French Thread on '82 Motobecane?

[Art Harris]

My wife has a 1982 Motobecane model "Grand Touring," and has started riding again after a few
years off the bike. I cleaned it up, replaced the brakes, cables, and housings, and it's riding
pretty well.

It has a nice lugged frame (Vitus 888 straight gauge) with generous clearance and wheelbase. I'm
thinking of upgrading it further, but am not sure if it has French or English threads. (My 1981
Motobecane had French thread, but I think they switched to English shortly thereafter.)

Anyone know for sure if the '82 Motobecanes had French thread?

I can live with the fact that the bike was designed for 27" wheels and normal reach brakes. But
French thread might be a show stopper.

Couple of other questions:

1) Could I install a different crankset (like Veloce, Sora, or Alivio) on the existing BB? It
currently has a Stronglight 99 crankset
(1/1/1).

2) Are the rear dropouts on these old French bikes compatible with modern derailleurs? The stock der
is a Huret Duopar Eco.

Thanks, Art Harris

 

[Sheldon Brown]

Quoth Art Harris:

> My wife has a 1982 Motobecane model "Grand Touring," and has started riding again after a few
> years off the bike. I cleaned it up, replaced the brakes, cables, and housings, and it's riding
> pretty well.
>
> It has a nice lugged frame (Vitus 888 straight gauge) with generous clearance and wheelbase. I'm
> thinking of upgrading it further, but am not sure if it has French or English threads. (My 1981
> Motobecane had French thread, but I think they switched to English shortly thereafter.)
>
> Anyone know for sure if the '82 Motobecanes had French thread?

Most '80s Motos were Swiss thread, which is the same as French except that the fixed cup of the BB
is left hand threaded.

> 1) Could I install a different crankset (like Veloce, Sora, or Alivio) on the existing BB? It
> currently has a Stronglight 99 crankset
> (52/47/36).

Yes, but the chainline may be a bit far out. We commonly replace the BB spindle when doing this sort
of upgrade, but us the original cups if they're not toasted.
>
> 2) Are the rear dropouts on these old French bikes compatible with modern derailleurs? The stock
> der is a Huret Duopar Eco.

If the hanger has a threaded hole, yes. If not, it can be modified to fit.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

Sheldon "Filetage Suisse" Brown +----------------------------------------+
| Lottery: the closest thing we have | to a tax on stupidity. |
+----------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

 

[Rocky]

???????

i have a moto Grand Touring vintage about 1977 or so and I thought it had english threads....

q2: any idea if it's worth anything?

rocky

"Sheldon Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Quoth Art Harris:
>
> > My wife has a 1982 Motobecane model "Grand Touring," and has started riding again after a few
> > years off the bike. I cleaned it up, replaced the brakes, cables, and housings, and it's riding
> > pretty well.
> >
> > It has a nice lugged frame (Vitus 888 straight gauge) with generous clearance and wheelbase. I'm
> > thinking of upgrading it further, but am not sure if it has French or English threads. (My 1981
> > Motobecane had French thread, but I think they switched to English shortly thereafter.)
> >
> > Anyone know for sure if the '82 Motobecanes had French thread?
>
> Most '80s Motos were Swiss thread, which is the same as French except that the fixed cup of the BB
> is left hand threaded.
>
> > 1) Could I install a different crankset (like Veloce, Sora, or Alivio) on the existing BB? It
> > currently has a Stronglight 99 crankset
> > (52/47/36).
>
> Yes, but the chainline may be a bit far out. We commonly replace the BB spindle when doing this
> sort of upgrade, but us the original cups if they're not toasted.
> >
> > 2) Are the rear dropouts on these old French bikes compatible with modern derailleurs? The stock
> > der is a Huret Duopar Eco.
>
> If the hanger has a threaded hole, yes. If not, it can be modified to
fit.
>
> See: http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html
>
> Sheldon "Filetage Suisse" Brown +----------------------------------------+
> | Lottery: the closest thing we have | to a tax on stupidity. |
> +----------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
> 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
> http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com