Thread: Motobecane bike
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Old 03-02-17 | 04:46 AM
  #32  
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ZippyThePinhead
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Joined: May 2009
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From: North Orange County, in Southern California

Bikes: 1987 Trek 560 Pro, 1983 SR Semi Pro, 2010 Motobecane Le Champion Titanium, 2011 Trek Fuel EX8

I have a 2010 Motobecane Le Champ ti. I got it new off eBay from the guy who ordered it from BD; if I recall correctly, I paid about 75-80% of the BD price.

It was a great purchase, I like the bike and would buy another.

The assembly of BD bikes is apparently done overseas. It is standard operating procedure to put anti-seize compound (like Ti-Prep) on bottom bracket cup threads so they can be removed as needed. On my bike there was no anti-seize compound, just a token amount of some grease. In other words, if you can compensate for this sort of thing-- do assembly and fine-tuning yourself, replace cables and bar tape yourself-- BD can be a great source of discounted bikes.

My Motobecane also came with Mavic wheels, many of which use bladed, proprietary spokes. I don't know much about the Mavic wheels of 2017, because I stopped using that brand of wheel; they're seemingly unfriendly to Clydes, of which I am one. So I did drop some additional money to buy wheels better suited to my needs.

Bottom line, some great deals can be had from BD, and the chance of you getting such a deal increases the more you know about doing work on bikes.
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