Hi, all! I'm VERY new to roadbiking. Actually, never rode one. I'm looking to grab a cheap road bike to complement my mountain bike. This is what I found for sale locally, and I was wondering what it is, and is it worth it.....?

It's a light blue Motobecane, with no discernable lettering on the frame except motobecane. The rest is scratched off. On the handle bars is "Record" and "3". Stronglight crank arms, lyotard pedals, Universal 61 center pull brakes. I think the owner says it has Campy too.

Anyone have any ideas what kind of bike or year it is?

Googling, I found Motobecane made a "Record" bike, but it didn't have these components, from what I've seen. It needs some work to be ridable, and the paint is a little beat up, but I don't care about that. I want a bike to put some miles on, not to sit on and look good.

Googling the Universal 61 brakes, I found them to have been made from '61 to about '76. I'm into old cars, and I think it would be really cool to have a 60's bike to ride, too!

Would a bike like this be fairly dependable, once it is put back into roadworthy condition?

Thanks for all your help!


Frank in Pennsylvania

pics would be helpful. i thought i remember a post a while back on a light blue moto that was a team champion model. maybe you've found a diamond in the rough, but motobecane also made a lot of coal. so more info on parts or build would help.

Just keep in mind that about 80% of all Motobecanes sold in this country were pieces of cr@p. You said "owner says it has Campy too". Campy WHAT? Not the crank. Not the brakes. not the pedals. Sounds to me like a $10 beater to me....

I don't know much about Motobecane's in particular, but a couple of quick indications of the quality of a bike:

Shifters: On the stem is low end, better bikes have down tube or bar end shifters.
Rims: Steel is cheap, and doesn't stop as well as alloy.
Also low end bikes tend to have a spoke protector on the rear wheel, so a misadjusted derailleur doesn't get in the spokes.

Even so, if you just want to ride, and you don't need to go fast or far or impress people, an old low end bike, lubed and adjusted, can do the trick. Plus it doesn't need as big of a lock.

80 %Motobecanes sold in America were cr@p? If they were, why do there vintage high end frames command such high prices? Maybe you had a low end or Taiwan rig.

If it has a Stronglight crank, it could be an old Grand Jubilee. If it was a mid-70's Grand Touring it would probably have a Nervar (sp?) crank. Above the Jubilee is the Grand Record which had a TA crank...go figure. Above that, are the Team Champion and Le Champion, neither of which had Stronglight cranks or center pull brakes.

I have and old Grand Jubilee posted in this section. I think the post is: "What do you think"

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80 %Motobecanes sold in America were cr@p? If they were, why do there vintage high end frames command such high prices?

You answered your own question. The high end frames command high prices, but as with all big manufacturers most of their bikes were lower end. I know, as in the 70s I owned a Mirage, which was definitely low end, and a Grand Touring, which was mid-range at best. Stohler may have underestimated the percentage. Think about Schwinn, for every Paramount, they probably made 1000 (or maybe more) Varsitys, and those were crap. Of course, the Mirage was not as crappy as a Varsity, but it really wasn't anything special.