Then this is a high end bike as well as a very cool old one. This is a really cool bike; you might want to think about restoring it.

It's a thought. It would be nice to find pictures of existing ones to compare. I can't see myself riding cottered cranks though. Also the original drivetrain is not really a pleasure compared to the Suntour Superbe. I wouldn't mind restoring the paint though... I took another look and have doubts wether the orange underneath is indeed antirust coat... Still couldn't find a serial. None on the original bottom bracket... The axle has "134/AU" stamped on it but that's it. I have one part of the original brakes levers that I will take a pic tmrrw and post (only part that was left on the bike). My headbadge research points towards a pretty old version of the logo with the two vikings facing and being a metal plate etc.

By restore, I was thinking more of the paint job than the parts; nothing wrong with more modern parts that make the bike more of a pleasure to ride. The huret allvit may have been a pretty decent derailleur back in the day but there are lots better derailleurs out there.

@verktyg is probably the best person to ask. I'm thinking you probably have an early 70s Grand Record, Le Champion or better. I'd take it back to the original color though.

I just read that many Motos had Swiss bottom brackets. Mine is def French... maybe a hint?

1953 is what they are calling the year of this Motobecane Pantin on ebay right now:
1953 old bike 57cm Motobecane PANTIN Monfor Stronglight Marcel Brampton LAM Atom


Just for seeing for this thread. It looks like it has a headbadge of even older vintage, it looks like it has been fully restored.

Just as an assist of something else they call a Pantin Motobecane, how curious, if this is from 1953, it to me, does not even look lugged:

I am defintely looking into a repaint but first I'd like to know how this bike might have looked when it came out of the factory. Really hard to tell atm as I have no real idea wether it was yellow and someone added the green parts or if it was orange, or maybe even it came like that (which i somehow doubt). If all fails I have a few ideas of how it would look good. What I defintely want to preserve is the chrome dropouts which look amazing I think. Tonight I will remove the crankset and then weigh the frame, maybe that will give some indication about the steel grade and tubing. My subjective feeling is that it's a really lightweight frame and the quality is excellent. As I said it rides like a dream when properly setup.

That's a nice bike but definetely older...

Yeah, it's not a bike boom era (70s) bike. Def earlier. I'd even believe late 50s. Where is verktyg?

This is from before the existence of typical models we associate with Motobecane. I would guess that Moto was not imported into N. America at that time except in small quantities. Might be more useful to ask on a French forum, if there is one.

I'm not a super purist by a long shot, but if it were mine, I'd keep that bike as original as possible. It has survived over 50 years with the original drivetrain. Why change it out now when the original parts are still there? There are plenty of 80s stripped frames out there to build a dream vintage frankenstein bike with.
Of course you didn't ask for opinions about... So I'll just say, keep the original parts in a box somewhere.

Thx for the input. I am keeping the original parts though they are in poor shape and are really not great. Also I hate cottered cranks... My main incentive though is that I want a nice bike to ride to work and this is the frame I was given as a present. I currently don't intend to build another one. But who knows.

Thx for the french forum advice, that might be helpful.

Cleaning is progressing well. I am still unsure about the original color. The orange that peeks out underneath looks amazing, pale orange. That would make such a nice bike with the chrome. I might refinish it after all... I weighed it and I got 3,020 gramms with BB. So it weighs in at around 2,750. Is that an indication on the kind of tubing it has?

Yeah, it can. Is that weight for frame & fork? It's more than likely Reynolds 531. There not going to put fancy forged campy dropouts on a mid range bike. IIRC typical weight is roughly 4.5lb frame +1.5 lb fork (2.75 kg total).

I actually hear you on the old cottered cranks, mostly cuz my teenage after school job involved fixing lots of these, and they could be a royal pain. That said, the fancy ones worked pretty well, and many racers continued to prefer them well into the 60s, as they didn't break.

If it were mine I'd consider at some point getting a vintage or vintage style cotterless crank, just for styleyness. I'm kinda digging the new(ish) Suntour, ahem, SunXCD cranks.

Glad you are keeping the old parts.

BTW, I recently refinished a 60s PX10. I'll post some pics soon after I get some parts hung on it. I can also post and the DIY finish procedure I used if anyone is interested. I almost went for orange, but I associate that color with Motobecane, not Peugeot.

If that repaint is chipping off and thin, I would explore ways to remove it and expose the original orange.

Orange plus chrome combo is awesome.

Weight was without fork... I haven't even measured the frame size, which would be useful to use weight as pointer to steel quality.

I have been looking at Suntour Superbe cranks but I first wanna focus on the paintjob. If I go down the Suntour road all the way I have to dig deep into my pockets or wait quite long till i find reasonable prices.

I'd be very interested in your DIY finish. Let's see some photos...

Thanks for the kudos guys....

I think that [MENTION=350419]automa1971[/MENTION] 's bike is an early 60's top end Motobecane.

Reasons:

Old style Campy dropouts (these were only used on better quality European bikes which were only produced in small numbers).

Chrome "socks" on the forks and rear triangle (again only used on top end bikes).

Vagner fork crown. This is a flat top model DP. From the mid 60's through late 70's Motobecane use Vagner DP+ crowns with chevrons on the top.



Nervex lugs made special for Motobecane (compared to Nervex Pro).



The 1/2 step gearing on the cottered steel cranks.

The Normandy hubs with the round holes date from the early 60's


You can't rely on rear derailleurs for judging the date of a bike because they got sucked into the spokes so often and ended up getting replaced.


Astra was a brand that Motobecane made for US importer Beacon Cycles during the bike boom. Most of them were entry level models.

Thus sprach verktyg

Chas.

Thx. That really helps and confirms what I could find out after the initial help pointers given here. I found a 63 catalogue that point towards what you say. I presume the trickle down effect on bike technology also applied back then as I found some 1963 upper-mid range models with many features shared with my bike bar the chrome socks.



Also I found this which gives an indication what the original color could have looked like.

Motobecane used that deep orange color for a long time:





verktyg (50)

Chas.

Your input on this matter has been very very helpful. Thank you very much. I have to say that the look of an orange frame with orange handlebar tape, brown brakecovers and a brown leather saddle oozes style.

I think I know what road I wanna go down with this bike now.

• Refinish in orange preserving the chrome parts
• get new decals (i have to see if I mix match with the early 70s logo which I really like)
• find a 70s Superbe Pro parts to match my derailleurs (crank, brakes)
• get Atom 600 or 700 pedals
• get a leather saddle and aluminum seatpost

But maybe I just keep it as is to avoid raising theft issues. Tough choice. I love riding it, looks are really secondary on this one but then again... We'll see.

Thx again for the help everybody!