suncake

Looking at some of the pics in this thread, I'm getting the impression that the finishing on the high end Moto's was done with a little more care than the Peugeot's P*'s (well, at least mine), barring the PY10's I've seen. Am I way off base on this?

eschlwc

how do you pronounce it? 'graun jhu-beel' ?

TimmyT 

You forgot the 'uuh huh huh!'

old's'cool

"Gran" as in "Gran Prix"; "Jubilé" I won't attempt, but I will point out that the 'é' at the end is sounded, similar to the long 'a' in English... Tabarnak!; Maudit Anglais!!

Chicago Al 

For months there was a GJ on Chicago CL, where the name had been obscured enough that the seller kept identifying it as a 'Grand Tutile.'

A Craigslist ad
made me so sad.
It listed a
Motobecane Grand Tutile.
As a Francovelophile I say,
'It's a Grand Jubile
And listing it that way is futile.'

dmpstrdvr1962

OK Here is my aprox 1975 Grand Jubilee. A donation thru the shop that found its way to a safe haven, in my permanent bike collection. Nice to because it fits me reasonably and I can ride it. A little rough in paint condition, but it is all original except the seatpost and the soon to be new Brooks saddle destined for it.

BluePx10

Another red one, this one from '72, I think. Frame, fork and the odd part was a $40 ebay find...fork probably not original, but all that rake gives it a nice low trail geometry for use with a front bag and bigger tires. Now sporting said front bag with rack, fenders, etc.

Catnap

man, nice score! if you ever want to let it go, give me a holler.

StevePGN10

I just got my grail Grand Jubile. Now I’m trying to increase my knowledge of the model. I have looked at all the Motobecane catalogs I could find online. I don’t see the Grand Jubile in the 1970 or 1972 catalogs. It makes its first appearance in 1974 and continues through 1984, and is not in the 1985 catalog. 1977 appears to be a major change in the model with the tubing, fork, handlebar, derailleur, cluster, chain, crankset, and pedals changing from the previous year. And the 1984 model barely resembles the earlier ones. Looking at the spec sheets brings up some questions.

What was the first and last year of production?

Mixtes are not listed in 1974, 76, 77 and 84. Were they really not made those years?

The stem for 1977 is listed as a PHILIPPE Professional, and then goes back to a PIVO Professional in 1978. Is this a typo or did Moto really substitute the stem in 1977?

One of the reasons I was studying the spec sheets is to see what colors were available in what years. I think it might be a good way to determine year of manufacture. Although it seems like a majority of the Grand Jubiles I see online are black, that color was only available in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Red was available from 1975 through 1977. Grey in 1977 and 1978. Silver in 1975 and 1976. Champagne Gold was available only in 1979.

Colors for 1974 are not listed, does anyone know what was offered?

What is the name of the trim color associated with the Champagne Gold models? It sorta looks like a Pennsylvania Railroad color.

Can anyone recommend an off-the-shelf touch up paint for Champagne Gold and its contrast color?

Is there any difference in color between those listed as red and those listed as Flam Red? I thought Flam was a typo for FLAME, but it appears across years of spec sheets.

Pictures to follow at some point. Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Steve

rootboy 

It always struck me as kind of odd that they put, for a while, what was, I think, a top end racing derailleur, the Huret Jubile, on what was essentially a mid range bike. I really like these. Every time I see one on ebay for a "reasonable" price, though, the Jubile derailleurs are long gone.

rootboy 

Wow. That's the one I want. Beauty!

auchencrow

Congrats on snagging your GJ, Steve.
It sounds like you've done a pretty thorough job of looking at the specs through the years, at least as published.
Consequently I'm hard pressed to add more, other than that I believe my red GJ (pictured on the previous page) to be a '74, based on the hub dates.

Look forward to your PICS!

thunderworks

No. Not off base at all. I opened my bike shop in 1974 and sold Motobecane bikes. Starting with the Jubilee, the Motobecane bikes were really some of the nicest production bikes of the era. The GJ, The Grand Record, and both the Le Champion and the Team Champ were stunning bikes (the caveat being - for production bikes). Later I sold Peugeot bikes as well, and there were not IMO, the same finished detail quality as Motobecane. The only other production French bikes I can remember that I thought were as nice was Follis - a relatively rare line of bikes. Their top line models (the 572 and the 672) were beautiful and I think as well finished, perhaps better, than Motobecane.

bibliobob

I think that the higher end Motos of the early '70s were definitely more nicely finished than the Pugs. And, I love their ride. My only caution would be to check the forks for proper alignment. I've had two GJs that had misaligned forks.... I filed the DO on one of them, and sent the other fork to a local shop that has a frame jig. Still, they're one of the best deals going in the vintage bike world. Unfortunately, I fall between their sizes.

reggieob

After nearly a year I finally finished my 75. Bike arrived with bent Cinelli bars and Cinelli stem that didn't fit. Picked up a Nitto Technomic stem and sanded it down to fit - was actually quite easy to do. Added Nitto Noodle bars, new tires/tubes/cables and it's done. Took it for a spin yesterday - very nice rider!

kroozer 

This is my 1975 GJ which I've posted in several other places, but it should go here too. I bought it new in 1976, it was my first really nice bike. I have always tinkered with it and changed the components-- for a while I rode it as a racer with Campy hubs and Clement silk tubulars. I did a complete restoration a few years ago, with new paint and many new parts-- the crank arms and seat pin are the only original components. Also the Kirtland bag. Right now it's back to sport touring mode with 27x1-1/4 wheels, but I'm in the process of converting it to 650B. I'll probably refinish it black/red at some point, too.

inkandsilver

Oh my. What size is that and where do I send my money?

motogeek 

Right now I've got four '75 Moto GJs, two men's and two mixtes. Guess I've never added a pic to this post, although they've been in other posts. This is a '75 model. I also have a matching girl's '75 mixte. Both of these are going to a collector in California. The men's model is really nice and a great rider. Gonna miss that bike. I've also got another '75 GJ mixte (red w/black panels) that I'm keeping for my wife. Maybe I'll build my spare red/black '75 GJ frame up to stock specs so we can have a matched pair.

spock345

I found the frame in a co-op a few months ago and slowly built it up with whatever parts caught my eye in their bins (except for the saddle and parts of the rear derailleur). I am not quite sure whether it is a 78 or 79. Will soon be building new wheels for it. The co-op gave the me frame for cheap because they seem to avoid everything french, even though they have a good number of french parts.

top506

Has since been triplized/long caged for this years Trek Across Maine.

Top

Jseis 

Some of you may have read this on an earlier GJ thread.

I purchased my GJ from the Bike Stand in Olympia, Washington early in the winter of '74. Paid about $220 and it became my college bike. As it hung in the window before Xmas '73, I'm pretty sure it was built in '73, probably as a '74 model. Rode it XC Seattle to NY in '76. Commuted with it in Olympia, Friday Harbor, Seattle, Irvine, here on the beach and now it hangs in the garage waiting on an overhaul. I've most of the original parts. It's all original except for the changes LOL!

Ideale saddle, Pivo bars, TTT stem, Suntour bar end shifters, 700c wheels (Mavic rims w/Avocet hubs), MaFac cantilever brakes, Stronglight crank, Time pedals. The brakes always get stares as I had bosses added as well as bosses for the water bottle cage. The silver stickers are from the XC trip. Oh yes, Campagnolo dropouts.

Can't believe it is 42 years old and I bought it when I was 19!

Rocky Gravol

My Grand Jubile.
The parts might not be correct,
but the intent was for a daily rider, and not a show piece.

Been on the road for just about eight weeks now.
Started out as mostly just a frame, built up with just parts
from the bench or cannibalized from my Grand Touring.

Only new parts are the fenders and a seat post (26.6mm)





Frame has a lot of patina, but hey, it's just a rider.



Rat trap rack. The rack along with the back wheel, were on my first Moto
that was stolen. I like to to say that bike still lives on.



I'm usually carrying a bag, I run errands when I'm riding, so I like to have
somewhere to carry crap.



My flight deck.
Stem sifters, safety levers and rubber bar grips.
Just call me Fred.



Anyone seen these stickers on a GJ before?
The only Campy on the frame were the cable guides on the the top tube,
and the seat post bolt.



I swore I would never put Shimano on one of my bikes,
but these Dura Ace were the best brakes I had.



Stronglight 99, 52-40-28, Suntour AG derailleur.



Six speed Suntour freewheel 14-34 teeth.
I'm down to the low 20's in gear inches. I climb a lot of hills here.
Three wheel Suntour derailleur.
It makes dogs bark and babies cry.

Super_Sport

Picked up this 1978 Grand Jubile a couple weeks ago for $90. Was mostly original but missing the Cyclone rear derailleur and handlebars/brake levers (North Road setup). There was no grease anywhere and bottom bracket bearings had deteriorated very badly. Don't know how anyone was riding the old girl.

I regreased and replaced what was needed, replaced the rear derailleur with a DA RD-7400, took the cockpit from another bike and slapped on a 700 DA/Velocity(rear)/no name(front) wheelset. Also threw on racks, saddlebag and old Wright's W3N I had laying around.

It's a great ride. Have put 70 miles on it in the last week. Very happy with this one

3alarmer 

...

NickFavicchio

I have too many pictures and too many things to say about my '76 jubile that my father bought new. He rode the snot out of it for a decade, then it sat, then it was sadly blasted and painted by a well meaning friend, then I rode the snot out of it.

Before the torch...

https://flic.kr/s/aHskp3wGYY

After the torch...

https://flic.kr/s/aHskdvXmK9