike up from the shop.

Nice find though, something tells me it'll look great once you start cleaning it.

unworthy1

a worthy project...good on ya for taking it on, but with all that rust your work may be cut out for you. This one really wants to take an oxalic bath! Surprising how good the chrome ends look compared to those other heavily rusted parts!

Crampangoslo

You are correct-in early to mid 70s we did that in the shop I worked at all the time on entry lever (UO-8 level) Euro bikes. We would Suntourize a bike for about $25 and get rid of the DT simplex shifters and put on those massive Suntour alloy stem shifters with steel Suntour derailleurs.

At the time, it was a way to get the superior ride of a lighter French bike with a nicer derailleur set.

To complete the bastardization, we also had these Mafac lever conversion kits. We would knock out the lever pivot pin with a punch and would replace it with a pivot pin that would accept safety levers.

High Fist Shin

I got the acid bath brewing. Amazingly, I didn't even need to warm up the plazma cutter. The seatpost came out with a wiggle and some PB blaster. The stem was a bear. Lots of PB and a little gentle persuasion. Luckily, it wasn't in too far.

I was suprised to find that there is very little rust on the frame. Very minor indeed and the acid bath should take care of that. I have a crank puller on the way from Iowegian (Thank you, sir!) and once the BB is out I should see the true extent of the neglect. Pictures later.

High Fist Shin

I can understand the conversion, but a Suntour Honor, carbon steel boat anchor on a nice, light Reynolds 531 frame? Surely there was a lighter option in the day. It just seems a little odd to me is all.

P.S. How about that crazy bartape?

mkeller234

I think your just the guy that poor bike needs. I know you could polish that stronglight crank up to a mirror finish. I have a better suntour vx you can have if you want it. Of course it's not french though.

noglider 

The SunTour steel derailleur performed fine, but it was very prone to bending, so I don't care for it much. The aluminum models, however, are, of course, legendary, especially the VG-T Luxe!

randyjawa 

Though it looks rough, I too agree that the bike will probably clean up pretty good while still sporting a nice patina of age. I have some Huret transmissions if you are on the hunt for some.

High Fist Shin

Thank you, my friend. It should be a fun project, especially when I try to relace the wheels with stainless spokes. Thank you for the offer of the VX. I'm going to try and score some Huret parts and see if I can return it to mostly original.

Thanks, Randy. I would be interested in your Huret parts. Send me a PM and thank you.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Cool bike. A shame to see those cranks in that condition for sure.

bikerosity57

Don't make it into a fixie! Try to find period french components, and all that rust will probly clean up fairly well anyway. I'll bet it makes a decent mount when yer done.

EjustE

What a project! Cannot wait to see the work in progress.

That frame sure looks like it needs a heavy dose of Lysol more than an Acid bath...

embankmentlb

The best thing about those bikes was the wing nuts for the wheels. Looks like the previous owner was not a fan.

YoKev

good luck!

cudak888 

Let that stand as a testament to good seatpost greasing.

-Kurt

High Fist Shin

Hmmm. I might be able to get a set of those. There's a guy who comes to the Trexlertown swap meet twice a year and he has a bunch.



Hear! Hear! Wish they did the same for the stem.

High Fist Shin

Oh, come on! Wouldn't this bike look sweet with a nice set of purple deep v rims and a top tube pads made from an old fannel shirt?




















You can rest assured that I won't do that. Fixies are fun, but I like my gears.

EDIT: Added a picture of the seat cluster. So pretty.

Grand Bois

Could you please post a picture of the derailer hanger with the derailer removed? Switching to Suntour derailers was no problem with the cheap models because they used a claw. A Simplex integrated hanger is a different story.

Rabid Koala

That is some fine looking French chrome. That neglected Stronglight crank set makes me sad, though.

Grand Bois

Just the 3 main tubes are Reynolds 531. It's comparable to a Peugeot PR10.

embankmentlb

I learned bike mechanics on the Tour de France model. This was north ga. 1979. I may as well been on the moon. I have a hate for French bikes to this day!

Panthers007

One of those Astra's - a Tour de France model - was my first 10-speed back in 1972. I learned a lot from it as something was always fouling up! LOL! But once it was stuck forever in 8th gear, it made a fine neo-fixie. Until my idiot brother, who always broke it, sold it while I was out of town.

soonerbills

I have a venerable Tour De France model but the year is unknown...It has those wing nuts on it ... I'll never find any replacement stickers for it...their not decals... so a true resto will probly never happen.

sykerocker 

Regarding the SunTour Honor upgrade:

Back in the day, one of the truly amazing things about SunTour derailleurs was that they all shifted equally well, whether you bought the cheapest or best model. This was in contrast to the European derailleurs, where the precision and efficiency you got was in direct proportion to the amount of money you spent. And, I swear, there was a bottom line as to the minimum you could spend and still get a performing mechanism.

Now, during the Bike Boom, components were in short supply. Actually, components were in decent supply (compared to previous years), but the demand had skyrocketed. So, you were having people come into the bike shop wanting a SunTour upgrade to their bike . . . . . and you used whatever model was available at that moment. No complaints, as long as you were honest with the prices.

I can remember a Nuevo Record or two replaced by a SunTour V-GT, because the owner wanted a wider range and a derailleur that actually worked well.