Riv Inspired Motobecane Makeover

[WETH]

Yesterday was gorgeous day; today it is raining and thundering.  After wrapping the Albatross bars on the Motobecane Super Mirage, I went for an early morning ride.  The weather and the ride were perfect.  However this makeover and ride would not have happened without the inspiration and knowledge I have received and continue to get from this group.  Thank you.

The Motobecane Super Mirage circa 1976 belonged to my father-in-law.  When it didn't sell at a yard sale, he gave it to me.  I didn't like the way it rode with the original drop bars and saddle.  It sat in my shed for a few years.  After reading many of the posts on this group and seeing the photos, I was inspired to fix the bike up "Rivendell style" and get it back on the road.  I overhauled the wheels, bottom bracket and pedal bearings, replaced all the cables and brake pads, installed new 27 x 1 1/4 tires, Brooks B68 saddle, and Rivendell cockpit (Nitto Albatross bars, Nitto Periscopa stem, Newbaum maroon colored bar tape (matches the head badge), Shimano MTB silver brake levers).  I left the pletscher rack, Weinmann brakes, Suntour stem mounted shifters, Suntour V-GT rear derailer and kickstand.  I also left on the county bike registration sticker that expired in 1978.

The Newbaum bar tape feels great; I rode yesterday without gloves.  Though, I usually ride with gloves to protect my hands in a fall, the bike lends itself to gloveless riding!

I adore riding this bike as currently configured.  I thank everyone for the inspiration and knowledge needed for me to do this.

Though I do not imagine riding this bike in the rain, I will look into whether I can squeeze in fenders.  I also want to fit a bottle cage or two for carrying water on longer rides.  Also still on the list is finishing the bar tape with twine.

Here are a few photos from yesterday.  More photos here if interested: http://erlhouston.smugmug.com/Portfolio/Cyling/Motobecane-Super-Mirage/28440802_jtmxgv

Thanks for all the inspiration!  Safe cycling.

[Tom Goodmann]

Nice bike; I love the clean lines, and the endless good stories of recycled bicycles . . . what long lives these wonderful machines do have!  Aren't bicycles among our best mechanical inventions?

[Steve Palincsar]

On Fri, 2013-04-12 at 07:20 -0700, Tom Goodmann wrote:
> Aren't bicycles among our best mechanical inventions?
>

Absolutely!

[Ron Mc]

Great job - beautiful bike

you'll have no problem with Fenders.  

your brakes, like mine, were made for fenders - Honjos work great.  

ling.

[RoadieRyan]

Love me some Motobecane.  I rebuilt a Nomade II last year and almost kept it as it fit me to a "T" but with too many bikes I sold it on CL.  Hoping to find a nice Grand Touring or Jubilee in need of TLC one of these days.

[Ron Mc]

a couple of choices on bottle cage straps - the old TA ones turn up on ebay frequently - they are metal, and strap the cage directly to your frame.  The Elite VIP works quite well -  http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222358075/813/Elite-VIP-Universal-Cage.htm . I't uses plastic straps and rubber pads to add M5 bosses.  Ive taken mine on and off for touch-up paint and replacing decals, and it still works great.  

[PATRICK MOORE]

I've successfully used the right size of hose clamp on a standard metal cage -- better than any effete zip tie!

Patrick Moore, who, if truly reasonable, would use hose clamps on his '99 custom fixie gofast that, stupidly, he asked Grant to build with only one set of cage braze ons -- but nooooooo.......

On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM, Ron Mc <bulld...@gmail.com> wrote:

a couple of choices on bottle cage straps - the old TA ones turn up on ebay frequently - they are metal, and strap the cage directly to your frame.  The Elite VIP works quite well -  http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222358075/813/Elite-VIP-Universal-Cage.htm . I't uses plastic straps and rubber pads to add M5 bosses.  Ive taken mine on and off for touch-up paint and replacing decals, and it still works great.  

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 

--

http://resumespecialties.com/index.html

patric...@resumespecialties.com
__________________________________________________________________________

[WETH]

Ron, thanks for the verification on fenders.
Ron and Patrick, Thanks for the suggestions for attaching bottle cages. It is always nice to have options.
Many thanks and safe cycling,
Erl

[Matthew J]

Well done. If you can find a set somewhere, Berthoud composites will look great on that bike. While it may put too much weight on the handle bars for comfortable steering, a stem mount bottle cage may be a solution. Amazing to think something this old already is now set to give another 30 years of happy service.

[Will]

 I dunno. I have an early '70s Super Mirage Mixte. It's my daily rider.

There's not a lot of clearance on the mixte for fenders, so I suspect the mainstream model is similar. If you want to run 28's, there's no problem. But beyond that it gets dicey. I'm using Planet Bike fenders. They're easier to fit than anything else. The bike handles really well and if you can adjust your fenders to something between 28's and 32's you have a nice ride.

I'm using a rear rack and a Wald folding pannier basket. Works well. 

[Ron Mc]

There is really a lot of room under those brakes.  On my 76 Raleigh with the same brakes, I had a pair of 42mm shorties to keep the brakes clean, and could clear (and cover) 1-3/8"  cross tires.  Even 36mm Honjos should clear 1-1/4" tires, but may not have the coverage you would like.  You could fit 42mm Honjos and easily clear and cover 1-1/4" tires.  Honjos also attach perfectly to this style frame - they are copies of the French fenders that were made for this bike.  

[WETH]

Ron, Will and Matt, thanks for all the input.  Here is a photo of the space I have between brakes and the top of my 1 1/4 or roughly 32mm tire.  The clearance appears to be about 15mm.

Matt, yeah I am looking forward to riding this bike for years.  I am more vintage than the bike, and I can see riding this even as I age.  The set up gives me an upright, relaxed position that is easy on neck, wrists and back.  Interestingly, I am always tweaking the fit of my other bikes trying to dial in the perfect position.  With this bike, I set the seat height, dropped the stem in as far as it would go, and slightly tilted the bars down.  No additional tweaking was needed.  I guess I got lucky!

Thanks again, Erl

[Ron Mc]

Hi Erl, dug in my computer and found this - 42mm shorties with 32mm tires

  

and here are my 36mm Honjos with 28mm tires - from the side, there's air from end to end, and very good coverage

[Ron Mc]

btw, the Honjos have more clearance than the shorties because of the way they mount- a daruma to the bottom of the fork  

It's just the 36mm fenders might not cover enough on the 32mm tires.  

http://support.velo-orange.com/pdf/Fender.pdf

Tree Fort has the VO 45mm hammered fenders for $55, (these are made and mount like Honjos) and you could fit 35mm tires in there.