Chise

Hello ladies and gents,

I had a 79-Motobecane Grand Touring, mostly original parts (all OG except the tires, bar tape and possibly the seat). I loved that thing; never got it to shift as nice as my Univega, but bombing down the hills past the east remote parking of my alma mater was 110% bike heaven. She was steady, sturdy and smooth. One day last May, I noticed the rear didn't feel as stable pedaling out of turns. I took it to my school co-op where we discovered:



My AWESOME vitus 172 frame was now junk, so I forgot about it. I graduated, took a job at a nightmarish non-profit. A few months later, I broke free and managed to escape. However, getting another job has proven difficult and money is low. But it's my brother's birthday this month, and I can't leave little bro hanging! So, I thought it appropiate to transfer my motobecane parts onto another frame and give it to him since his sweet high school graduation bike was STOLEN.

I went on CL and bought the first frame I saw. Bad mistake. (I should also mention now I'm not the best bike mechanic, nor am I too familiar with all components, so please forgive my n00b trangressions.) It's a painted over Mirage or Super Mirage (I don't think the Supers came in a light blue) with a stupid shimano selecta BB. From primary test fittings the head set fits, seat stem does not. The GT crankset will not fit the shimano BB ( I dunno where I'll find a swiss or shimano BB for cheap...they're ~45+ or the threadless)

So Cliff Notes: Motobecane GT frame broke, tried transferring parts over to a Motobecane Mirage (not even confirmed) with weird BB. Some parts won't fit. Trying to spend as little money as possible.

What would Bikeforum do?

Get another frame with English threading BB? I'm looking to paint whatever frame I get, and polish the metal components, so I won't mind a little (reasonable) TLC.


Thanks.

Also, here are some sacrificial pics, as a first post offering to please the powers that be.









What an ugly frame!


Obscure

Chise

any thoughts?

cudak888 

The Selecta BB cups will come out with a Shimano splined cassette remover, then you can swap your BB of choice into it.

Out of curiosity, how did the Moto GT break? <-Disregard this; I thought you were referring to another bike when you mentioned the Vitus tubing.

-Kurt

Bianchigirll 

you could have the Moto repaired. it may be pricey but if it is a dear friend it may be worth it

1 Lugnut

I had a Motobecane GT right about '79 also. It was the same gun metal grey as yours...60 cm IIRC? Bought it after crashing my Mercier. One day I took the GT down a steep grade & by the time I was nearing the bottom of the hill, the bike was shaking so much, I almost lost control. I sold it the next day! After that I never had much confidence in Vitus 172 tubing...just sayin'. Maybe the bike was too tall for sreamin' downhill...dunno?

With the money, I bought another Motobecane frame (Grand Record), only w/ Reynolds 531 tubing & built the bike up w/ Campy compnts. I still have it & it's a very comfy ride
& rides downhill w/o any problems...

Depending on your brother's riding ability, I'd opt for a decent used frame...& one the won't break the bank.

old's'cool

I'm inspired to try to help by your eloquent post (and BTW, welcome to Bike Forums, and C&V!), but I'm sorry I don't have much hard information to offer.
A few comments:

• How do you know the GT is a 79? I have a 78 GJ which has different font for the bike name as well as "Made in France"; the fonts on your frame appear on pre-78 Motos that I've seen.
• Let's see some close-up pics of the "ugly" blue frame. It has a lot of potential. I see rack and fender braze ons, which are pretty rare in the grand scheme of things. AFIAK no Motos from that era had them. My GJ is supposedly their flagship touring bike and it doesn't.
• I suppose the blue frame didn't come with a fork. Too bad, the fork probably had rack & fender braze ons. Also, it's not a given that the silver Moto fork will fit.
• The proper repair for the broken dropout would require unbrazing the old and rebrazing a new, by a qualifed frame builder, which would be expensive. There may be options to salvage the frame by arc welding a surrogate for the missing piece onto the stub dropout. The feasibility will depend on the weldability of the original dropout material, and the knowledge/skill of the welder taking on this task. If you'd like to pursue this, try to find a specialty welding shop in your area. Keep in mind the paint will be burnt off or discolored for an inch or so away from the repair. I'd recommend not trying to restore the adjuster screw if you go this route. I hasten to add, I'm not advocating this approach, just putting it out there as an option if you want to salvage the frame.

Chise

It's a lover, for sure. But a dear friend it is not, since there are so many others out there. Plus, I checked with a framebuilder here and it was quite pricey.

Thanks! I will look into removing the cups then. The dropout actually cracked opened right where there was a spring loaded screw to maintain an aligned rear axle, which ran through the curve of the dropout. I think I left it in the garage where someone kicked it off completely one day, hence the picture. I'm not even sure how the crack occurred. It might have been from a small, unpainted portion rusting through, as the quick release was not insanely tightened.

cudak888 

Shouldn't be difficult.

I realized now that the cracked dropout belonged to the Moto - I thought it belonged to a Vitus, until I made the connection that you were referring to the Vitus tubing. My mistake.

-Kurt

Chise

Well, he's foolish like me but hasn't come close to taking his head off (unlike me) to do anything about it. Enjoys bombing everywhere even uphill, so chromoly would probably be a better choice. The vitus 172 was really absorbent, but rode true for me, I felt very comfortable riding with no hands.

Thanks! I think it's a 79-81 because of the information passed on to me from the original owner (who was pretty senile now that I think about it...)

I think the blue frame is sounding not as bad as it could be...especially since I now know I can remove these BB cups. I'm going to take more detailed pics tomorrow and report back. Maybe even take some sandpaper or some paint stripper and see what I actually have.

Charles Wahl

If that were my Moto-Vitus, I'd fix the dropout. Do you have the broken piece? If so it could be welded.

Chise

Oh man, I'm not sure. I think it's in the garage somewhere. Thing is though, that a thread bolt passes through that exact area where it snapped. Though it could be filled with no ill consequences I suppose.

1 Lugnut

old's'cool is right about that. The Grand Record I have is from the mid 70's I believe w/ the same font as the OP's. I have a '78 Moto catalogue. The 'Grand Touring' Logo on the top tube is in smaller script in '78...& not the fancier block letters & pinstriping w/ arrow-like points on the end. About this time the 'head tube badge' also changed to a non-descript style, rather that the classic Moto badge pictrured above!

old's'cool

Your affirmation appreciated, Lugnut. When I get out to the workshop later I'll check my headbadge. I think it is different from the OP's.

Chise

Good to know! This place is a wealth of information. Thanks guys, it's always appreciated.

As requested, I took some more pics of my blue mirage frame:











I do see value in it, but it's going to need a bit of TLC. Plus I'm worried about the bit of rust on the down tube.

old's'cool

I checked, and my headbadge is the same as the OP's... I had it confused with the decal on the seat tube, which is a simple red white & blue M logo.

I'm no expert, but the blue frame does not look like a moto to me. Too many differences. I see you do have the fork. That's good; I didn't see extra rack braze-ons on the fork though, that's too bad. Compare the weight of the blue frame to the Grand Touring. If it's similar,l it's probably a pretty decent frame. If you're going to be repainting or powdercoating the blue frame anyway, the rust should be no big concern.

1 Lugnut

The color showing where the HT Badge 'was', looks like the orig Moto color blue for that period & it's paint outline matches the HT Badge used on some '78 models. There were several models that used the Brilliant Blue color (Nomad, Mirage, Super Mirage & Team Champion, ).

Not sure how long Moto used this badge either?

old's'cool

...Like I said, I'm no expert. The lugs etc. on your blue frame are very dissimilar from what I'm used to seeing on 70's motos.

Chise

Yep. This is my suspicion as well. Anyways, I got a few other frames today...they were priced well. I will post asap.

Chise

Here's another moto frame I picked up yesterday



It has these though:



and is pretty heavy, which leads me to believe that this is just a low end hi ten steel frame. It came with 2 pretty straight wheels though and the crankset. I got it for $40. Bad deal?

old's'cool

Not something I'd get excited about. Wheels look to be steel. What crankset? Price depends on your local market, I guess.