Originally Posted by
bikemig
Why do you say that? Curious. I worked in a bike shop in Paris in the mid 80s (la maison du velo) and the shop sold a lot of Motobecanes. Heck I bought one to commute around Paris in (531 frame and shimano 600 parts).
Perhaps my sample size was too small to be accurate. Or perhaps being in France in 1981 was too soon and preceded the improvement of the brand.
Whoever the Americans were who made the US market of Motos was brilliant. And the French company earns credit for building the bikes so well. These are just my impressions and guesses. I'm not putting the maker down at all. I had two and liked them. One was an old rusty Mirage that I built as a beater/commuter. The other was my go-fast fun bike, a Le Champion with all most all Campagnolo Nuovo Record stuff and tubular tires. I even had the Le Champion repainted.