Motobecane Mirage Sport - who knew?
04-03-12, 04:42 PM
#1
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Motobecane Mirage Sport - who knew?
I havent seen many Moto's of this vintage in person. The ones i have seen always seemed a bit odd. It's got a funky grooved seatpost and set screw set-up for raising and lowering the seatpost. Vertical dropouts. Weird looking tapers on the seat stay tops. And no lugs!
I picked it up on CL over the weekend. Thought it would make a nice flip. It had upright bars and levers on it. I think it was probably a student commuter bike. Defininetly saw some winter salt. And I don't think anyone ever bothered to wipe it down, oil, or maintain it in any way.
Spent a few hours Sunday night fixing it up. Put on some Modolo ergo bars and Shimano aero levers that I salvaged from another bike. And oh my goodness. I had no idea that these bikes ride like the way this one does. Its awesome. No way am I flipping this. Rides so nice I didnt want to stop.
The odd thing is the cranks have french threads. I thought by this era that stuff was gone. Guess not. I removed the crank arms with a Park remover. I definitely cut new threading in the cranks. It worked, but I have no idea what tool should have been used, TA?
I picked it up on CL over the weekend. Thought it would make a nice flip. It had upright bars and levers on it. I think it was probably a student commuter bike. Defininetly saw some winter salt. And I don't think anyone ever bothered to wipe it down, oil, or maintain it in any way.
Spent a few hours Sunday night fixing it up. Put on some Modolo ergo bars and Shimano aero levers that I salvaged from another bike. And oh my goodness. I had no idea that these bikes ride like the way this one does. Its awesome. No way am I flipping this. Rides so nice I didnt want to stop.
The odd thing is the cranks have french threads. I thought by this era that stuff was gone. Guess not. I removed the crank arms with a Park remover. I definitely cut new threading in the cranks. It worked, but I have no idea what tool should have been used, TA?
04-03-12, 07:39 PM
#2
Full Member
+1; I had a 1984 Mirage Sport that was beautiful to look at, surprisingly light, and a really fun ride. I flipped it after I got a Moto Grand Jubile, and instantly regretted not keeping it. The GJ is a superior bike, but there's something really "right" about the Mirage Sport. It would have been nice to have them both. Enjoy!
04-03-12, 08:20 PM
#3
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That's a sharp looking Mirage. They've come a long way to that point of evolutionary process. I had a '72 and now have a '79 Super. It's taken that long to ditch the heavy frame 
11-30-15, 09:04 PM
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I went on a charity bike ride and for some woman to show me here Mirage she got back in the mid-70s in pretty mint shape kind of moved me.
I have an '84 Mirage Sport and have had a few problems with that seat post, it uses Riv-Nuts which is a curious affair. Those Hutchinson sleeves on the handlebars and brakes are wild and I once put over that, some red cotton bar tape and shellacked the heck out of it until it was a shiny smooth red and it did work well in the summer but I eventually changed it again.
The whole motobecane timeline on Nomades and Mirages is curious, in '84, they came out with a Super Mirage (Touring oriented), Mirage Sport and Mirage. (catalog online)
The seatpost was stuck when I first got the bike, I'm not sure if it had been fixed by the time of this photo.
When I first got the bike from a seller in Wisconsin it sort of looked like it had been buried in a barn, honestly, I think there was dirt in the tubes and severe winters but otherwise in good shape, I put a generic triple crank on and a front derailleur for a triple. It had those bands on the top tube, I did not know what they were, then I saw another motobecane that had the same kind of bands(hoops) on the top bar and a bag hanging on them. Those must have been something from the bike boom but I had not seen it before.
I have an '84 Mirage Sport and have had a few problems with that seat post, it uses Riv-Nuts which is a curious affair. Those Hutchinson sleeves on the handlebars and brakes are wild and I once put over that, some red cotton bar tape and shellacked the heck out of it until it was a shiny smooth red and it did work well in the summer but I eventually changed it again.
The whole motobecane timeline on Nomades and Mirages is curious, in '84, they came out with a Super Mirage (Touring oriented), Mirage Sport and Mirage. (catalog online)
The seatpost was stuck when I first got the bike, I'm not sure if it had been fixed by the time of this photo.
When I first got the bike from a seller in Wisconsin it sort of looked like it had been buried in a barn, honestly, I think there was dirt in the tubes and severe winters but otherwise in good shape, I put a generic triple crank on and a front derailleur for a triple. It had those bands on the top tube, I did not know what they were, then I saw another motobecane that had the same kind of bands(hoops) on the top bar and a bag hanging on them. Those must have been something from the bike boom but I had not seen it before.
Last edited by CuttersRidge; 11-30-15 at 10:01 PM.
12-01-15, 08:41 AM
#5
Senior Member
I havent seen many Moto's of this vintage in person. The ones i have seen always seemed a bit odd. It's got a funky grooved seatpost and set screw set-up for raising and lowering the seatpost. Vertical dropouts. Weird looking tapers on the seat stay tops. And no lugs!
I picked it up on CL over the weekend. Thought it would make a nice flip. It had upright bars and levers on it. I think it was probably a student commuter bike. Defininetly saw some winter salt. And I don't think anyone ever bothered to wipe it down, oil, or maintain it in any way.
Spent a few hours Sunday night fixing it up. Put on some Modolo ergo bars and Shimano aero levers that I salvaged from another bike. And oh my goodness. I had no idea that these bikes ride like the way this one does. Its awesome. No way am I flipping this. Rides so nice I didnt want to stop.
The odd thing is the cranks have french threads. I thought by this era that stuff was gone. Guess not. I removed the crank arms with a Park remover. I definitely cut new threading in the cranks. It worked, but I have no idea what tool should have been used, TA?
I picked it up on CL over the weekend. Thought it would make a nice flip. It had upright bars and levers on it. I think it was probably a student commuter bike. Defininetly saw some winter salt. And I don't think anyone ever bothered to wipe it down, oil, or maintain it in any way.
Spent a few hours Sunday night fixing it up. Put on some Modolo ergo bars and Shimano aero levers that I salvaged from another bike. And oh my goodness. I had no idea that these bikes ride like the way this one does. Its awesome. No way am I flipping this. Rides so nice I didnt want to stop.
The odd thing is the cranks have french threads. I thought by this era that stuff was gone. Guess not. I removed the crank arms with a Park remover. I definitely cut new threading in the cranks. It worked, but I have no idea what tool should have been used, TA?
12-01-15, 10:47 AM
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The old TA crank removers actually have a larger diameter (23 mm I think) than "standard" crank pullers (22 mm). What brand crank came with your Motobecane?
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