Awesome Customer's Bike: Motobecane Grand Jubilee

     This is a bike that recently came in for a complete overhaul. We disassembled, cleaned, re-assembled, and adjusted all the bearing assemblies as well as all the other services involved in our tune-up. We also added the Mafac Racer brakes, T.A. front rack, and Velo Orange fenders. This bike is really clean! It has my personal favorite derailleurs, the Huret Jubilee as well as the Jubilee shifters and cable guide. The Reynolds 531 decal is home made, placed over the original. Thanks for trusting us with this fine machine!

July 4th 1976

     I came across this amazing photo while going through some literature the other day. The back is dated July 4th 1976. Pictured in the center is Bill Woodul. He pioneered independent support in North American road racing in the 1970's and 80's. He and his iconic bubble top Dodge Tradesman van were fixtures at most events of that era. He is no longer with us, but his contributions and legacy remain.

For Sale: 52CM Motobecane Jubilee Sport

     Here is another nicer road bike that we have for sale. It is a Motobecane Jubilee Sport model. The seat tube is 52CM CTC and the top tube is 52CM CTC. The stand over height is 31 1/2". It is equipped as follows:

• Suntour ARX rear derailleur
• Shimano 600 front derailleur and shifters (friction type)
• SR crank set and road pedals with medium size steel toe clips and straps.
• Galli brakes and brake levers.
• Campagnolo Nuovo Record low flange road hubs laced to a Mavic MA40 dark anodized rear rim and a Matrix anodized front rim.
• Wheel size is 700C.
• Selle Italia suede road saddle
• Stronglight headset 
• Cinelli 1R stem 100mm extension and Cinelli Giro D' Italia bars which are 40 CM wide with newer logos.
• 6 speed freewheel.
• Vitus 888 Cro-Moly tubing.

     The bike is light weight and solid. It could use a tune up and is not included in the price. I date the frame to about the mid 80's by the decals. The paint is a nice metal flake gun metal grey and sparkles in the sun. One of the top tube brake housing guides is broken off (see photo). Frame and fork are in alignment. Very nice starer road bike that is capable of pretty much anything. It also has eyelets on the forged drop outs for fenders and a rack., making it very versatile for daily commuting use. Price is $400.00.  Please email at bikeville@gmail.com with any questions. Shipping and handling will have to be calculated depending on location.

52 cm Motobecane Grand Record sold

Original paint and decals.
the decals are worn, not in the best shape. usual nicks and scratches for a 30+ year old bike.
bike is ridable, but I would recommend an tuneup.br> as the bike is over 30 years old.
Campagnolo Dropouts.
Reynolds 531 double butted tubing.


Campagnolo-

• 1975 Nuovo Record rear derailleur
• Nuovo Record front derailleur
• Nuovo Record high flange hubs
• Nuovo Record shifters

TA Professional crankset with rare chainguard and bottom bracket, the threads are excellent.
Weinmann centerpull brakes and levers.
Stronglight Competition headset
Brooks B-15 leather saddle. no pedals.
Philippe CTA stem and Philippe Franco Italia handlebars
the handlebar wrap is some kind of rubber. it is stamped Motobecane. I was told by someone that it may be a little newer for the bicycle, as it might be from the late 1970s.Seat post is SR Custom.
700c Super Champion clincher rims(straight), the tires are replacement newer ones.
No rust.
52cm center to center seattube.
$sold

Selling whole bikes

It is sacrilegious to part out a complete bike in the collectors world. With that said, it is unspoken truth that it happens all too often for many reasons, but the main one being that generally the parts are worth more than the whole. Someone willing to spend $200 on a set of Campagnolo Nuovo Record wheels and $75 for a set of Stronglight cranks and $100 for Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailleurs and shifters, makes it hard to try to sell the complete bicycle for $500-$600. That still leaves many parts on the frame and the frame might then sell for a couple hundred dollars itself. This is the case with the Motobecane Le Champion bicycle seen here in the photograph. I have received offers of $300 for the complete bike, when it was listed on ebay, but have also received an offer of $200 alone for the wheels.I am keeping the bike together, as it is an example of a nice French road bike from the early 1970s. They are getting harder to find in this original state. I offered it on Ebay to no avail so I finally decided to just add it to the website for sale and hopefully there it will find a good home.

Next is the Rudge Pathfinder. Nice late 1950s-early 1960s bike. Paint and graphics are beautiful. Appears the frame was originally designed for a rear derailleur, as it has a braze on shifter boss and a gear cable stop on the chainstay. Currently it is set up with a Sturmey Archer SW 3 speed hub, which dates the wheel to 1957, as it was availible for one year. The bike looks as if it was never setup with the shifter and derailleur, on as a 3 speed bicycle. This beautiful bike is now looking for a loving home as well.

More pics of the Motobecane and full description of the bicycle can be found on the Bikeville website. Sorry for the shamless promotion, but just some my current thoughs.