Just picked up a Motobecane 10 speed off CL. seller said it was "from the 1970s." Some rust on frame and spokes, but rims are in nice shape. shifts through all the gears, though some scraping the chain on the front derailleur. Says made in France, has Suntour shifters and some Weinneman (sp?) components as well. Rear tube and tire are shot, front seems ok. Cool paint job, which would be great to restore and touch up if possible.

Any thoughts? Was 40 bucks a decent deal for a fixer-upper?

pics......

If you can do the tune up and install a new tire, tube, and rim strip yourself AND it's the right size for you, I'd say you did very well indeed. Pics are helpful, obviously.

my internet has been flaky. tried to upload earlier, but got stuck. here goes again:
124_2794..jpg124_2791..jpg

more photos:

Suntour V GT rear derailleur is worth close to the price you paid. Add the three piece crankset, and you are ahead. Its not a high end bike, but for $40, you did great.

You did Great! Show us more pics over in C&V when you're done fixing it up.

Your bike looks a lot better than mine and I got mine for over twice the amount you got yours. >.>; Should've done research before going out and buying bikes

great to hear! Any thoughts about trying to restore the paint job since it's totally awesome? Seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth.
Otherwise, I'll probably just do something different and interesting.

I believe what you have there is a Super Mirage but I could be wrong. My friend found one of those one the side of the road for free and it said "super mirage" in gold on the crosbar.

crossbar* oh and I forgot to mention it was the same exact paint job

@motopecane, yeah, i think you're right. the gold lettering is scratched off mostly, but quite clearly it is two words (ie. Super Mirage) and not one word (ie. Mirage). Can't wait to fix this bad boy up! I'd like to see about preserving the paint scheme because it's so distinctive.