Motobecane Question
 

Looking at some Motobecanes at an LBS to do my first conversion. A question though, was the Jubilee or Nomade higher in the line of things? They are both the same price but I'm wondering which is the better bike. Both are from the same year, same size, same color, same decals, etc and I don't know if there would be much of a difference.

Please dont strip a perfectly good vintage Moto to do a conversion.

I actually do have something to contribute to this.

A while back, I dug and old Gitane TdF out of the trash andwas looking to convert it. It was a bit big, but my local wrench offered me a trade for something out of his personal stash. He offered me a really pretty Moto Grand Record. It was sweet, much better looking craftsmanship than the Gitane, but I couldn't tear that down to build as a fix, so I ended up with a Bianchi frame that out to be pretty cool when I get done.

I would agree with the not stripping down a Moto. They're cool roadies, but I'd rather not have the hassle of looking for French threaded this-and-thats or finding somebody with the right Stronglight crank puller.

my first conversion was a motobecane nomade (had been through a lot by the time i got it, few if any original components) and it's been great. bb threading was an issue. i believe the lbs rethreaded the shell by pouring copper into it and retapping. its held up well for over a year now.

I thought that Motobecanes used Swiss threading for their BBs and thus it wouldn't be much trouble. Wrong thinking?

this may be the case. when i took it in the lbs saw it was french and told me they'd have to do the copper thing, but the next time i saw it it had a shiny new shimano bb in it and i didnt ask questions (at the time i wouldn't have even known which questions to ask).

old french frames are a pain in the ass to convert. I am doing an old gitane and it has been nothing but trouble (although it has been fun as all hell)

the BB is definatly an issue with old french bikes, i ended up finding a tapered BB axle that was the same size as the original cotter one that was on there, now i just have to wait for my new crank to come in and i am all done.

my first SS was a nomade. all in all a great bike, despite the conversion. it's low on the totem pole as far as motos go, but i threw a b-17, some matching tape, took the cheater levers off, put some MKS pedal on it and off i went. it was a fun bike to ride.