grasping at straws question
 

In the late 70's I bought a road bike at a flea market. it had a rim warped so I took it to a lbs to get a new wheel ended up with new rims rebuilt on my hubs lbs guy said it was an $800 bike he offered me $400 for the bike . the bike was french made white with red lettering this was 78-79 and bike shop said it was 2-3 years old any idea what it was ?
I got a written warning for speeding on it 38 in a 25. it was lost in a house fire
Roy

That was a common 1970s Motobecane paint scheme.

Neal

Possibly a Motobecane Champion Team?

did they make something like a la or le champion? would that have been a $700-$800 bike back then? the lbs offered me $400 before I paid for rebuilding the wheels My dad thought I was crazy for turning down that kind of money for a bike
Roy

Yes, the Motobecane Le Champion was an awesome bike. I don't know if it came in the red/black paint scheme. I'm sure someone knows.

Karl

OP says white with red lettering. I don't remember the Le Champion or Team ever coming in that scheme.

[edit] Just took a peek at the 75 and 76 catalog scans on velo base. The only bikes that match your description are the Nomade and Nomade Sport (or was it Sprint?). If it was either of those, you should have taken the money.

Yeah that would have been a good deal. ;) I missed that it was white/red somehow. Yeah, not a top of the line Motobecane.

Karl

The only paint scheme for the Le Champion that I'm aware of is the pale lavender with black lettering. Doesn't mean that it didn't come in white with red lettering, just that I've never seen or heard of it.

The Grand Jubile came close, and is the only Motobecane I know of with red lettering-- it came in silver, with red lettering, red cables, and red bar tape.

http://i21.ebayimg.com/03/i/000/f9/4f/ce72_1.JPG http://i14.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/f9/4f/d7a8_1.JPG http://i13.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/f9/4f/ad44_1.JPG

That's the one I lust for now... :love:

That was mid-late 70's. There was a thread a week or 2 ago about the early 70's LC, which came in a truly gorgeous teal.

Any pics? Or a link?

And no sooner do I say that than one pops up on eBay (albeit more hi-ten than high-end).

http://i6.ebayimg.com/08/i/000/f9/93/2fc2_1.JPG

Any chance it was a Le Jeune?

it has been 25 years since the bike was destoyed ,I could be wrong on the color. I do know that when I bought it I also had a schwinn la tour and the guys I rode with back then would gripe when I rode that bike because they had a tough time keeping up with me on it and didn't when I rode the schwinn ,like the thread tital says I'm grasping at straws with this question. the pic blue posted seems familar
Roy

This one is owned by BF member Stronglight:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2374/...f6ab7e.jpg?v=0