Originally Posted by mountaindave

Thanks for the story, @JohnPerry, that was cool!

Originally Posted by JohnPerry

The Rummage Sale Motobecane

Ah, sorry to take so long, but my MacBook battery decided to die suddenly. So, I bought the derelict Motobecane. And having done that, I asked the guy, as I handed over the money, "so, what's the story?". And this is what he said;

"I brought that bike in here, because I helped clean out the house where it was over in Long Valley. I like to work on bikes, and I knew it was a good bike, despite the way it looks now. I even used to race a bit, but I also happen to know the bike itself. The owner was an old guy who used to be a bike mechanic at a shop up near New York. He used to ride the bike around here, and it was beat up, but you could tell it had been a good bike.

20 years ago, it was still orange, and looked all original. The guy was not especially friendly, but I asked him if it was all original. He said, "no, not exactly, but sort of". Asked what that meant, he told me that in the early 70s, he had worked at a shop that started selling Motobecanes. The owner was of French descent, and loved the brand. He was also always looking for a way to boost his sales. When Motobecane and Luis Ocana won the Tour in '73, he decided he wanted a team racing bike for the window. He called the distributor, who basically told him that they were available but hard to get, and that there was a long wait list. Everyone wanted one, and they only made them in limited numbers, with the French shops first in line. They made a model labeled and branded for the American market, but these were even more limited, because demand in Europe had put the squeeze on availability.

The owner was not so easily discouraged, and he apparently went to the plant in France, and got the most similar frame painted in orange and with the European markings. He brought it home, and fitted it with more or less the same equipment as the team model, and put the bike in the window. Now, for the time, that was a pretty hot bike. The guys who worked in the shop, who had actually built the thing from the frame up, all wanted to ride it. Some of them were weekend racers, and the owner saw a marketing opportunity. He let them all take it to race, and would put up a sign saying "we're racing today. Want to know more about racing? Come inside." So the bike was raced all over the place. Of course, after a year or two, new models came out, and the bike began to look like what it had become, a hard-used racing bike. Eventually, in the 80s, the shop closed, and one of the mechanics, who had the bike at the time, just kept it. It was that guy who eventually moved to Long Valley. And that's how it got here."

"But why is it in such terrible condition? And who spray painted it with the black paint?"

"Yeah" he said, "that's kind of a sad story. They guy who owned the bike was away for a bit, and some kids broke into his house, which was up on Schooley's Mountain, way out in the woods. They didn't take much, but they took the bike. The guy was already a bit of a hermit, and after that, he really did not like to talk much. He made it known that he would beat the **** out of whoever stole it, and gave the cops photos, etc. Well, the kids who stole it must have been scared, so I guess they tried to disguise it, and took some of it apart. Supposedly, a couple of years later, the bike, or what was left of it, was found just sitting in the parking lot of the police station. Somebody had regrets, I suppose. But the cops gave the bike back, and after that, it just sat in his yard, with a pile of other junk".

"What happened to the guy? Is he still around?"

"Nah, passed away about two years ago. We cleared his house out when his relatives finally got title to the property. They just wanted it cleared out. I got a lot of bike tools and stuff, but I'm keeping those. Anyhow, that's a good bike, and it's got a history, and now you know what it is. I don't know if you can restore it, but if you do, now you know that it's had a pretty unusual path to your door. Most of us who like to fix up bikes never know where an old bike has been, or what has happened to it in it's life. Now you know. Sometimes it's fun to know this stuff".

Originally Posted by Aubergine

My Old Peugeot No. 1, a mid-70s AO-8 with rather extensive modifications to both the frame and, obviously, the parts.

The frame was stripped, and I took it to a local metalworker who added modern rack and fender fittings and water bottle stops, among a few other things. The only original parts on the bike are the rear hub, the Mafac brake calipers, and the headset. The rear derailleur is Huret DuoPar, the front derailleur is an old Nuovo Record, the cranks are Spécialités TA Cyclotouriste, and the front hub is a SON dynamo. It is a treat to ride.

Originally Posted by greg3rd48

@SB_Greg It looks great. What crankset is that?

Originally Posted by greg3rd48

My '73 U08 work horse.

Untitled by irishbx4th, on Flickr

Originally Posted by VintageRide

Since, like many, Photobucket has made hosting images a problem I have lost all of mine that were posted so here is another one of my only French bike ( so far ) an early '60's P.Peschi, don't think I will see another one around!. By the way, anyone have some 42 cm French handlebars? I find the 37 cm ones currently in use just too narrow for me, the bike handles and rides very nicely but a bit too sensitive and I prefer a wider bar.


Interesting is the fact that the Weinmann center pulls combined with the Mafac levers produces excellent braking, to the point where frankly I am no terribly interested in finding some period Mafacs to match, I might even keep on the lookout for some period correct Weinmanns - and besides, mixing and matching as well as upgrading was and is a common practice. Same with the Huret shift levers matched to the early Campagnolo Record rear derailleur - shifting is smooth and precise, in fact I prefer the smooth steel jockey wheels with the bearings over the later versions using plastic with teeth and plain bushings.

Originally Posted by Kactus

Since Photo Bucket has gone wonky, I'll re-post my Champion Team.