Originally Posted by johno
Seems kinda steep to me. From what I've seen, a 70's racer with 531 or Columbus frame and Campy NR equipment sells in the $500 - 600 range if it's clean. Paramounts bring more, but that's another story. Not that I'm disparaging Huret equipment, but I don't have the fondest memories of its longevity - just can't see paying that much.
Not bad when you look at what $600 will buy you new. It won't ride as smooth as the classic, and it sure won't be finished nearly as well.
One of my riding buddies around 1980 had a high end Motobecane. Orange in color, all Campy NR/SR, but I can't remember what it was called. Nice bike.
I set out to get another example of my old college days racing bike - Falcon San Remo 76, ended up buying two of them. Paid $500 for one that was pretty much mint, but the frame was a bit small for me. One showed up on ebay last month that was the correct size, but was rather neglected, been hanging in a garage for 20 years, so I snapped it up for $225, and it's currently under cleanup. Who would have thought those Campy gum brake hoods would be so expensive these days... especially with most other NR gear selling for next to nothing...
The Orange Motobecane that belonged to your buddy is the Team Champion model, the top of the Motobecane line. This model was ridden to victory by the late Luis Ocana in the Tour de France in 1973.
He beat second place Bernard Thevenet by 16 minutes! The lugs on this model were hand filed, the craftmanship was better than most top end frames at the time and the frames were only available in small quantities. If I ever find one in my size, I'll grab it! As it is, I have the Team Champion model that came out the year after they stopped making it in team orange. While nice, it's not as nice as the other. It was also built with Columbus tubing throughout and is a metallic blue. The frame geometry is also different. It has a more relaxed head and seat tube angle, making for a very comfortable ride.
Having worked at a shop in the 70's that sold the Motobecane brand, it's interesting to note how quality endures. At the time, all of us in the shop thought the Motobecane paint jobs were the best among all of the brands we sold. Instead of decals, they silk screened the graphics on the frames, even on the lower end models. They also had a very cool, elegant looking head badges and those ornate nervex lugs. The example on e-bay, while appearing expensive to us old-timers probably reflects the increasing collectability of these bikes. Part of what you're buying is "art". I think that while the e-bay example is in wonderful condition, if I were to buy a Grand Jubilee from this era, it would absolutely, positively have to be in the silver and red combination.