Originally Posted by Poguemahone
Most French bikes imported into the United States used BSC (standard) threading on the freewheel. Of my eight Frenchies, the only one that has a French threaded freewheel is the 1967 PX10, which is either pre- or early bike boom. Likewise pedals; esp. on Motos, which used Japanese parts long before the other French manufacturers.
Now the bad (strange, anyway) news: Motobecane used Swiss threading on their bottom brackets for years, I'm not sure how far back, but certainly back into the early seventies. Look on the cups; if they are marked 35x1, they are likely Swiss, not French (Swiss is the same thread pitch as French, but the fixed cup is reverse threaded). Can be hard to find replacements; tho Phil Wood makes French/Swiss rings for his superb bottom brackets. Colin M, if you've never removed your fixed cup, I'm willing to bet it's actually Swiss. Now the good: if the bearing races are still in good shape, keep it overhauled and it will likely last forever.
The Nomade Sprint is not a particularly high end model. It will make a fine beater, but it's not a Frenchie I would invest a lot in, either. I would not worry about being a novice at mechanics; that's just a good reason to learn something new. Find a good book, and start monkeying around with some tools.
So standard threading on the freewheel would mean that I can attach a track cog on to the rear hub with relative ease, correct? Also, I think sheldon brown sells swiss bottom brackets and spindels for about $100. I would like to try to avoid this at all costs, but if I was to buy a new crank and chainring, would I need to replace the entire bottom bracket?
So this is the way I see it for a cheap conversion if the bottom bracket and rear wheel are intact, I would need to:
attach fixed cog to rear hub via lockring and adhesive
buy new chainring attach to existing crank or buy new crank and chainring (if it's french or swiss threaded bottom bracket, do I need to buy a compatible crank?)
buy new chain
remove gear shift levers on stem and brake levers
new tires and tubes.
and then I'm set?
Again, this is the way I see it in my head, but it may not make any sense.