I have my doubts. I am looking at a vintage 21 inch Motobecane Grande Jubile bicycle. The former owner had saved it from the junk pile especially for me. He says, “Doug, do you want to take this on as a project. I don’t know much about it. What do you think?”
The silver and red two-wheeler is leaning against a shed. The first impression is not a good one. The bike is covered in grime from years of sitting in a garage. This bike has the look of an over-powdered aging French Madame, down on her luck. The silver frame is covered with years of garage brown dirt hiding the imperfections of aging. The thin 27 by 1/8 inch tires are cracked and sagging. The rubber brake hoods are marbleized and wrinkled. The formerly bright ruby red cables have faded to an austere, dark maroon brown and are frayed at the bends. At first glance I balk at the thought of renewing this bicycle, considering it too much work.
“I’m not sure. She’s definitely a classic. But I don’t know what’s under all that dirt?”
Then I take a closer look. One good sign is that the bike has a set of Japanese Suntour Cyclone derailleurs. I see that under the grimy handlebar tape is a set of made in French Pivo Professional handlebars. I read the sticker on the frame and it says “Construit avec Reynolds 531 3 Tubes Renforces,” or constructed with Reynolds 531 double butted chrome-molly main tubing. This the highest quality frame material back in those days. The cranks are classic French Stronglight, among the best of their times. I check the rims and they are Araya, 1970s classics from Japan. The hubs are Normandy, made in France. I measure the French Sedis chain and I can’t believe it is almost in original condition except for a bit of grime. The black and red winged head badge is bright and clear (figure 1). My curiosity is piqued.
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Figure 1. Headbadge of 1976 Motobecane Grand Jubile. (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
That evening I do some research on the bike. The 1976 Motobecane catalog (Motobecane 1976) reads, “Hand built for long distance touring. Reynolds 531 double butted tubing. Beautifully detailed Nervex professional lugs. Fitted with carefully selected alloy components.” The paint and lugs on the Motobecane bikes were among the best in the bike industry during the 1970s. Although known more for motorcycles, Motobecane made bikes from 1923 to 1984. The bike frames cleans up very nicely (figure 2). The paint is very hard and cleans up well with only one exception. The silver paint on the front forks was covered with some kind of protective coating that softened up over time. With cleaning this removed the top coating of the pain revealing a silver color very close to the tone of the paint.
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Figure 2. Made in France, Motobecane (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
The Motobecane Grand Jubile (figure 3) is a touring bike and is listed in the 1974 catalog as the fourth highest model in their line of bicycles. According to the catalog the bike weighs 24 pounds. Motebecane's highest rated model is only one pound lighter. As I go over the bike I notice the components on the catalog match those on the bicycle. The 1976 catalog lists the Suntour derailleur set for the first time, making this the probable year that this bicycle was assembled in France.
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Figure 3. Grand Jubile on Motobecane Top Tube (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
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Figure 4. Restored 1976 Motobecane Grand Jubile,/b> (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
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Figure 5. French Pivo Professional Handlebar Logo (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
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Figure 6. SR Alloy Japanese Handlebar Stem (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
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Figure 7. Suntour Cyclone Derailleur on 1976 Motobecane Grand Jubile (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
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Figure 8. Swiss Made Weinmann Vainqueur Brakes, 1976 (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
The Weinmann rims were known to be strong and true even when ridden of the roughest conditions (figure 9). Eventually the production of the rims was shifted to Belgium. The are still produced today by Alesa and they are made in China.
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Figure 9. Classic Weinmann Rim on 1976 Motobecane Grand Jubile Bicycle (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
The drivetrain consists of a Stronglight square taper crank and chainrings (figure 10). I had to buy a special Stronglight compatible crank puller to removed the cranks for servicing the bottom bracket. They are larger than the standard Shimano size and even different than other French cranksets. The size of the correct crank extractor for this bike is 23.35 mm.
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Figure 10. Stronglight Crankset and Chainrings, 1976 (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
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Figure 11. Chain and Freewheel on 1976 Motobecane Bicycle (Photo: Doug Barnes) |
I did not ride this bike extensively because at 21-inch size is quite small for me. However, my short ride indicated that this bicycle is very stable and is ideal for touring.
References
Berto, Frank, 2017. The Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle. 5th Edition. San Francisco: Cycle Publishing/van de Plas Publications.Griffith, Steve. 2017. Classic Lightweights: UK, Weinmann Components. Accessed 2017.
Motobecane. 1976. USA Catalog produced by Motobecane. Accessed 2017. Velobase Website.
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