Motobecane Grande Touring , champagne gold, all original in great condition down to the suede saddle.Early 80's. Same time period Bianchi Limited, deep red, all original in great condition, Ishwata Japanese frame. Both have Suntour VG-T Lux gearset the only real difference being the brakes side pull Shimano 600 on the Bianchi and Weinmann 610 center pulls on the Motobecane.
The frames are mirror images, yet they are made of different types of steel in different countries.
If you had to choose between them.....?



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The moto is frame triangle only for the good steel not sure about the bianchi, also the frames are pretty far apart size wise. Which one fits best?

Can you even have the Moto? That one looks locked up pretty tightly……well, there’s always a way….but

Yeah, 52telecaster is right, the size difference will matter here. If all were equal I’d choose the Motobecane, I love the ride of the Grand Touring but in this case it’s too small for me so I’d take the Bianchi. The Moto does get a few pounds lighter when you remove the shackles.

I do like Motos and it's funny how little a tre tubi style frame gives up to better frames. Motos are always nice but the bianchi would fit me better.

I don’t think that is a Limited but a ‘83 Special with, as mentioned, TreTubi ChroMo and Mangalloy stays n fork.

First and foremost is size , but the Motobecane would get my vote. The difference in size is concerning , no middle ground , really. When I am looking at bikes , unless just for parts, I look at the size of the frame to decide if I’m even interested.

Shall we say sizing is Paramount? 😜.

As some shepherd might put it: "That was a pretty ba-a-a-a-a-a-d pun, Bianchigirll."

Wish I'd thought of it.

the Bianchi is 25" to the Motobecane 23".., At 5'10" the Motobecane is a better fit but the Bianchi is very fast, it could be the color. It has Ishiwata 022 and Piaggio decals , the seller told me it was a limited but it wouldn't be the first time a bike has been misrepresented. I put new white cable housings and bar wrap on it but I already have a Bianchi I love.
The shackles add nearly 10lbs but I haven't had a bike pinched using it and that's over a year in the bay area!
Quality problrms!

Lose that Bianchi.

Comfy saddle positioning on the Bianchi.

The badging on the "Bianchi" looks entirely non-original, and distinctly non-professional.

The Moto has a replacement front wheel with one of those infernal spoke patterns.

But as said, it's all academic, given the size difference.

If Motobecane is your size, you might have your answer right there. There's no point in getting a frame that will be uncomfortable. I mean I would choose the Motobecane any time or wait for the correct size one if it didn't fit.
It will need another front wheel (or wheelset), but that's an easy fix: throw away the current one to the junk pile where it belongs and build a nice, proper, 32 / 36H wheel on a decent front hub. That seatpost being totally inserted gives me shivers, but it's the case with both frames (WHY?)

I always forget how much you folks pay attention to detail, which is very cool and I need to pay more attention to my pics.
The Motos front wheel, the Belgian concave was being worked on.
The Bianchi saddle is all the way down and quite secure, the big is too big for me and the faded gold decals are badly touched up with paint, they need fixing
and the blue lettering on the forks is recent. The Ishi 022 and Piaggio are origional.
I am going to ask $295 for the Bianchi, that seems about right for S.F. were I see similair machines for over $400, I will try and post recent pics if anyone
is intrersted.