Here in Houston, we have a chain of bike stores called "Cycle Spectrum". They operate in most southern and southwestern states. They appear to be the "parent" of Bikesdirect.com, and sell on E-Bay under two or three different names.

This "chain" appears to own the USA rights to the "Motobecane", "Mercier" and "Windsor" names. I have not seen any bikes sold during 2004 under those names except through the Cycle Spectrum family. If you buy at a Spectrum store, you get from free labor on repairs for the life of any brand of bike. The Motobecane warranty provides a lifetime warranty on parts against factory defects. So, all the owner pays for are "wear out" parts...tubes, chain, cassette.

The Windsor Leeds is also sold by Spectrum as the Motobecane Super Mirage. Straight gauge cro-mo steel frame and fork. Sora 24 speed drivetrain. The Leeds, at $320, including delivery and tax, may be the least expensive Sora road bike on the market.

The lower range Motobecanes that Spectrum sells use "generic" parts for things such as the seatpost, the stem, brake calipers, the bars, and the saddle to hold down costs...I expect the same sort of generic parts are used of the lowest priced Windsor and Mercier models. For example, the Moto Super Mirage uses an "odd" seatpost size. The only replacement post in the USA that fits is a "special order" model from Kalloy.