I'm looking to put a brake on this old Motobecane Grand Touring I got, but I'm not quite sure what nashbar means by long vs. medium nuts.

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...0Road%20Brakes

should I go with the long or medium? Which nut are they talking about? Does it even matter?

Here's the bike, by the way

Probably won't work, as your frame is most likely drilled for bolt-on (rather than recessed, like the one linked) brakes.

Oh crap. I know nothing about this. Any suggestions as to what brake I CAN get then?

Head down to a local co-op and just find an old long-reach centerpull.

Can I use any road brake lever? Say... this one?

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...0Road%20Brakes

that can work. your probably want this

you need a brake with a plain old nut in the back, rather than a recessed bolt, as is common on more modern road bikes. you can get a brake like this for cheap at the times up(!) open shop night on thursdays. they also have plenty of old road levers.

if you want a prefer a cross lever, I can sell you one, and show it to you first (I live in NYC too).

Nashbars long reach brakes wont be long enough, I have made this mistake. Go with a center pull like dia compe.

Thanks for the help so far guys, I'll probably be heading down to times up on thursday to see if I can get this hooked up.

Another thing... strange noises seem to be coming from the headset when I turn the bars. Can I just order any old generic 1" threaded headset (say, from nashbar) and expect it to work / fix the problem? I'm guessing times up has a headset press?

Thats a pretty sizeable gap between the fork crown and the rim. You may need to modify the brake to make it fit ie. file the slots out a little.

yeah... I noticed that too. Maybe this frame was originally meant for 27" and someone decided to put 700c's on it?

Definitely.