Thursday, July 3, 2014

1978 Motobecane Grand Touring- a few new goodies

Last month,  with my first paycheck from the new Job, I bought a few new pieces for my recently acquired Motobecane Grand Touring.  As I mentioned in my first post on it, this bike came with perfectly good tires and saddle but they were not really what I had in mind for this bike.  So I picked up a few goodies.
Supple tire and  classic look
oh yeah
Now if I was being reasonable I would take this bike down to the frame, like I do for most rebuilds, and take my time and build it back up one step at a time.  Its summer, however, and I want to ride this bike so I am going about things a bit backwards.  The complete tear down will come but not before I do some riding.  First I wanted to see if a home remedy I'd read about would remove the sharpie markings labeling the front and rear gearshifts...and tooth paste really does work with a bit of scrubbing.
one down...
Next step was to get the new tires mounted.  Based on their condition I am fairly certain the tubes that came with the Continental gatorskins that were mounted on the bike when I got it were new so I reused them.  I tend to think a tube is a tube but its nice to know these are Specialized which I think makes good stuff.

newly shod and ready to go
Then it was time for the cockpit to get a touch of class.  A Brooks B.17 Imperial model.
Hello gorgeous
I have used a B.17 for going on 6 years on the Handsome Devil and I really like it and figured that since the intent of this bike is for longer rides having a cut out would be a good thing.  Ironically, I had purchased an Imperial on sale last year but it was a victim of the great sell off while I was between jobs.  No worries, it was brown and I think the black goes better with this bike.  I also took a couple measurements from the Devil; saddle height (center of crank to top of saddle) and the distance from the stem to saddle nose so I that I could set up the Imperial in the ball park of what I know to be a comfortable fit.

My new purchases weren't all about style, I did get some new Dia-Compe "grey matter" brake pads to replace what I suspect are the original Weinmann set.


new stoppers
I have a new wide range freewheel and SRAM chain for the bike as well but I am going to hold off on mounting them for now, the existing set is in decent shape and adequate for the riding I am capable of doing right now i.e. neither far nor fast nor hilly.
these will wait for the fully monty rebuild
So, even though there is plenty more I could (and probably should) do like replace the dried out brake hoods, upgrades are in place and ready to go.

Tomorrow I plan to celebrate this nations independence by going for a short ride in the neighborhood and seeing how the new parts shake out. I hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday.
with the new toys mounted

Ride.Smile.Repeat

8 comments:

  1. Yeah, baby. Looks like we're heading the same direction with our bike projects. A good catastrophe happened yesterday (my 59th bday, btw) when my old boss called and asked if I could be on site at a West Palm Beach Outback remodel Monday morning.

    I'm working local (and easy) but this is more than twice the money so I gotta go. The catastrophe part is Little Miss Dangerous is stripped of parts and 50% sanded to bare metal. I need to get off my drunk ass and do something about this, but...

    There's a roadblock, of sorts. In my cheap parts purchasing, including Cheng Shin 40mm tires and steel chain ring crankset and a Wald steel rack, I have added well over five pounds to my girl. This has somehow killed my interest in the project and now, faced with 70 hour weeks and never-being-home, I despair of ever putting things back right.

    Plus, that bike Cromwell bought really has distracted me from my old Schwinn. For three hundred bucks (which I will make by noon Tuesday) I can just buy a new (!) bicycle. A conundrum, to be sure. Since I anthropomorphize everything it is a painful thing to abandon my old warhorse...they really aren't just bicycles to me...

    You're a bicycle horse-trader of sorts, so maybe your attachment is less emotionally demanding. With me, everything is life-and-death. Whatever.

    A damnable conundrum. Well, LMD has spent time in the corner before. I'll just have to wait. I still have the Goose for the road and I am pretty serious about that Bikes Direct hybrid (Motobecane Elite). It feels like I'm doing something dirty to even think about it (remember my Walmart Bike experience?) but I rode Crom's bike and it was light and swift and crisp and yeah, I want one.

    Help me, Obe Wan Kenobe!

    tj

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    1. My friend don't look at this as a either or proposition. It's ok to get the Motobecance and leave LMD as a project for now, you'll build her up in something grand when you have the time, heck you already have all the parts. When I got the Velo Orange rando bike it sat around as a project for almost a year. Also unlike your Wally world experience you know exactly what you're getting because you've already built one for Cromwell. N+1 my velo brother, its going to be ok.

      RR

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  2. Oh yes, I like the svelte Motobecane. Enjoy your ride.

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  3. I too suffer from bike guilt these days as I am riding my 79 Peugeot PV10, my Soma San Marcos sits by the wayside. Infatuations are like that.
    A CT Cyclist

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    1. that sounds like an embarasment of riches accyclist, you know I love me some Peugeots and I have lusted over the San Marcos since it came out a few years ago. You have any photos of those 2 sweet rides?

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  4. How did this post slip by me all this time. Working too much??? My friend tells me that I don't have a working problem....more like a scheduling problem.

    The Motobecane is a wonderful looking ride for you now and will be spectacular when you tear down and rebuild in future days. Welcome to b-17 Imperial. I too graduated from a standard B-17 to Imperial. Won't look back. I doctored the B-17 I had with my Dremel tool.......after 1000 miles or so, not good results. I think I have a blog post on that but Imperial is what I ride on my bikes.
    TJ's reply just cracked me up.

    He asks for help, but there might just not be any out there!!

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    1. Hey Jim thanks for the input on the Imperial. I have not ridden the MB Grand Touring much as it really needs some TLC before I can put I it through its paces and I have been focused on the project for my Niece lately, but I am hoping to get some fall mileage on the new saddle.

      Yes our buddy the TPC is a pretty funny dude.

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