Early 1980's Motobecane Grand Record



Kestral

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Oct 2, 2006
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I bought a Motobecane Grand Record in 1983 from a bike shop in Bermuda and I am trying to learn something about the bike. The chain stay says made in France and the bike is equipped with what appears to be Campagnolo Triomphe Gruppo. The Frame is not lugged however there is a recessed area under the Top Tube for the Rear Brake Cable. The rear dropouts are Campagnolo and the Seat tube and Fork have Columbus stickers. I know that Motobecane was sold in the early 80's however I am trying to determine if this bike was actually made in France or was it one of the first outsourced frames. The bike has always been a comfortable ride and I am thinking about trying to bring it into the modern age if it can be done. Any information would be appreciated.....
 
Would love to see a picture of this if you can post... I don't think they made Triomph group in 1983...

anyone?
 
Sorry to dig up an older post. My dad has a '74 Grand Record. He bought it new in '75 (same year I was born) and it was made in France. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Motobecane started outsourcing until the late '80s or maybe even the early '90s. I second the motion for posting a pic!
 
Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles, established in 1923. In 1981, Motobécane filed for bankruptcy with most of its holdings being purchased by Yamaha. It has no relation to Motobecane USA, which imports bicycles from Taiwan manufactured to their specification by Kinesis Industry Co. Ltd. under the Motobécane trademark. While you purchased your bike in 1983, it was probably manufactured in 1981 or earlier. Motobécane did not exist from 1981 until after the founding of Motobecane USA around 1989. Also the Campy gruppos were not typically standard on Motobécane bicycles suggesting that an upgrade was perfomed on the bike prior to your purchasing it.

Motobécane was a major manufacturer in the French bicycle industry. The frames on Motobécane's mid-to-upper bikes were typically double-butted lugged steel made from Vitus or Reynolds 531 molybdenum/manganese steel tubing with Nervex lugs. Motobécane finished their frames in beautiful and high-quality paint, a practice not often followed in the French industry. Considered the second most prestigious French bicycle (after Peugeot, whose more durable design they emulated, but ahead of Gitane), Motobécane's mid-range bikes were good value; the company kept prices reasonable by matching high-quality frames with lower-priced, but higher-quality components from Japan, at a time when competitors were putting higher-priced, lower quality French components on mid-range bikes. Motobécane bicycles included the Nomade, Mirage, Super Mirage, Super Touring, Grand Touring, Sprint, Jubilee, Grand Record, Le Champion, and Team Champion.
In addition to the standard diamond frame bicycles, Motobécane produced mixte frame versions; the mixte frame Grand Touring had twin lateral stays in place of a top tube, extending from the head tube to the seat tube, while the Super Touring and Grand Jubilé had a single top tube sloping down towards the seat tube, but diverging into twin lateral stays just before the seat tube. Later mixte Grand Touring models also used this design. Motobécane also produced a tandem bicycle.

French bicycles before 1980 often used French-threaded bottom brackets (now difficult to find replacement parts for). French bottom brackets, like Italian ones, used right-hand threading on the fixed cups, making them subject to loosening by precession. Motobécane broke ranks with most other French manufacturers in the mid-70s, using Swiss-threaded bottom brackets (also difficult to find replacement parts for now). Swiss bottom brackets were identical to French, save that the fixed cups were reverse-threaded (like English ones), making them immune to loosening by precession.The French headsets are also sized and threaded slightly differently than the more common English headset.
 

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