Just starting down this road... Motobecane parts sources and substitutes
 

Hello,

I am new to this forum and new to vintage cyclery. Of course they weren't vintage when I rode them in the 70s!

After looking for years, Wednesday I bought a 1979 (probable) Motobecane Grand Jubile, black and red. Surprisingly good shape, mostly original equipment - but not anywhere near collector grade. There's lots to do to this bike, but the first thing is new brake pads. It uses the Weinmann Brev pad/shoe, and the ones on it are as hard as stone.

Question 1: Can someone recommend a good substitute that is available and not NOS?

Question 2 is tires. It has Specialized Touring II tires in size 27 x 1. Any recommended replacements? Can I go to a 1-1/8" tire? The rims are Rigida alloy, can't quite make out the labels anymore.

Thanks for any help. I'll need a lot more, too!

Jagwire X-Caliper shoes and Panaracer Pasela tires in either 27 X 1 1/8 or 27 X 1 1/4. The X-Calipers are copies of original Weinmanns and are very inexpensive. The Paselas are great tires for the money.

^ Agreed on both counts.

Kool Stop replacement brand brake pads will work well to replace those rocks on your brake calipers. Good thing now is they come in black if you don't like the looks of their traditional to them, orange/salmon colored pads.
Panasonic Paselas are the C&V forum favorites for 27" tires.
If you need French threaded/sized components and do not want to bother with the old stuff. Velo Orange offers a few components to choose from. They will not have the same period correct effect on the bike for collectors, but they work very well on older bikes functionally and to some, aesthetically too.

Chombi

Be advised, if the subject comes up, the bottom bracket is most likely Swiss, not French. Similar, but different. My '78 has a Swiss threaded BB. I believe the only exact drop-in replacement is from Phil Wood, which ain't cheap. But with any luck, your BB will be good to go with just a routine overhaul.

Sounds like a nice bike & fun project... pics? :D

My Grand Jubilee, a 1978 model, is one of my favorite bikes, these days. Great find. As for tires, might I suggest the 27 x 1 1/8. I find the 1 1/4 to be just a tad bulky looking, but that is just me. I am still in the market for a nice set of Pasela tires to fit to the Motobe...

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...Full_TQF_2.jpg

I agree with Randy's observation on the tires. The Pasela tires are very nice, but look too fat to me compared with old 27 X 1 inch tires. The 1 1/8 Paselas are nice. Or they evan make one inch ones if you want to go skinny. What kind of rims?

Kool Stop doesn't make a replacement pad that correctly fits Weinmann holders.

Please elaborate. They certainly market a pad that is supposed to fit Weinmann brakes. I have 2 or 3 sets now, and haven't noticed any fitment issues..

I can't prove a negative. If they do it's news to me. Please show me.

These work great with center pulls, steel or alloy rims. $.50 each in bulk, you can't beat that.

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...ucts_id=508497

Thanks for all the replies. I got antsy after my post and went to the local bike shop and bought 4 Clarks road brake pads. The proprietor said they'd work on the Jubile, and he owns a Super Mirage. When I installed them, a lot of cable needed to be pulled through, i.e. these pads are thinner than the Weinmann's. The brakes appear to work fine, but am I creating a problem with this altered geometry?

Also - I've found some 27x1 Panaracer Pasela tires: http://www.bicycletires.com/ppcpas/p...27_inch/pp.htm

One more question: Anyone know an automotive spray paint that matches the Motobecane black well? Need to touch up some chips.

Yes, there are numerous replacement pads that will fit Weinmann calipers. Original Weinmann holders? Maybe if you removed the Jagwire X pads from their holders and installed them in the Weinmann holders, but that would be silly.

If they're small stone chips, nail polish.

Just took a ride (short, still a bit paranoid about the overall mechanical status) and the Clarks brake shoes seem to work OK. The front tire is cracked and split, back only marginally better, so Panaracer Paselas it is. I think I'll go 27x1, just love the look of the skinny tires.

Here's a pic.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=260272

It has the leather-wrapped bars, and thorn scrapers, too!

Does anyone know the specification of the freewheel? A few teeth are chipped, and twisted.


Thanks.

Not 100% sure, but those might be the Moto handlebars that used a molded plastic covering (on the brake lever bodies, too) that looks like leather, but is faux. Fine and dandy until you want to remove the bars, then you have to cut it off...at least I had to.
Shoot a close-up of the rear gears: there were FWs that intentionally had both "twisted teeth" and clipped ("chipped") teeth...these were to improve shifting.

It is faux leather - quite a disappointment.

I'll post a pic of the freewheel. It does kind of look like it's supposed to have twisted, chipped teeth...

Any recommendations on tubes for my new tires?

Ix-nay on the utting-cay...
This has been discussed in earlier threads. The wrap comes off pretty easily if you use a thin stiff tool or wire to open up a gap between the wrap & the bar, and shoot WD 40 into the gap. A long piece of small (flexible) piano wire is a good option, because you need to work the tool down the bar to allow the WD40 to get all the way down. You massage & twist the wrap to work the WD-40 all the way around. Once the lubricant is everywhere inside, the wrap slips off pretty easily, including over the swaged pylons that the brake levers are mounted onto.
Before reinstalling the wrap, clean off all the WD40 the wrap & bar with detergent. You will need a lubricant that evaporates, to reinstall the wrap. Windex works pretty well. Once you have the wrap back on, it may take a day or so for all the Windex to evaporate; the wrap may slip a little bit if the bike is ridden prior to that.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...kes-%28Pics%29 See post #3.

True to all that: I should have said I "had" to cut mine off because It was half perished and I wasn't trying to save it...it was on a Super Mirage I was fixing up for a friend and he didn't like it. I often use rubbing alcohol as you have suggested Windex: same evaporative idea.