I'm bursting right now, everyone. I've been looking for a Motobecane Le Champion for awhile now, and wouldn't you know it, I've just found one for 200 bones.

Here she is:




It will need a good cleaning, but it's in great shape. No rust and the paint only has a few tiny boogers on it. The previous owner bought it in the early seventies and swapped in suntour barcons (which I personally love and am going to keep).

The not so good:
Previous owner took off the campy NR and put on a suntour v-gt luxe rear derailleur.

I've been looking through the online catalogues and figured it's somewhere in the 1970 to 1973 range, but I still can't nail down the exact year. Any guesses based on the logo stickers and lettering?



It's all reynolds 531 with a stronglight competition headset, stronglight crankset, milremo stem, cinelli bars (doesn't seem to be original), and a weinmann vainqueur 999 brake setup (also not original). All of the clips and fasteners are campy.

So which Nuovo Record derailleur should I be looking to find? I've never owned one and there seems to be a bunch of different types...

These bikes are coolness personified. No one can touch them.
Kudos to you, [MENTION=372613]bearbearbear[/MENTION] - especially for snagging one at a half-way reasonable price!

Nice find. I wouldn't be in such a hurry to replace the Suntour Vg-T Luxe. It doesn't have the cool factor of the NR derailleur but there are many who will argue it's a better performing derailleur. Plus, you do have Suntour barcons and the Suntour derailleur will give you a larger gear range, if that's an issue.

Trouble you for a level, full-view picture of the bike from the drive-side?

Based on the graphics I'd estimate 74-76, the best time for Moto's.

Thanks! I'm certainly not in a hurry to spend the money on a campy NR derailleur... I have a '77 Motobecane Grand Touring and a '77 Fuji America both with a Suntour v-gt luxe and they run superbly!

I'm out of town for the weekend, but I'll certainly post some more pictures of this beast when I get back.

Great bike, BBB. Love those Le Champions.

Nice find. Super classy.

Absolutely love mine! !972. As bought in 1972! I traded some Raleighs for this and a Mirella. I missed buying this the afternoon before!

i'd put campy (gran sport or nr) down tube shifters on it and an nr rd, but that's just me. i can sometimes find the shifters on craigslist for $20 and an rd will cost $40ish on ebay. the uglier, the better, 'cause after i overhaul 'em, they look and perform as brand new.

the rd should have a patent year between '70 and '84. (at least, that's what i'd look for.)

if your barcons are suntour, you can easily sell them on craigs for $30+ or on ebay for more. i love making this switch with motos, 'cause you can usually do it at a profit, especially if it's vintage cyclone for record.

Shame on you for calling that fine French fillie a "beast" - just kidding and that is a great find. Here is a picture of the derailleur that came on my le Champion. I believe mine is a 1974 model and has the decal headbadge and a different style DT decal. Yours appears to have an actual badge?

Have fun with it - they are great riding bikes!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Badger Biker's rd looks like a Super Record. I'm pretty sure stock would have been NR. Anyway, like others, I wouldn't be in a rush to replace the Suntour. It's a great and very sensible choice.

correct, and not original to the bike. it is a 1980s model.

Yes, that is Moto-kewhlness as only Motobecane can swing.... One thing different I might want on it is a classic black and red Motobecane paint job.
But frankly that saddle really sucks on that bike!.....Throw it as far away from the bike as you can, and put on a proper Ideale or Brooks leather saddle on the beauty ASAP!

Can't argue about the saddle. Surely you're not suggesting a paint job, otherwise buckets of red paint might need to be tossed at the blasphemer!

I think, not sure, the Le Champ did come in black and red for one year, early on. I could be wrong. I frequently am. Nah, I'd leave it silver. Or Silver lilac. Which is my favorite of the bunch. If I'm not mistaken Badger Biker, your bike is probably a 75 model. It could be a 74 but I think silver was the only color listed for that year. Again, I could be off. It's been a while since I looked at the catalog scans.
And I think the foil sticker head badge appeared in 75 as well.

,"...and figured it's somewhere in the 1970 to 1973 range."

By the way, BBB, this may not be quite right. The larger block lettering on the "MOTOBECANE" appeared some time after 73, I think.
1974 perhaps. Before that the font was similar to the model name and "made in France".
I think your bike is a 1974 model.

Look for any Nuovo Record derailleur, if you want to put one on. A Pat 72 thru 78 would fit right in there with the rest of the bike but any NR would work as they didn't change much through the years.

Thanks for correcting me on the year Rootboy. I'm not sure why I typed 74 when my signature has it as a 75 - DUH!

$200?........!! It would take over a Grand to get mine away from me.

Cheap at twice the price!